Financial Breakfast: Morning News Summary for January 4, 2012

• The longest period in which the exchange was closed occurred during WW1, when the NYSE was closed for four and a half months starting July 31st, 1914.

Benzinga's Top News

• Entropic Communications ENTR files intent to purchase Trident Microsystems' TRID Set-Top Box Business Unit for $55M.
• Cubic CUB wins Air Force contract for advisory and assistance services; worth a maximum of $4.7 billion.
• Alkermes ALKS announces positive results from clinical study of ALKS 5461 for major depressive disorder.

Domestic Pre-Market Trading

• U.S. Equity Markets trade lower as Dow futures trade down about 24 points.
• U.S. Dollar trades about 0.45% higher.

Overseas Trading

• European markets are mixed in afternoon trading. Britain's FTSE 100 added 0.09%, Germany's DAX slid 0.6% and France's CAC 40 lost 0.7% on the session.
• Asian stocks ended the session mixed as well. China's Shanghai lost 1.35%, Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 1.24%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng slid 0.8%

Upgrades/Downgrades

• Goldman Sachs adds Lululemon LULU to Americas Conviction List
• Morgan Stanley opens Research Tactical Idea on Warnaco Group WRC, upgrades to Equal-weight

• JP Morgan downgrades Lockheed Martin LMT to Neutral
• Morgan Keegan downgrades AvalonBay Communities AVB to Market Perform

On the Economic Calendar

• Factory Orders are set to report at 10:00 a.m. ET

Earnings

No Major Earnings this Morning

Corporate News

• Entropic Communications ENTR files intent to purchase Trident Microsystems' TRID Set-Top Box Business Unit for $55M.
• Cubic CUB wins Air Force contract for advisory and assistance services; worth a maximum of $4.7 billion.
• Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation COG declares 2-for-1 stock split; dividend increased on pre-split basis.
• Alkermes ALKS announces positive results from clinical study of ALKS 5461 for major depressive disorder.
• Liz Claiborne LIZ to become Fifth & Pacific Companies FNP.

Commodities

• Precious metals are trading lower, with gold posting losses of about 0.05%
• Energy futures are trading lower, with crude oil posting losses of about 0.7%
• Natural Gas futures are higher by about 1.6% and copper is trading lower by about 1.1%

Benzinga's Morning Radar

Technical Levels for Futures and Forex

Name	Resistance-2	Resistance-1	Mid Pivot	Support-1	Support-2
E-Mini Dow	12451	12394	12358	12301	12265
E-Mini S&P 500	1283	1278	1274	1268	1264
Gold	1635	1620	1593	1578	1551
Crude	105.45	104.18	101.92	100.65	98.39
Natural Gas	3.13	3.05	2.99	2.91	2.85
EUR/USD	1.3164	1.3106	1.3018	1.2960	1.2872
US Dollar Index	80.39	80.16	79.99	79.77	79.69

Subscribe here to receive it daily to your inbox!