06 January 2011 The Intelligent Investor

U.S.
The Economic Monitor Series. Free Edition.

INSIDE THE REPORT MARKETS AT A GLANCE

 Stock recommendations and price targets from top
brokerage firms
 Analysis and views on Is LinkedIn in hurry to go for
IPO ahead of Facebook? & FAO warns of 'food
price shock' in 2011
 Economic Indicator Watch
 U.S. stocks slipped as soft retail sales and a sharp rise in the dollar
left investors edgy a day ahead of December's employment report.
The DJIA slipped 25.58 points, or 0.22 percent, to 11,697.31
 U.S. Treasury prices gained, as investors squared positions after a
volatile selloff on Wednesday and set up for employment data on
Friday that is expected to set the direction of interest rates for the
month. Ten-year note yields have traded below 3.5 percent since
May of last year. The notes yields have traded below 4 percent
since the credit crisis hit in 2008.

 Important Events Scheduled on January 07  The dollar slipped 0.1 percent against the yen to 83.17.

Economic Events
 Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke testifies on
the Economic Outlook before the Senate Budget
Committee - 1430 GMT
Corporate Events
 No company results scheduled for release
 Gold fell for a fourth consecutive session, as the dollar rose on
signs the U.S. economic outlook was improving, but technical
buying lifted prices off their lows. Spot gold fell 0.4 percent to
$1,371.70 an ounce at 3:28 p.m. U.S. gold futures for February
delivery settled down $2 at $1,371.70.
 U.S. crude oil futures prices fell 2 percent and settled below $89 a
barrel, pressured by the dollar's strength and as disappointing
December retail sales weighed on U.S. stock indexes. On the
NYME, February crude fell $1.92, or 2.13 percent, to settle at
$88.38 a barrel, having traded from $87.85 to $90.71.

Top Stories STOCK INDICES

 Jobless claims up INDEX LAST CHNG % CHNG

DJIA* 11697.31 -25.58 -0.22

 Costco December sales up Nasdaq* 2709.89 7.69 0.28

 Moody's raises 2010 earnings outlook S&P 500* 1273.85 -2.71 -0.21
NYSE Composite* 8000.90 -39.14 -0.49
 Monsanto posts profit in Q1 Global Dow* 2103.02 -2.32 -0.11

* CLOSING VALUES
 LinkedIn plans to go public

 Constellation posts strong profit CURRENCIES

 Seattle Genetics, Pfizer in drug technology deal INDEX LAST PRIOR

Euro (EUR/USD) 1.3011 1.3155

 Goldman plans to end Facebook solicitation
U.K. Pound (GBP/USD) 1.5467 1.5512

Japanese Yen (USD/JPY) 83.3 83.26

All prices are at 04:27 PM EST

FUTURES
LAST CHANGE

Crude Oil, Feb. 88.33 -1.97

Natural Gas, Mar. 4.372 -0.069

Gold, Dec, Feb. 1372.1 -1.6

Copper, Mar. 432.35 -8.45

All prices are at 04:16 PM EST

The Intelligent Investor - U.S.

STOCK RECOMMENDATIONS BY BROKERAGE HOUSES

BROKERAGE/COMPANY ACTIONS RATING

BofA Merrill

Amazon.com Raises price target to $198 from $190 —

Credit Suisse

American Express Raises price target to $40 from $38 —

BB&T Cuts to underperform from neutral —

Discover Financial Raises price target to $20 from $19 —

Lennar Cuts to neutral from outperform —

Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts are their own, and not that of IBTimes or its management. We advise users to check with certified experts before
taking any investment decisions.

THE NEXT TRADING DAY

Economic Events
 Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke testifies on the Economic Outlook before the Senate Budget Committee - 1430 GMT

Ben Bernanke appears before the Senate Budget Committee on Friday, his first appearance in a new session of Congress shaped by a resurgent Republican Party.

Friday's face-off will likely be just a warm-up for some of the more strident challenges facing the Fed in the House of Representatives, where perennial Fed critic Ron
Paul -- now chair of a panel that oversees the central bank -- may spearhead a Tea Party onslaught against the institution.

Over coming months, lawmakers will likely grill Fed officials over their $600 billion bond-buying program, debate the central bank's need to have a mandate to keep
unemployment low, and push for greater scrutiny of Fed activities, including its monetary policy deliberations.

Company Events
 No company results scheduled for release.
The Intelligent Investor - U.S.

ANALYSIS AND VIEWS

Is LinkedIn in hurry to go for IPO ahead of Facebook?

By IBTimes Staff Reporter

LinkedIn, the network service for professionals, is planning to go public and is reportedly discussing about a possible IPO, said a
Reuters report quoting sources.

The report said the company has already selected its financial underwriters and chosen book runners like JP Morgan, Morgan
Stanley and Bank of America. "An IPO is just one of many tactics that we could consider," a LinkedIn spokesman told Reuters on
Wednesday. News about the possible IPO by LinkedIn has raised speculations in the market as to whether the company is jumping
into the IPO race ahead of Facebook to capitalize on a positive mood in the market.
Earlier, investigations by US regulator Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) have instigated rumors that the popular social
networking site, Facebook, which was on the verge of going public, settled for shareholding pattern. As per the norms, the company
has to keep the number of shareholders below 500 to prevent making it a public firm, which Facebook has managed. It was reported
that the SEC believed that the private trade of the limited shareholder's stock have increased Facebook's estimated value by billions of
dollars. To avoid investigation by the SEC, there were speculations and rumors that Facebook, with 500 million users, might decide to
go public. LinkedIn, on the other hand, with over 80 million active users, is hoping to attract investors before any such plans by
Facebook take shape. The estimated valuation of the IPO is still not known.

ANALYSIS AND VIEWS

FAO warns of 'food price shock' in 2011

By Amulya Nagaraj, IBTimes

Food prices will continue to haunt the world in 2011, even as the U.N's Food and Agricultural Organization warned of 'food price
shock' on Wednesday.

FAO's benchmark index of farm commodity prices shot up in December, exceeding levels of the 2007-08 food crises. Commodity
prices, including coffee, sugar, corn, meats and oilseeds rose 4.3 percent in December to 214.8, and shot up 25 percent for the year,
after rising 20 percent in 2009. Much of the rise was spurred by growing demand as the economy continues to recover across the
world. Additionally, food shortages due to crop failures by a drought in Russia, floods in China last year, along with heavy floods in
Australia in January, send food grain pricing soaring.

Inflation in food grain prices is becoming a major concern in developing nations such as India and China, where the governments and
policy makers are fighting what seems to be a losing war against food price inflation. However, Abdolerza Abbassian, a senior
economist at the FAO in Rome, said that the increase was 'alarming' but the situation was not yet similar to the 2007-08 crisis, when
high food prices sparked riots in countries such as Haiti, Bangladesh and Egypt.

In 2010, rising bread prices had led to riots in Mozambique, though the FAO did not term the shortage a 'crisis.' Abbassian believes
that commodity prices will probably rise further. Even so, the report noted that the prices for rice, one of the two most important
commodities, had remained mostly stable.

Wheat prices, in the meanwhile, rose last week on reports of heavy floods in Queensland, Australia that destroyed much of the crop
just before the harvest, as well as delayed shipment of several other products including sugar and coal.

The weather conditions will probably keep food prices high over the next several months, the report said. Meanwhile, U.K. continues
to fear that rising poultry prices could hamper economic growth. Inflation was around 3.3 percent in November, mostly driven by
higher prices for food, particularly poultry.

Wheat and corn prices are also rising in the U.K. based on speculations that the U.S. could pass a tax credit for corn-based ethanol
production, putting further pressure of poultry farmers.
The Intelligent Investor - U.S.

TOP STORIES

Jobless claims up
According to the U.S. Labor Department, new claims for jobless benefits moved higher last week but four-week average fell to a
nearly 2-1/2-year low. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 18,000 to a seasonally adjusted 409,000. The four-
week moving average of unemployment claims fell 3,500 last week to 410,750, the lowest level since late July 2008. The number of
people still receiving benefits under regular state programs after an initial week of aid fell 47,000 to 4.10 million in the week ended
Dec. 25. The number of people on emergency unemployment benefits fell 133,625 to 3.58 million in the week ended Dec. 18, the
latest week for which data is available. A total of 8.77 million people were claiming unemployment benefits during that period under
all programs.

Costco December sales up

Costco Wholesale Corp.'s sales at warehouse clubs open at least a year climbed 6 percent in December. The company said its sales
at U.S. warehouse clubs open at least a year increased 4 percent for the five weeks ended January 2 and internationally the figure
climbed 12 percent. Costco said Thursday that its total sales increased 11 percent to $9.19 billion in December, helped by sales from
its Mexico joint venture but narrowly missed analysts’ expectations.

Moody's raises 2010 earnings outlook

Moody’s Corp., has raised its outlook on earnings and revenue. Moody’s expects full-year earnings per share to range from$2.08 to
$2.14, compared with a previous forecast of $1.90 to$1.96. The credit rating company raised its guidance previously on October 28
after reporting a 35percent jump in third-quarter earnings. Moody’s said 2010 revenue rose about 13 percent from 2009, compared
with a previous forecast of “high-single to low-double-digit” percent growth.

Monsanto posts profit in Q1

Monsanto posted a profit in its first quarter as the early orders for spring planting of corn and soybean seeds were up. For the first
quarter that ended on Nov. 30, Monsanto reported earnings of $6 million, or a penny a share, compared with a year-earlier loss of
$19 million, or 3 cents a share. The company said it benefited from a 9 percent reduction in expenses, due mainly to restructuring
moves in the prior year. Its net sales increased 8 percent to $1.8 billion. All major crop segments reported increases, led by corn seed
and trait sales, which rose to $614million from $569 million. Although, soybean seed and trait sales totaled $226 million, up from$201
million a year earlier.

LinkedIn plans to go public

LinkedIn is planning to go public in 2011, three sources familiar with the matter revealed to Reuters. the social networking site for
professionals has selected its financial underwriters too. Morgan Stanley, Bank of America and JPMorgan are among the book
runners.

Constellation posts strong profit

Constellation Brands Inc posted a strong quarterly profit and raised its full-year forecast as its net income rose to $139.3 million, or
65 cents a share, in the third quarter, ended on November 30, from $44.1 million, or 20 cents a share, a year earlier. The US wine and
spirits maker said its net sales fell 2.2 per cent to $966.4 million, with the company citing the divestiture of its UK cider business.
Although, total spirits sales rose eight per cent. Constellation said it now expects full-year earnings before one-time items in the range
of $1.80 to $1.85 a share, up from its previous forecast of $1.63 to $1.78 a share. It also increased its annual target for free cash flow by
$100 million to a range of $475 million to $525 million.

Seattle Genetics, Pfizer in drug technology deal

Pfizer will give $208 million to Seattle Genetics in a deal under which Pfizer will be able to utilize Seattle Genetics’s antibody
technology to treat a single cancer. Now, Pfizer will be responsible for research, product development, manufacturing and
commercialization of products, Seattle said in a statement. The deal involves development of antibodies to a single cancer target
using Seattle Genetics' antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) technology.

Goldman plans to end Facebook solicitation

According to the reports by the Wall Street Journal, interest in Facebook shares is so strong that Goldman Sachs Group Inc plans to
stop soliciting interest from potential investors. The securities firm received orders of "several billion dollars," the paper reported on
Wednesday, citing people familiar with the situation. Meanwhile, Regulators are scrutinizing a $500million investment and a
commitment to raise at least $1billion more in Facebook this week by Goldman Sachs and Digital Sky Technologies. The SEC is
reviewing whether the number of shareholders in Facebook has exceeded a 499 limit in order to remain private.
The Intelligent Investor - U.S.

ECONOMIC INDICATOR WATCH ON 06 JANUARY 2011

Non-farm Payrolls (Dec)

Forecast:175k, Prior: 39k

Manufacturing Payrolls

Forecast:-10k, prior: -13k

Private Payrolls

Forecast: 180k, Prior: 50k

Unemployment

Forecast: 9.7%, Prior: 9.8

Avg Hrly Earnings

Forecast: 0.2%, Prior: 0.0%

Avg Work Week

The Labor Department will release payroll data at 0830 EST.

U.S. nonfarm payrolls likely increased by 175,000 in December, according to poll, instead of the 140,000 expected before.

Economists kept their median U.S. unemployment rate forecast for December at 9.7 percent.

U.S. employers likely stepped up hiring in December after adding a meager 39,000 jobs in November. That would mark the third straight month of gains and probably
hold back the unemployment rate from rising further after November's surprise spike to 9.8 percent.

EST/GMT Indicator Period Unit F’cast Prior

Consumer Credit (November)
0940/1440 ECRI Inflation Dec -- -- 99.6

Forecast:1 bln, Prior: 3.4 bln 1030/1530 ECRI Weekly Index w/e 12/31 -- -- 128.8

The Federal Reserve will release data on consumer credit at 1500 EST.

Total U.S. consumer credit rose $3.4 billion in October on rising student loans,
which offset a decline in revolving credit, including credit cards.

This report is produced by

International Business Times
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