The Fed cut the fed funds rate by a range of 75 to 100 basis points. The new range is 0 to 25 basis points, as opposed to an absolute target. The discount rate was cut by 75 basis points to 0.5% and a 0.25% rate was established on required and excess reserve balances of 1/4 percent.Though the size of today's cut was bigger than many forecast (expectations for a 50 basis-point cut had risen dramatically over the past 7 days), the initial reaction in the stock market has been positive, with the major indexes setting new intraday highs.More importantly, the Fed outlined additional measures to provide much needed liquidity. Specifically, the Fed will buy agency debt and mortgage-back securities. It may also buy long-term Treasury bonds if that is required to reduce long-term lending rates. Finally, the Fed left the door wide open for ...

Currencies rally then fall back…  Rate slashers!  Following Japan? Let’s hope not!  Canada’s woes mount… And Now… Today’s Pfennig! Good day… And a Happy Friday to one and all! A Fantastico Friday! A Jobs Jamboree Friday! Anything else, Chuck? No, I don’t think so, I’ll stop there… It’s all about the Jobs Jamboree today. It’s all about finding out just how badly the rot on the labor vine has gotten… The Weekly Initial Jobless Claims, yesterday, remained above 500K per week, which doesn’t bode well for next month’s data… But first… November’s Jobs Jamboree on the docket!

The “experts” have forecast a -335K drop in jobs for November… But, your old Pfennig writer believes that this forecast is low. I think it will be closer to -375K… The reason I say that is the employment piece of the ISM report that printed the other day… The employment index of that report

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Monday:Economic: NoneEarnings: American International Group (AIG), Carmike Cinemas (CKEC), Cinemark Holdings (CNK), Dish Network (DISH), Fuel Tech Inc (FTEK), Globalstar (GSAT), Nortel Networks (NT), Plug Power (PLUG), Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI), Starbucks (SBUX), Tyson Foods (TSN), Virgin Mobile (VM)Tuesday:Economic: None (Veteran’s Day)Earnings: Brooks Automation (BRKS), Energy Solutions (ES), Fossil (FOSL), Liz Clairborne (LIZ), Microsoft (MSFT), Petroleo Brasileiro (PBR), TJX Companies (TJX), Tyco International (TYC), Vodophone Group (VOD)Wednesday:Economic: MBA Purchase Applications, ICSC-Goldman Store Sales, RedbookEarnings: Applied Materials (AMAT), Charlotte Russe Holding (CHIC), Computer Sciences Corp (CSC), Crocs Inc (CROX), ING Group (ING), JA Solar Holdings (JASO), Macy’s Inc (M), NetApp (NTAP), NetEase.com (NTES), The Progressive Corp (PGR)Thursday:Economic: International Trade ($-57.0B), Jobless Claims (482K), Treasury Budget ($-92.0B)Earnings: Biofuel Energy (BIOF), Clean Energy Fuels Corp (CLNE), Compugen (CGEN), Dr Pepper Snapple Group (DPS), Image Entertainment (DISK), Keynote Systems ...

Adam Lass says the vast majority of retailers are ripe for shorting as a new era of thrift grips the US. Aside from bargain stores like Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) and the 99 Cents Only Store (NYSE:NDN), Adam says investors should buy put options on retail firms. And the best time to do this is when they talk of “better times to come”…

This from Taipan Publishing:

’Tis the season of too damn many cocktail parties. I simply don’t have the stamina for so much small talk and gossip, and don’t much care for finger food – or weak drinks.

But this time of year they are simply unavoidable (i.e., my wife makes me go). And so, all too often, I am forced to put down my tumbler of 12-year old single malt and my dog-eared edition of Gibbon’s Decline and Fall, abandon my armchair,

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Adam Lass says the vast majority of retailers are ripe for shorting as a new era of thrift grips the US. Aside from bargain stores like Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) and the 99 Cents Only Store (NYSE:NDN), Adam says investors should buy put options on retail firms. And the best time to do this is when they talk of “better times to come”…

This from Taipan Publishing:

’Tis the season of too damn many cocktail parties. I simply don’t have the stamina for so much small talk and gossip, and don’t much care for finger food – or weak drinks.

But this time of year they are simply unavoidable (i.e., my wife makes me go). And so, all too often, I am forced to put down my tumbler of 12-year old single malt and my dog-eared edition of Gibbon’s Decline and Fall, abandon my armchair,

...

Maverick CapitalMaverick Capital Management Holdings AnalysisThis post is being written as part of HedgeFundBlogger.com's Investment Securities Tool which analyzes the holdings of hedge fund managers.Lee Ainslie started Maverick Capital back in 1993 with $38 million. Nowadays, the fund is worth $10 billion. Ainslie, like many of the other fund managers I've profiled, has a background rooted in learning from legendary great Julian Robertson at Tiger Management. So, due to the fact that these proteges learned from the best and have had great success running their own hedge funds, I continually try to find a reason not to follow these funds. And, needless to say I'm never successful. Some contacts over at Maverick have explained that their hedge fund strategy is straight up stock picking, both long and short. They made ...

Analysts are trumpeting the recent drop in oil prices as a step toward normalcy. But is this celebration premature? Or perhaps even misplaced? After all, we all know that over the long haul, energy prices are headed in only one direction - higher. Crude oil plunged 8% to close at $106.23 a barrel last week - reaching its lowest level in five months - as the U.S. dollar strengthened to its highest point against the European euro so far this year. Crude oil prices actually declined for six straight days - the longest stretch since they did so from April 30, 2007 to May 7, 2007. U.S. fuel demand dropped 3.5% during the past four weeks. And unemployment spiked much more than economists had predicted. Even so, oil prices are still 41% higher than they were a year ago. "Demand destruction and the strength of ...

This morning, several retailers reported August same-store sales. This is an important report because it provides investors with an idea of how strong or weak the back-to-school shopping season was.

Quick Take: Overall, the back-to-school season was weak. Below is a sample of 22 retailers that reported same-store sales and only 8 of those companies reported a positive number. And despite ankle-high expectations, half of those companies reporting same-store sales missed those low expectations.

The trade down trend is still working with positive comps from Wal-Mart (WMT), Costco (COST), BJ's Wholesale Club (BJ), and TJX Companies (TJX). Department stores in the mid-to-high end continue to struggle. Specialty retailers were all over the map, with Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) down 11% while Buckle (BKL) was up 22% and Aeropostale (ARO) was up 13%.

Closing thought: Retail stocks have caught a bid over the last several weeks,

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Autodesk (ADSK) late Thursday 08/14/08, reported revenues of $619.5 million and earnings of $89.8 million for Q2, 2009. The $89.8 million in earnings, translated into an EPS of $0.39. Excluding special items, EPS was $0.56. Wall Street had been expecting $0.52. For the same period last year, Autodesk (ADSK) had revenues of $525.9 million, earnings of $91.6 million and EPS of $0.38.

The company also provided future guidance of $.40 to $0.42 or $0.54 to $0.56 excluding special items, for Q3, with Q3 revenues coming in at $625 to $635 million. For the full year 2009, Autodesk (ADSK) is forecasting earnings of $1.72-$1.78 or $2.24 to 2.30 excluding special items, and revenues of $2.5 to $2.53 billion.

The stock is up $3.05 in after hours trading from the $34.35 closing price. If the stock opens at these levels, it should further move to at least the $38 - $40 area before

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With the consumer high on everyone’s mind, I thought it a good time to take a look at some companies exposed to discretionary spending to see what they are saying.

Estee Lauder’s (EL) three percent growth in North America was in line with the total retail sales growth recently reported. A big question is whether they are in the wrong place at the wrong time.