STOCKS NEWS US-Earnings diary for Dec 16

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1800 ET 15Dec2009
Earnings diary for Dec 16

The day's earnings calendar includes results from Paychex.

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1703 ET 15Dec2009
Economic diary for Dec 16

The day's economic agenda includes the Labor Department's November Consumer Price Index (CPI) at 8:30 a.m. (1330 GMT).

Also, the Commerce Department releases housing starts and permits for November, 8:30 a.m. (1330 GMT).

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1648 ET 15Dec2009-Wall St snaps 4
day streak on GE, inflation worry

U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday, with the Dow and S&P 500 moving off 14-month highs, as a climb in producer prices raised inflation concerns and economic bellwether General Electric issued a flat outlook for 2010.

Tuesday's slide broke a four-day winning streak for both the Dow industrials and the S&P 500.

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1343 EST 15Dec2009
Bullish risk reversals traded in Wells Fargo April contract

Wells Fargo & Co shares gained 1.1 percent to $25.76 after the bank raised funds to repay a bailout received from the U.S. government last year. In the options market, a pair of bullish risk reversals traded in the April contract, wrote Interactive Brokers Group equity option analyst Caitlin Duffy in a note. Optimistic investors utilized the bullish risk reversal strategy to position for a rebound in the stock by expiration in April 2010. One trader sold 6,000 puts at the April $26 strike for $2.36 apiece in order to buy 6,000 calls at the same strike for $2.50 each. The investor paid a net 14 cents per contract for the transaction and profits accrue if shares rally to surpass $26.14 by expiration, Duffy wrote. The other reversal involved the sale of 3,000 puts at the April $24 strike for $1.60 apiece, marked against the purchase of the same number of calls at the higher April $27 strike for $2.04 each. The bullish investor paid a net 44 cents per contract for the transaction and profits if the stock trades above $27.44 by April's expiration day, Duffy wrote. Option implied volatility on underlying stock fell roughly 9 percent to 40.06 percent.

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1303 EST 15Dec2009
Celgene psoriasis drug shows promise in trial

Celgene Corp said on Tuesday its experimental drug to treat the skin condition psoriasis reduced symptoms by a significant amount in a mid-stage trial.

Results of the 352-patient trial showed that 41 percent of patients treated with 30 milligrams of the drug, apremilast, twice a day, saw a 75 percent reduction in symptoms as measured by a score known as the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index after 16 weeks.

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Shares of Celgene fell 1.9 percent to $52.87.

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1257 EST 15Dec2009
Reforms may add to M Stanley, Goldman EPS: firm

The U.S. Federal Reserve's latest executive compensation reforms could cut compensation expense for Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs temporarily, boosting profits for the firms, Sanford C Bernstein said on Tuesday.

The new changes are generally not likely to be burdensome, the research team led by analyst Brad Hintz said, as the two Wall Street giants largely met the new standards even prior to the credit crisis.

But the changes could result in a 10 percent to 15 percent reduction every year in compensation expense for a newly minted managing director for five years, Hintz said.

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Shares of Goldman fell 1.5 percent to $163.65 on Tuesday while Morgan Stanley was off 1.3 percent at $29.77.

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