Brokerage Firm Ratings + Price Target

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Company	Ticker	Brokerage Firm	Ratings Change	Price Target
Kaiser Alum	KALU	UBS	Neutral » Buy	$41 » $44
Alon USA Energy	ALJ	Caris & Company	Below Average » Average	$6.75
Frontier Oil	FTO	Caris & Company	Below Average » Average	$10 » $14
Holly	HOC	Caris & Company	Below Average » Average	$25 » $27
Tesoro	TSO	Caris & Company	Below Average » Average	$12.50
Valero Energy	VLO	Caris & Company	Below Average » Average	$14 » $18
Sunoco	SUN	Caris & Company	Below Average » Average	$28
Visa	V	Stifel Nicolaus	Hold » Buy	$86
Coca-Cola Ent	CCE	Stifel Nicolaus	Hold » Buy	$30
AOL	AOL	The Benchmark Company	Hold » Buy	$25
Priceline.com	PCLN	KeyBanc Capital Mkts	Hold » Buy	$260

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Company	Ticker	Brokerage Firm	Ratings Change	Price Target
Tenet Healthcare	THC	Robert W. Baird	Outperform » Neutral	$8 » $5
American Eagle	AEO	Caris & Company	Buy » Above Average	$23 » $20
National Grid	NGG	HSBC Securities	Overweight » Neutral
Transdigm Group	TDG	Oppenheimer	Outperform » Perform
Goodrich	GR	Oppenheimer	Outperform » Perform

Coverage Initiated

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Company	Ticker	Brokerage Firm	Ratings Change	Price Target
Pall Corp	PLL	Wedbush	Neutral	$38
THL Credit	TCRD	Deutsche Bank	Buy	$14.50
Seadrill Ltd	SDRL	Barclays Capital	Overweight	$27
Global Geophysical	GGS	Barclays Capital	Overweight	$19
Mitel Networks	MITL	UBS	Buy	$14
Signature Bank	SBNY	Standpoint Research	Buy	$48
THL Credit	TCRD	BB&T Capital Mkts	Buy	$15
Finish Line	FINL	Phoenix Partners Group	Buy	$22
China Marine Food	CMFO	Brean Murray	Buy	$9
THL Credit	TCRD	Stifel Nicolaus	Buy	$14
DynaVox	DVOX	Jefferies	Buy	$18

Coverage Reit/Price Tgt Changed*

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Company	Ticker	Brokerage Firm	Ratings Change	Price Target
Fuel Systems Solutions	FSYS	Northland Securities	Market Perform	$31 » $29
Apple	AAPL	UBS	Buy	$315 » $320
Apple	AAPL	Broadpoint AmTech	Buy	$320 » $340
DJSP Enterprises	DJSP	Northland Securities	Outperform	$16.25 » $10
Altisource Portfolio Solutions	ASPS	Northland Securities	Outperform	$28 » $32
AutoZone	AZO	Morgan Joseph	Buy	$186 » $215

(a) Brokerage firm initiating coverage participated in underwriting the recent IPO.
(b) Brokerage firm resumes coverage.
(c) Brokerage firm participated in the secondary offering.
* This list of reiterations/target changes is not comprehensive.

7 Top Stocks for the World's Biggest Gathering of Cancer Docs

A freckly redhead, my wife looks a wee bit like Maureen O'Hara did in The Quiet Man — as Irish as a pint of Guinness.

And while her being Irish means she's pretty fun at parties, my wife's fair skin is also a source of never-ending worry...

After one such scare several years ago, she now visits her dermatologist twice a year in attempts to put every questionable spot under the microscope and stay one step ahead of the disease. And thankfully, it's a plan that's still working after thirteen years.

The sad fact is that many others aren't as fortunate in detecting, diagnosing, and treating skin cancer. Melanomas can be particularly deadly; it is a cancer that claims the lives of roughly 65,000 people every year.

ASCO Meeting Stocks

That's the bad news.

The good news is that cancer researchers continue to fight and make new progress in skin cancer treatments. Leading the charge is a new drug from Bristol-Myer's Squibb (NYSE: BMY) — one among many of the new drugs that will be featured during this week's American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting.

Held from June 4-8 in Chicago, our own Ian Cooper calls the ASCO conference “The Super Bowl of Cancer” because that's how important the annual meeting has become.

On stage in Chicago next week, Bristol-Myers will release the data on an experimental new immunotherapy called ipilmumab. Cancer immunotherapies are different from other drugs in that they stimulate the patient's own immune system to attack the malignancies.

In earlier trials, ipilmumab added 18 months to lives of more than one third of the patients dosed with the new drug. Conversely, existing treatments for advanced patients only extend life by 6 to 8 months.

If successful, that would offer much needed hope to the 130,000 new melanoma patients as early as 2012.

“We have hundreds of patients who are still alive after taking this treatment, and that is something unheard of” in advanced-stage melanoma, Bristol-Myers’s vice president of oncology clinical research, Renzo Canetta, told Bloomberg last week.

But the good news on the melanoma front is not the only upside expected this week at the ASCO meeting...

According to Ian, Delcath Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: DCTH) is another stock you'll want to pay particular attention to:

Delcath has already announced that Phase III data indicated that the therapy more than tripled survival-free progression. And what’s impressive is that this therapy delivers the chemotherapy agent straight to the organ and cuts back overall toxicity, allowing for higher dosages.

Better yet, says Ian, Reuters recently reported that the market for Delcath's system to treat melanoma which has spread to the liver could be $745 million in the U.S. alone.

“This could be big,” Ian told me. “Real big.”

The ASCO Meeting Short List

As for other stocks to keep an eye on at the world's biggest gathering of cancer doctors, here's Cooper's short list:

Provectus Pharma (PVCT.OB)
Provectus (in the same industry as Dendreon) is focused on the development of cancer and psoriasis treatment based on the Rose Bengal compound. The company is looking strong ahead of key clinical trials and ahead of the ASCO conference.

Celldex Therapeutics (NASDAQ: CLDX)
Partnered with Pfizer, Celldex's CDX-110 was developed for glioblastoma, a common and aggressive form of brain cancer. Shares of this stock are already running nicely ahead of the ASCO meeting.

Pharmacyclics Inc. (NASDAQ: PCYC) - also a possible takeover target, we believe
We're looking for the company to present data at ASCO to build support for its Btk inhibitor PCI-32765 monotherapy. Roth Capital recently raised its price target on the stock from $8 to $11.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ: NKTR)
We're looking for the company to update its Phase II study of NKTR-102 in women with platinum-resistant/refractory ovarian cancer. The company reportedly had good results from this study in March.

Keryx Biopharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: KERX)
We're looking for the company to present results of a Phase II study of perifosine in combination with capecitabine as compared to a placebo plus capecitabine in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.

Longer term, the biotech sector is undoubtedly going to emerge eventually as one of the decade's biggest winners. After all, cancer treatments are about a whole lot more than hope these days... And every year at the ASCO meeting, the finish line gets that much closer.

As for skin cancer patients, ipilmumab seems to be a step in the right direction according to Jedd Wolchok, an oncologist who specializes in the treatment of melanoma.

“We are resetting the balance between the person and the tumor and the tumor no longer has the upper hand,” Wolchok told Bloomberg last week. “We have been talking about turning cancer into a chronic disease, and this shows it is possible.”

By Steve Christ
Tuesday, June 1st, 2010

Editor, Wealth Daily

Inside the Numbers: 5 Stocks That Are Up in this Downturn

It's rough out there. The market had another wild ride Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average posting nice gains in the 50- to 60-point range for most of the day before falling off in late-day trading to close down 69 points, below the psychologically important 10,000 mark.

It takes a decline of -10% for a market skid to be classified as a "correction." It seems we've already reached that territory. The S&P 500 Index is down -12% since April 23, having posted losses in 14 out of 23 trading days.

With the major averages dropping like stones and investors seeing a sea of red on their computer screens, it's tempting to think there aren't any winning stocks out there right now. But that thinking would be wrong. There are always winners in the market -- it's just a little harder to find them in a market like this.

Out of all 21,000 actively-traded equities on U.S. exchanges, a little over 1,500 stocks are up since the market began to fall through Wednesday's close. That's only 7% of all stocks that are up, in case you were wondering.

But as the saying goes, there's always a bull marketsomewhere.

If there's anything we've learned in the past two years since the onset of the financial crisis, it's that the market can turn south in a big way at any time. So, in order to be prepared for another gap down, the StreetAuthority staff set out to find which stocks held strong in this most recent sell-off. Perhaps some patterns could be determined that could give us clues to surviving the next time around.

Our methods: We screened for stocks trading on U.S. exchanges with a market capitalization of more than $250 million that have been higher since April 23rd. Our result: 233 stocks. Slim pickings, but it just might do.

Here are the top-20 winners:

Notice any similarities? We did too.

Here is a breakdown of the top five sectors in our results:

Health Care: 36
Information Technology: 36
Consumer Discretionary: 36
Materials: 25
Telecommunications: 9

Now it might be one thing to see a random name here an there, but when I see no fewer than four sectors with at least 25 names in our results, I see a pattern. A few observations:

• The winning streak in health care is obvious. Investors seem to be flocking to defensive, low-beta sectors to escape the rancorous volatility we've seen the past month.

• The number of IT names on this list is surprising, especially considering the tech-heavy Nasdaq is down about -13%. But not when you consider their size. A lot of these companies have small market caps. Because of their size, these companies don't do a lot of business in Europe. Larger tech names that derive a significant portion of revenue from Europe like Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HP) and IBM (NYSE: IBM) have suffered.

• Consumer discretionary stocks are dong well across the board, thanks to encouraging signs in consumer confidence and, most recently, durable goods orders. Interesting fact: 10 out of the 36 names here are in the media sector. Ad spending is ramping up, so keep these names on your radar.

• 18 out of 25 stocks in the materials group are classified as "metals/mining" stocks. With the European debt crisis looming and the euro's future uncertain, gold has enjoyed a surge of interest among investors, piercing $1,240 per ounce recently. But as I said recently, gold has been in the midst a 10-year renaissance. The situation in Europe only enhances what has and will be a good place to park some cash for the foreseeable future.

Now, we'll take a look at five specific stocks that are up and see if they can continue their winning ways.

Coinstar (Nasdaq: CSTR) is one name that has delivered impressive results in the short-term, but I'd stay away if looking for a long-term, buy-and-hold investment. Coinstar's kiosk DVD rental business has been disruptive to video rental chains, but the ultimate disruptive force, the Internet, will eventually render this a moot point.

Chip-maker Cirrus Logic (Nasdaq: CRUS) has gained nearly +39% through Wednesday's close after recently posting impressive results. The chip sector as a whole looks promising, although a stock likeApplied Materials (Nasdaq: AMAT) may hold more promise.

You may know iRobot (Nasdaq: IRBT) for the company's Roomba robotic vacuum, but there's more to the company than that. This company makes robots of all shapes and sizes. As David Sterman price-to-earnings ratio (P/E), but I think it may be warranted. The stock still has bright days ahead as government sales account for about 46% of total revenue, and should have room to grow in the long-run.

Rental-car firm Dollar Thrifty (NYSE: DTG) has surged +18% amid the market's downturn on buyoutrumors from both Hertz (NYSE: HTZ) and Avis (NYSE: CAR). Hertz put in the original bid, valued at $940 million, and Avis is mulling a counteroffer. The shares have surged past the $41 per share offer, but an actual deal could be difficult to swing in this market.

Investors have their pick among gold miners that are up, including U.S. Gold Corp. (NYSE: UXG) -- up +29%, Eldorado Gold (NYSE: EGO) -- up +18%, Seabridge Gold (NYSE: SA) -- +17% and Allied Nevada (NYSE: ANV) -- up +13%. But the best play of them all is a little further down on our list,Goldcorp (NYSE: GG). The miner is up +7%, but may be the best long-term gold play on the market because it has the lowest production costs in the industry and can still be profitable even if prices drop.

The New MEGA PICK is....TGGI.PK (Trans Global Group Inc)!

Our New MEGA PICK is TGGI.PK and this is a chart play that we expect to bounce hard here from its current 52 week low price! We are anticipating 100% to possibly 300% increase from this level! We do not say this often but we dont often see charts like this either!

TGGI has been in freefall mode and we noticed that it may have hit a technical bottom here as accumulation has begun to pick up. A reversal is coming and we will get in here at the ground floor! This one should move very quickly so remember your trading rules. Please see chart below:




ABOUT TGGI:

Share Structure:
• Estimated Market Cap $879,341 as of May 28, 2010
• Outstanding Shares 799,401,300 as of Apr 13, 2010
• Authorized Shares 1,500,000,000 as of Apr 9, 2010
• Float(shares) 249,401,298 as of Apr 13, 2010

Trans Global Group, Inc. is in the business of acquiring GREEN related technologies or partnering with companies that have unique products within the GREEN industry. TGGI recently acquired Ecosafe, Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiary Ecosafe Insulation of Florida, LLC. Ecosafe is a distributer and installer of Ecosafe Premium Foam, a product of American Green Group traded under the symbol (AMNE).

Ecosafe entered into an agreement for 5 territories in the State of Florida and the exclusive rights to so sell Infinite R within the State of Florida. Ecosafe and AMNE have entered into a joint venture giving Ecosafe the exclusive right to sell and install Ecosafe Premium Foam and the right to market Infinite R in these states as well. TGGI is currently looking at several other companies that could complement the joint venture with AMNE.

About Ecosafe Premium Foam:
ECOSAFE Premium Foam® Insulation is a foam-in-place insulation that outperforms the other retrofit insulation products. ECOSAFE Premium Foam® is a semi-permeable foam that provides superior thermal & acoustical insulation. This environmentally friendly foam emits no CFCs and does not contain any petroleum. Unlike blown in insulation products, ECOSAFE Premium Foam® is injected as a liquid and is able to fill every void, thereby creating a highly effective thermal envelope preventing air infiltration. Ecosafe Premium Foam Insulation does not settle over time as can fiber based insulations. ECOSAFE Premium Foam® is an excellent choice for retrofitting homes even where old, ineffective insulation materials may already exists.

http://www.google.com/finance?q=PINK:TGGI

Canadian Markets Report

TSX Looks For Direction As BoC Hikes Key Interest Rate

Bay Street stocks may witness a volatile session Tuesday amid mixed cues from the commodities markets and as traders were digesting the just released interest rate decision by the Bank of Canada. Today, BOC hiked its target for the overnight rate to 0.50%, as widely expected.

Moreover, cues from the global stock markets were also not encouraging with the European market dipping nearly 2%. Oil giant BP Plc. plummeted around 15%, shedding nearly $23 billion of its market capitalization, after a failed attempt to plug its oil spill.

Meanwhile, unemployment in the euro zone climbed to a record high of 10.1% in April, from 10% in March.

On Monday, the S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 91.54 points or 0.78% to 11,762.99.

The price of crude oil moved down for a second session amid lingering worries over the growth in the global economy. Earlier today, the state-affiliated China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said its purchasing managers index, or PMI, fell to 53.9 in May from 55.7 in April and 55.1 in March. Economists were expecting a reading of 54.5. Crude for July delivery dipped $1.60 to $72.37 a barrel.

Meanwhile, the price of gold moved up on safe haven buying, with gold for August delivery adding $13.0 to $1,228.0 an ounce.

In corporate news, Canada's third-largest lender by asset Scotiabank said its second-quarter net income jumped to C$1.02 per share from C$0.81 per share in the year ago quarter. Net interest income for the quarter declined to C$2.05 billion from C$2.08 billion in the comparable period, while total revenue for the quarter grew to C$3.87 billion from C$3.59 billion in the earlier period.

Excluding one-time items, Scotiabank's net income were at C$1.04 per share that came in much higher than the consensus estimates for a net income of C$0.93 per share.

Integrated energy company Husky Energy said its subsidiary Husky Oil China Ltd. has completed drilling and successful testing of the first appraisal well in the South China Sea with encouraging results. The company said the first appraisal well tested natural gas at an equipment restricted rate of 55 million cubic feet per day with indications that the well's future deliverability could be 60 -70 million cubic feet per day.

Energy sector focused investment trust Zargon Energy Trust said it acquired about 6.9 thousand net acres of undeveloped land in southern Alberta, consisting of medium and heavy gravity oil pools with about 350 barrels of oil equivalent per day, for $25 million.

Book retailer Indigo Books & Music reported improved fiscal 2010 net earnings of C$1.39 per share compared to C$1.21 per share last year.

Diamond mining company Rockwell Diamonds reported a narrower fiscal 2010 net loss of C$0.03 per share compared to a loss of C$0.05 per share in fiscal 2009.

Gold and silver explorer Genco Resources said that it move to back to full mining production at La Guitarra mine as it has now been granted authority to purchase explosives for mining operations.

In economic news, Bank of Canada hiked its target for the overnight rate by 0.25% to 0.50%. The bank rate was correspondingly raised to 0.75%, while deposit rate was kept at 0.25%. Economists were expecting the bank to raise its target rate for overnight loans between commercial banks to 0.50% from 0.25%

Yesterday, data from Statistics Canada revealed that the country's GDP grew 6.1% at an annualized pace in the first quarter 2010, beating economists expectations for a 5.9% expansion.

Asia Markets Report

Asian Markets End In Negative Territory On Europe Concerns

The markets across Asia open for trading on the first day of June ended in negative territory following weaker than expected manufacturing data in China, political crisis in Japan and weak cues from overseas futures market. Commodity related stocks were the major decliners. Lack of cues from overseas markets following holiday on the NYSE on Monday also impacted market sentiment as traders preferred to adopt a cautious approach.

In Japan, the benchmark Nikkei 225 Index dropped 56.87 points, or 0.58%, to 9,712, while thebroader Topix index of all First Section issues was down 0.42 point, or 0.05%, at 880.

Cautious trading was witnessed during the session with most of the traders preferring to adopt a wait-and-watch attitude due to lack of overseas cues and the crisis in Euro region.

Shipping related stocks led the declines amid concerns about economic recovery following weaker than expected manufacturing data from China. Mitsui OSK Lines lost 1.70%, Nippon Yusen edged down 0.31% and Kawasaki Kishen Kaisa plunged 3.24%.

Non-ferrous metals were also among the decliners. SUMCO Corp. fell 2.42%, Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., lost 1.93%, Fujikura Ltd plunged 4.02%, Toho Zinc Ltd shed 2.70%, DOWA Holdings Co. slipped 1.84%, Mitsubishi declined 2.01% and Mitsui Mining & Smelting was down by 1.53%.


Trading companies also ended weaker on stronger local currency. Mitsui & Co. fell 1.70%, Toyota Tsusho lost 1.16%, Mitsubishi Corp. slipped 0.97%, Itochu Corp. declined 1.46% and Sumitomo Corp. was down 0.61%.

Automotive stocks also ended in negative territory with minor losses. Toyota Motor slipped 0.46%,Honda Motor edged down 0.22%, Isuzu Motors fell 3.19%, and Nissan Motor Co., fell 1.36%.

In Australia, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 Index slipped 16.60 points, or 0.37% and closed at 4,413, while the All-Ordinaries Index ended at 4,438, representing a loss of 16.90 points, or 0.38%.

On the economic front, the Reserve Bank of Australia left its key interest rate unchanged as expected. After hiking the rate for three successive months, the Board decided to retain the cash rate at 4.5%. With the high level of the terms of trade expected to add to incomes and demand, Australia's output growth over the coming year is likely to be about trend, even though the effects of earlier expansionary policy measures will be diminishing, Governor Glenn Stevens said in a statement. Stevens said inflation appears likely to be in the upper half of the target zone over the next year.

A report released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed that retail sales in the country continued to increase in April, but at a slower pace. As per the report, retail sales rose a seasonally adjusted 0.6% on a monthly basis in April, slower than the 0.8% growth in the previous month. Economists had expected an increase of 0.3%. The retail trade turnover increased 0.9% on an annual basis in April, while the turnover fell 2.4% in original terms.

In a separate report, the Statistics Bureau revealed that approvals for dwelling units in the country decreased in April compared to the previous month. As per the report, the seasonally adjusted total dwelling units approvals dropped 14.8% on a monthly basis in April, in contrast to the 16.8% growth in the previous month, revised from 15.3% reported initially. Economists had expected a decline of 5%. Building approvals for private sector houses slipped 13.5% and private sector other dwellings fell 5.4%.

A report released by the Australian Industry Group and PriceWaterhouseCoopers revealed that the performance of manufacturing index of PMI in the country fell 3.5 points, to 56.3 in May, suggesting a slowdown in the manufacturing sector. The easing in the overall manufacturing growth rate reflected slower, though still strong, growth in manufacturing production, combined with an easing to more moderate rates of growth in new orders, inventories and supplier deliveries.

Banks ended in negative territory with minor losses after the RBA decided to keep the interest rates unchanged, as widely anticipated. ANZ Bank slipped 0.04%, Commonwealth Bank of Australiashed 0.74%, National Australia Bank fell 1.18% and Westpac Banking lost 0.87%. Investment banker Macquarie Group also ended in negative territory with a loss of 1.55%.


Mining and metal stocks also ended weaker following unexpected decline in China manufacturing and domestic PMI data. BHP Billiton edged down 0.13%, Rio Tinto slipped 0.39%, Gindalbie Metals fell 2.80%, Macarthur Coal lost 2.10%, Mincor Resources declined 0.91%, Murchison Metals slumped 3.32% and Oz Minerals was down 1.40%.

Mixed trading was witnessed among oil related stocks Woodside Petroleum gained 1.49%, Santosrose 1.77%, Oil Search advanced 1.08% and Origin Energy increased 0.80%. However, ROC Oil Co. ended in negative territory with a loss of 1.41%.

Gold stocks ended in positive territory. Lihir Gold added 0.25% and Newcrest Mining rose 0.87%.

In Hong Kong, the benchmark Hang Sang Index ended in negative territory with a loss of 268.24 points, or 1.36%, at 19,497, taking cues from other markets in the region which were trading in negative territory on concerns about the sovereign debt crisis in the Euro region with Spain also joining the list of countries that were downgraded by rating agencies. Weaker than expected manufacturing data from mainland China also impacted market sentiment. Traders were cautious awaiting more cues from the US market which were closed for trading on Monday.

A sell-off across Asian and European markets amid concerns that a slowdown in China and Europe's efforts to reduce budget deficits may impede global economic recovery dragged the Indian market sharply lower on Tuesday after four sessions of gains. The 30-share Sensex average saw range-bound movement until the mid-session before plunging almost 4% on broad-based selling. However, the Sensex closed the session off the day's low at 16,572, down 373 points or 2.20% and the 50-share Nifty ended down 116 points or 2.28% at 4,970.

Among the other major markets open for trading, China's Shanghai Composite Index declined 23.86 points, or 0.92% to close at 2,568, Indonesia's Jakarta Composite Index fell 72.34 points, or 2.59% to close at 2,725, Singapore's Strait Times Index slipped 37.16 points, or 1.35% to close at 2,715 and Taiwan's Weighted Index plunged 84.65 points or 1.15% and closed at 7,289.

European markets,US. Economic Reports

European Markets The major European markets are declining sharply on Tuesday, with the key averages in the region opening modestly lower and seeing further losses in the session. The French CAC 40 Index and theGerman DAX Index are receding 2.01% and 1.72%, respectively, while the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is down 1.96%. Oil giant BP is trading sharply lower after its ‘Top Kill’ operation to plug the leaking oil well in the Gulf of Mexico region failed. The company is reportedly trying a new method to stall the spill. On the economic front, Eurostat reported that the jobless rate in the euro zone region rose 0.1 points to 10.1% in April, while economists had expected the rate to hold steady at 10%. Meanwhile, Germany’s Federal Labor Agency said the number of unemployed individuals in Germany fell 45,000 in May, while economists estimated a more modest drop of 18,000. The jobless rate fell to 7.7% on a seasonally adjusted basis from 7.8% in the previous month. Additionally, the ILO unemployment rate harmonized across the European Union slid to 7.1% from 7.6%. German retail sales rose 1% month-over-month in April in real terms, according to a report released by the German Federal Statistical Office. The retail sales growth was in line with expectations. However, retail sales fell 3.1% in real terms, reversing the 3.7% increase in the previous month. The results of a private sector manufacturing survey showed that the manufacturing purchasing managers’ index for the euro area fell to 55.8 in May, lower than the flash estimate of 55.9 and the month-ago reading of 57.6, which represented the highest level in four years. All member countries showed deterioration in output and new order growth. The Markit/CADF French manufacturing purchasing managers’ index fell to 55.8 in May from 56.6 in April. At the same time, the German BME manufacturing purchasing managers’ index was upwardly revised to 58.4 in May from the flash estimate of 58.3. In April, the index was at 61.6. However, the Markit/CIPS Purchasing Managers' Index for the U.K. signaled a continuation of the solid rebound in the manufacturing sector. The index stood at 58 in May, in line with April's reading. Economists had expected the index to fall to 57.9 in May. U.S. Economic Reports With the euro zone crisis leading to some uncertainty over the sustainability of the recovery that is underway in the U.S., all eyes are likely to be trained on the jobs report to be released during the upcoming week. The monthly non-farm payrolls report for May, the ADP’s private sector employment report, the weekly jobless claims report and the results of the Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing and non-manufacturing surveys for May are likely to be on most traders’ radar. The construction spending report for April, auto sales for May, the pending home sales index for April, the factory goods orders for April and the Fed speeches scheduled for the week round up the other Main Street events of the week. Given the lackluster results of the Treasury auctions held in the week ended May 28th, announcements concerning the auctions of 6-year, 3-year and 10-year, all due on Thursday, may also generate some interest. The ISM’s survey is expected to show a decline in the manufacturing index below the ’60’ level it had topped in April, given the weak results of the regional manufacturing surveys for May. That said, the softness represents only a slight loss of momentum, with the manufacturing sector still in expansion mode. BMO Capital Markets expects the employment index to show that manufacturers are still hiring, while the export orders index may see some downside due to the recent rally in the U.S. dollar. At the same time, the non-manufacturing index compiled by the Institute may show an uptick, with the employment index of the survey likely to rise above 50 for the first time since December 2007. Hiring related to census 2010 should give a solid boost to non-farm payrolls in May. In April, payroll employment rose for the fourth straight month, with April’s increase primarily reflecting private sector hiring. A census-related hiring boost could pull the unemployment rate down in May even if the labor force continues to expand due to previously discouraged workers coming into the labor market. Individual automakers are also scheduled to release their monthly U.S. sales results for May. The data will reveal the unit sales of domestically produced cars and light duty trucks, including sports utility vehicles and mini-vans, during the month. Auto sales should benefit from month-end Memorial Day incentives. Consequently, sales are expected to edge up to a seasonally adjusted annual rare of 11.3 million units in May from 11.2 million units in April. The results of the manufacturing survey of the Institute for Supply Management, which are based on data compiled from purchasing and supply executives nationwide, are due out at 10 AM ET. Economists expect the index to show a reading of 59.4 for May. In April, conditions in the manufacturing sector continued to improve. The headline purchasing managers index rose to 60.4 in April from 59.6 in March and was also higher than the consensus estimate of 60. The new orders index rose 4.2 points to 65.7 and the production index increased 5.8 points to 66.9, but the order backlogs index eased 0.5 points to 57.5. Signaling that the job market is strengthening, the employment index rose 3.4 points to 58.5. The Commerce Department's construction spending report to be released at 10 AM ET is expected to show 0.1% growth in spending for May. Construction spending rose 0.2% month-over-month in April, with the increase aided by a 2.3% jump in spending on public construction. On the other hand, private construction spending declined 0.9%. The weakness in private construction was centered on multi-family construction spending and private non-residential construction spending, while fell by 6.3% and 0.7%, respectively.

Stocks in Focus

City National (CYN) is likely to be in focus after it announced that its wholly subsidiary City National Bank has acquired the banking operations of Las Vegas-based Sun West Bank in a purchase agreement with the FDIC. City National will buy 7 banking offices and approximately $352 million in assets.

http://www.cnb.com/

http://www.google.com/finance?q=NYSE:CYN

Covidien (COV) may react to its announcement that it has signed an agreement to buy all outstanding shares of ev3, Inc. (EVVV) for $22.50 per share in cash for a total of $2.6 billion, net of cash acquired. Covidien expects the deal to dilute earnings in 2010 and 2011 on a GAAP basis.

http://www.covidien.com

http://www.google.com/finance?q=NYSE:COV

Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) is expected to move in reaction to its announcement that it will invest $1 billion in the next generation of its enterprise services business. To fund the investment, the company said it would take about $1 billion in charges over a multi-year period in its GAAP results. The investment is expected to result in annualized gross savings of about $1 billion and net savings after reinvestment in a range between $500 million and $700 million. In connection with the move, the company expects to eliminate about 9,000 positions over a multi-year period.

http://www.hp.com

http://www.google.com/finance?q=NYSE:HPQ