Update Daily Investment News

Indonesia Stocks May Fall on Rising Bond Yields, Citigroup Says
Indonesia’s stock market, Asia’s second-best performer last year, may fall in 2010 as investors switch to global government bonds amid rising yields, Citigroup Inc.’s Indonesian securities unit said. The benchmark index may fall to 2,470 by yearend from 2,666.94 at yesterday’s close, Sunny Yoon, president of PT Citigroup Securities Indonesia, said in an interview in Jakarta today. Worldwide stimulus spending by governments increased liquidity, which is driving up government bond yields, said Yoon.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aqjIG42FFHZw

Stocks to Rally Throughout Earnings Season: Strategist
By: JeeYeon Park CNBC News Associate
Stocks gained more than 1 percent on Tuesday. Will the market rally continue? Binky Chadha, chief U.S. equity strategist at Deutsche Bank, and Larry Kantor, head of research at Barclays Capital, discussed their market insights.“[Markets] should go significantly higher through earnings season,” Chadha told CNBC. “We think the bar has been lowered for this earnings season.”Chadha said his biggest “overweights” are in the financials and industrials. He added that he has “smaller overweights” in the technology and the consumer discretionary sectors.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/34942440

US Stocks Are Poised to Rally If Republican Wins in Mass.
By: Reuters
US stocks are likely to rally if Republicans pull off a victory in Massachusetts' Senate election Tuesday, on hopes that it would slow down President Obama's sweeping reform program, especially with respect to health care.Massachusetts Senate Candidates Debate In Boston.Getty Images. U.S. Senate democratic nominee Martha Coakley (l) and U.S. Senate republican nominee Scott Brown (r) campaigning to be the the next Massachusetts State Senator.The Democrats' big majorities in Congress are considered key to passing President Obama's reform agenda across numerous parts of the economy, including banking and health care.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/34943625

Energy vs. Metals—Where to Invest: Stock Pickers
By: JeeYeon Park CNBC News Associate
The S&P metals and mining index has soared more than 300 percent over the past year, compared to the energy index, which is up about 20 percent. So which is the better sector for investors going forward? Dan Denbow, portfolio manager at USAA Precious Metals & Minerals Fund, and Jerry Castellini, president and chief investment officer of CastleArk Management, discussed their views. “There’s no better play, as a U.S. investor in the worldwide economy, than in energy,” Castellini told CNBC.“It’s the simple building block of economic growth in Asia and BRICs.”*

http://www.cnbc.com/id/34936796

Shrug Off Banks Weakness???
By: Lee Brodie Producer

http://www.cnbc.com/id/34924933

Platinum Approaching ‘Strong Resistance’: Technical Analysis
(Bloomberg) -- Platinum, trading at a 17-month high in London, is approaching an area of “potentially strong resistance,” according to technical analysis by Commerzbank AG. The attached chart shows a target of $1,698.18 an ounce the bank identified by drawing a trend line from the record $2,301.50 set in March 2008. There is also a target of $1,703.69, which would be a 61.8 percent retracement of the metal’s decline from the record to a low in October 2008, according to a series of numbers known as the Fibonacci sequence. The metal traded at $1,626 at 12:33 p.m. in London.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aslFLOrWH5Cc

Citi's Yoon Likes Telekomunikasi Indonesia, Adaro Energy

Morgan Stanley Says ‘Stick With the BRICs’ on Growth
(Bloomberg) -- Morgan Stanley said investors should “stick with the BRICs” and add to their holdings in China and Russia as faster economic growth will allow emerging-market stocks to catch up to developed-market gains this year. “Stick with the BRICs,” strategists led by Jonathan Garner wrote in a report, referring to Brazil, Russia, India and China. “BRIC tends to outperform in non-recession years such as the 2003 to 2007 period, whilst it has underperformed in recession years.”The brokerage raised its recommended “overweight” in Chinese and Russian equities relative to the MSCI Emerging Markets Index to 2.15 percent, compared with 2 percent and 1.65 percent respectively. They strategists also upgraded Thailand and Peru to “equal-weight” from “underweight” and downgraded Israel to “equal-weight” from “overweight.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=agfzY3FhgGhM

Record Cash Means S&P 500 at Half its 2007 Valuation
(Bloomberg) -- U.S. companies are producing more cash than ever, making the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index cheaper than any time since credit markets froze just as investors say profits don’t justify higher prices. While the 68 percent rally since March drove price-earnings ratios to the highest level since 2002, when measured by cash flow the index is 37 percent below the 12-year average and half its valuation of 2007, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a5_2eIRE836E

Hedge-Fund Assets Rose by $4.6 Billion in December, Report Says
(Bloomberg) -- Hedge-fund assets grew by $4.6 billion in December in the eighth straight month of capital growth as investor confidence recovers along with global markets, according to Eurekahedge Pte.Net inflows totaled $600 million in December, while performance-based gains were $4 billion, the Singapore-based research firm said in a report. Assets under management totaled $1.48 trillion at year’s end, it said.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=agNZqGUIdcFE

U.S. Stocks ‘Can Only Surprise on Upside,’ Says HSBC
(Bloomberg) -- U.S. shares may surprise on the upside this year after lagging behind 2009’s worldwide stock rally, said Garry Evans, head of global equity strategy at HSBC Holdings Plc.“People have got very high expectations for Asia already,” Evans said on Bloomberg Television. “Contrast that to the U.S. where everyone is so bearish, it can only surprise on the upside.” HSBC has an “overweight” rating for U.S. equities and “underweight” on Asia excluding Japan.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aWn.tzD5e7mw

China to Allow Yuan Gain on Inflation, Macquarie Says
(Bloomberg) -- China may allow its currency to appreciate from the second quarter as inflation accelerates in the world’s third-largest economy because of higher global commodity prices, according to Macquarie Securities Ltd. “China simply has to start considering using appreciation of the renminbi as a way to insulate itself, or deflect some of these imported inflation pressures,” Michael Kurtz, head of China research at Macquarie, said in a Bloomberg Television interview in Hong Kong. “They’re going to do exactly that in 2010.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=alpnN_0Etxn0

http://www.cnbc.com/id/34936796

HSBC's Evans Sees Global Stocks Rising 15% in 2010