Biotechs Strong Out of the Gate

The market is getting a nice bounce in early trading, despite what were mostly weak retail sales reports from retailers.

The financial sector is also under pressure after Lehman (LEH) liquidated 3 funds worth $1 billion. Deutsche said it expects more write-downs, and this is weighing on the broker stocks.

Intel was upgraded to Buy at BofA, and this is helping the semis bounce. INTC is up +3% on the upgrade.

But the big news in the biotech space was the all cash buyout offer for Millennium Pharma (MLNM) from Takeda Pharma. This, along with some other positive datapoints in the biotech sector, has the index spiking higher by more than +5.4%. Not bad. This is also helping the Nasdaq outperform this morning.

Jobless claims came in a little below expectations, at 357,000 vs. 383,000 consensus. The 10-year yield is up slightly to 3.50%. The Bank of England cut rates 25 bps to 5.00%, while the ECB held steady at 4.00%.

Asian markets were mixed overnight, while the Yen is higher again today. Oil is roughly flat, trading just under $111 still. The put/call ratios were high at the open, with the ISEE opening at the incredible level of 3.125. That means there was almost no bullish call buying near the open. This should help support stocks today, imo.