Update Daily Investment News

Asian Stocks May Extend Slump on Europe Concern, Goldman Says
(Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks outside Japan may extend this year’s slide as government deficits in Europe threaten stability in financial markets, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc.The MSCI Asia Pacific Excluding Japan Index may lose another 5 percent to 10 percent, Goldman Sachs’s Chief Asian Strategist Timothy Moe told Bloomberg Television in Hong Kong today, picking South Korea to outperform the region because of attractive valuations. Morgan Stanley reiterated a prediction that the nation’s stocks will rise about 21 percent in a year.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a2ymxVZMXmiI

China’s January Loans Surge as Property Prices Climb
(Bloomberg) -- China’s lending surged to 1.39 trillion yuan ($203 billion) in January and property prices climbed the most in 21 months as banks extended more credit in anticipation of the government tightening monetary policy. Lending was more than in the previous three months combined, data released by the central bank on its Web site today showed. Inflation slowed to 1.5 percent from 1.9 percent in December, a separate report showed. That was less than the 2.1 percent median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of 31 economists.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=azbccrm9yOA8&pos=1

Australian Employers Add Most Jobs in Three Years
(Bloomberg) -- Australian employers added the most workers in more than three years in January, sending the currency surging on speculation the central bank will resume its record round of interest-rate increases.The number of people employed rose 52,700 from December, more than three times the 15,000 median estimate of 21 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. The jobless rate fell to an 11-month low of 5.3 percent from 5.5 percent, the statistics bureau said in Sydney today.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=akqjTp0Y9u1g&pos=4

Buy Franc Amid Dollar Rallies, BNP Says: Technical Analysis
Investors should sell the U.S. dollar against the Swiss franc amid greenback rallies with price charts showing the U.S. currency’s rise from its November low may be coming to an end, BNP Paribas SA said.The dollar’s 7.6 percent increase met resistance at 1.0795 versus the franc on Feb. 5, just shy of 1.0825, a level representing a 38.6 percent Fibonacci retracement of the greenback’s 2008-2009 decline, technicians including Andrew Chaveriat wrote in a report. The analysts expect the dollar to head for 1.05 after breaking near-term support at 1.0595.

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

Predictions of Stock Plunge Reach 26-Year High, Survey Finds
(Bloomberg) -- Expectations that U.S. stocks will tumble 10 percent or more rose to the highest level since September 1983, according to Investors Intelligence’s weekly survey of newsletter writers. The proportion of investment writers who anticipate a so- called correction climbed to 39.8 percent in the week ended yesterday, an increase from 38.9 percent in the period ended Feb. 2. Bullish publications fell to 34.1 percent, the lowest since March, from 38.9 percent.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aGKV408zWh04

S&P 500 Declines Limited After TRIN Spike: Technical Analysis
(Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks may not fall much further after last week’s “capitulation,” according to technical analysts at UBS AG, who cited a spike in the so-called TRIN indicator.The New York Stock Exchange TRIN indicator, which stands for Trading Index and is also known as Arms Index as it was invented by Richard Arms, jumped to 3.4 last week, the analysts wrote. A sharp increase in the TRIN is “evidence of a high volume sell-off” and can be viewed as a “contrarian buying trigger,” according to Riesner and Mueller.

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

South Korean Equities to Fall on Economy: Technical Analysis
(Bloomberg) -- South Korea’s stock index may drop a further 11 percent within three months as a leading economic indicator falls from a 7 1/2-year high, LIG Investment & Securities Co. said. South Korea’s Kospi index may drop as low as 1,400 after losing 8.8 percent from its Jan. 21 high to 1,570.12 at yesterday’s close, said Chi Ki Ho, a technical strategist at LIG Investment. He said the Leading Index in January probably reached its highest since May 2002, and may fall in February.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=ameS7BLFeJ54

Aussie May Rise 7% on ‘Bullish Outside Day’: Technical Analysis
(Bloomberg) -- Investors should buy Australia’s dollar betting the currency will gain more than 7 percent after holding above its 200-day moving average, Citigroup Inc. said. The so-called Aussie also formed a “bullish outside day,” on Feb. 9, Citigroup said. That’s a pattern that occurs when a currency dips below the intra-day low of the previous day and then rises above the previous high, signaling a possible rally.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a98gctiTAjjk

Crude Oil May Fall to $68.38 Next Week: Technical Analysis
(Bloomberg) -- Crude oil for April delivery may fall to $68.38 a barrel as soon as the end of next week, according to technical analysis by Infinitytrading.com. The April contract, which becomes the front month on Feb. 23, is “consolidating below the 200-day moving average” of $74.84, Fain Shaffer, president of Infinitytrading.com, a commodities brokerage in Medford, Oregon, said in an interview.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aPCSRugac1hg

Soros Is ‘Confident’ Greece Will Stay in Euro Region
(Bloomberg) -- Billionaire investor George Soros, who made $1 billion in 1992 correctly betting against the British pound, said he expects Greece will be able to remain in the euro region.

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

China May Return to Sugar Market After April, NAB Forecasts
(Bloomberg) -- China, the second-largest sugar consumer, may seek imports after April to top up stockpiles, according to the National Australia Bank Ltd. \

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a.mUO5amOat0

Hedge Funds Retreated 0.8% in January as Stocks Fell
(Bloomberg) -- Hedge funds retreated 0.8 percent in January following their best annual performance in six years, as concerns over financial regulations and the economic recovery weighed on global stock markets, Eurekahedge Pte said. The Eurekahedge Hedge Fund Index, tracking more than 2,000 funds, posted its first monthly loss in four last month, the Singapore-based research firm said in a preliminary report on its Web site dated yesterday.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a556Wc.EIapo

US, Europe Will All Default On Their Debt: Marc Faber
By: CNBC.com
The governments of every developed economy will eventually default on their sovereign debts, including the US, the UK and Western Europe, Marc Faber, editor of the Gloom, Boom & Doom report, told CNBC.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/35332965

Dow to Dip Near 8300-8400 Soon: Chief Investor
By: JeeYeon Park CNBC News Associate
Stocks fell further on Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke outlined the Fed's exit strategy for its unprecedented economic stimulus measures. How should investors be positioned? Frank Holmes, chief executive and chief investment officer of U.S. Global Investors, and John Lekas, chief executive and portfolio manager at Leader Capital, shared their insights.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/35330133

HALFTIME REPORT: US Dollar, Commodities and Europe Driving the Market
By: Paul Toscano Producer, CNBC.com
On a day where markets are rattled by sovereign debt issues, yet encouraged that a European bailout of Greece may be imminent, markets have also reacted to domestic developments after Fed chairman Ben Bernanke's indication that a rate hike may be on the horizon, although losses have been paired.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/35333344

10% Market Rally This Spring: Investment Strategist
By: JeeYeon Park CNBC News Associate
Stocks traded lower on Wendesday after a flat open. Is the pullback an opportunity for investors to get into the market? Paul Schatz, president at Heritage Capital, shared his insights.

Dow Can Reach 11,000 in Next Few Months: Market Pro
By: JeeYeon Park CNBC News Associate
Stocks erased their losses on Wednesday as traders digested Ben Bernanke’s Fed exit strategy proposal. Are the markets still headed for a full-blown correction? Mike Rubino, president of Rubino Financial, and Scott Bileadeau, managing director of small- and mid-cap growth strategies at Fifth Third Asset Management, shared their market outlooks.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/35331919

Trader Talk: Bearish on Greece Bailout & Commodities
By: Robert Hum Markets Producer
Bob Pisani is off; this post was written by CNBC producer Robert Hum.
Stocks continue to be tethered to the outcome of a potential Greece rescue plan. Futures were up modestly, with European banks leading the way — up 3 percent to 4 percent — earlier this morning (Wednesday) on hopes that a rescue package may be announced later this week.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/35330087

Schroeder Recommends Shorting Commodity, China Stocks: Video Feb

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a0bYsUsSJcDQ