>>> After Hours : RH +6.8%, CTVI +3.9%, URBN +2.9%, WTSL

After Hours Summary: RH +6.8%, CTVI +3.9%, URBN +2.9%, WTSL -39.1%, LAKE -8.3%, MW -0.3% following earnings/guidance

After Hours Gainers:

Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to earnings: RH +6.8%, CTVI +3.9%, URBN +2.9%, CASY +1.9%, GEF +1.4%, ATHN +0.6%, CENT +0.3%, PDLI +0.1%

Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to news: NVEE +8.3% (awarded $2 mln contract by San Diego County Regional Airport Authority to provide as-needed surveying services), SM +2.8% (co and its bank group have agreed to amend its senior secured revolving credit facility), CNX +1.7% (announced it will pursue the formation of an MLP for its thermal coal business with an IPO expected in mid-2015; co also announces it will pursue IPO spin-off for 20% of its met coal properties in 2H15; co also announced a $250 mln share repurchase program), WAG +1.7% (President and CEO Greg Wasson announced he will retire following completion of merger with Alliance Boots; Stefano Pessina to serve as acting CEO, pending board search for successor), 

After Hours Losers:

Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to earnings: WTSL -39.1%, LAKE -8.3%, OXM -4.5%, SURG -2.1%, MW -0.3%

Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to news: WTSL -39.1% (co announced it will need to rais additional capital; co also reported earnings), GBSN -8.7% (announced it has initiated a clinical trial for its sample-to-result Staph ID/R diagnostic test), HDS -2.9% (announced sale of ~40.66 mln shares of common stock by stockholders, including investment funds associated with The Carlyle Group (CG) and Clayton Dubilier & Rice and THD Holdings), NLSN -1.9% (announced offering of 20 mln shares of common stock by selling stockholders), BURL -1.4% (announced that affiliates of Bain Capital Partners and certain other stockholders intend to offer 8 mln shares of common stock in an underwritten public offering), MFRM -1.1% (announced that it has commenced an underwritten public offering of 2,185,130 shares of its common stock by certain selling stockholders) 

FT : US stock volumes match October sell-off

US stock volumes match October sell-off

The two month stretch of calm in US stock markets is fraying.

Volatility soared on Wednesday as sliding energy stocks left the S&P 500 nursing its steepest one-day decline in almost two months.

The S&P 500 slid 1.6 per cent to 2,032.23, under the weight of oil and gas drillers. Twelve stocks fell on the index for every one that rose.

The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 1.7 per cent to 4,683.34 while the Russell 2000, the US small-cap home, slipped 1.8 per cent to 1,166.75.

Energy stocks followed the oil price lower. Crude fell after a report from a US government agency showed comfortable stockpiles of oil in the US. Earlier in the day, the oil cartel Opec lowered its forecast for 2015 demand.

Brent, the international oil benchmark, dropped 3 per cent to $64.61 following the report, while West Texas Intermediate, the US oil standard, slid 4 per cent to $61.36.

Those declines added to the pressure on the S&P 500 energy index which slumped 4 per cent to take its decline this year to 15 per cent.

The CBOE's VIX volatility index, which measures the expected change in the S&P 500 over the coming month, hit its highest level since mid-October, when the benchmark index came within a hair of a technical correction of 10 per cent.

Airlines proved a rare point of strength, rallying on the crude price drop. The industry's fuel bill could be cut by $10bn if jet fuel prices remain near current levels, analysts with Barclays note.

More than 7.3bn shares traded hands on the New York Stock Exchange, Nasdaq and NYSE MKT, 13 per cent above the trailing 30-day average.

Wednesday marked the first day volumes had eclipsed 7bn on the three exchanges for three consecutive days since volatility cooled at the end of October.

Reuters - Telecoms group led by Brazil's Oi still mulling TIM bid

Dec 10 (Reuters) - A group of telecommunications companies led by Oi SA looking to break up a rival in Brazil are still negotiating with each other and no bid for the target is imminent, a source with knowledge of the situation said on Wednesday.

The source said Brazil's biggest fixed-line company, Oi , Telefonica SA of Spain and Mexico's America Movil SAB are still discussing how to buy and split up TIM Participações SA.

No bid price has been set, although in principle the group agreed in late October to pay at least 32 billion reais ($12.3 billion), said the source, who requested anonymity because the talks are private.

Bloomberg News reported earlier on Wednesday that the consortium is poised to bid $15 billion for TIM, or about 40 billion reais, which would value the country's No.2 wireless carrier after Telefonica Brasil SA at 7.5 times annual operational income.

The report, which cited an unnamed source, said the group would be willing to pay a 40 percent premium over TIM's current market value.

Oi, Telefonica and America Movil declined to comment immediately on the report.

Telecom Italia SpA, which owns 67 percent of TIM, and Grupo BTG Pactual SA, which is acting on Oi's behalf on the deal, also declined to comment.

Oi has asked BTG Pactual to act as "merchant commissioner," creating the kind of special investment vehicle that has been used in the past to break up companies among multiple buyers.

>>> US Close Dow -1,51% S&P -1,64% Nasdaq -1,73% Russell -2,20%

Closing Market Summary: Energy Sector Leads Stocks Lower

The major averages ended the Wednesday session on a broadly lower note. The S&P 500 lost 1.6% with all ten sectors ending in the red while the Russell 2000 (-2.1%) underperformed.

For the second day in a row, the major averages slumped at the start, but unlike yesterday, the key indices could not stage a comeback with a big drop in the energy sector (-3.1%) keeping the market under pressure throughout the session.

The energy sector widened its fourth-quarter loss to 15.9% with crude oil settling lower by 4.5% at $60.92/bbl. Today's slide took place after China reported its lowest year-over-year growth in CPI (1.4%) and OPEC cut its demand forecast. In addition, crude stockpiles showed an unexpected build. Following today's drop, the energy component is down 33.4% since the end of the third quarter.

However, the recent slump among commodities has not been isolated to just oil, but the weakness factored in more prominently today as misgivings about the pace of global economic growth and the potential spillover effect for the U.S. fueled a sense that the market has come too far too fast. Accordingly, today's selling interest hit far and wide with nine sectors losing more than 1.0%.

Similar to energy, the materials sector (-2.1%) spent the day at the bottom of the leaderboard. Growth concerns weighed on steelmakers, which sent Market Vectors Steel ETF (SLX 36.28, -1.29) lower by 3.4%.

Elsewhere, the industrial sector (-1.9%) slumped under the weight of Boeing (BA 124.64, -5.02). The Dow component lost 3.9% and fell below its 50-, 100-, and 200-day averages. The underperformance of the influential sector component masked the relative strength among airlines after International Air Transport Association's projection that the airline industry's collective global net profit after tax will increase to $25.00 billion in 2015 from an estimated $19.00 billion in 2014. Jetblue Airways (JBLU 15.15, +0.11), Southwest Airlines (LUV 41.48, +0.75), and United Continental (UAL 63.69, +1.17) jumped between 0.7% and 1.9%, helping the Dow Jones Transportation Average (-1.4%) finish a little ahead of the market.

Also of note, the consumer discretionary sector (-1.4%) settled ahead of the market, but that was no thanks to Yum! Brands (YUM 70.53, -4.69). The stock tumbled 6.2% after issuing disappointing guidance. In a way, the guidance from Yum! echoed global growth concerns. The company said that sales at its China division have not recovered from bad publicity over the summer as fast as the company had expected.

Growth concerns were also visible in the foreign exchange market with the Dollar Index (88.25, -0.45) recording its third consecutive decline. Notably, the retreat in the dollar gave a big boost to the yen and pressured the dollar/yen pair below yesterday's low (118.00).

Safe haven demand boosted Treasuries with the 10-yr yield falling six basis points to 2.16%.

The sell off invited above-average participation with more than 890 million shares changing hands at the NYSE floor.

Economic data was limited to the MBA Mortgage Index and the Treasury Budget:
  • The weekly MBA Mortgage Index spiked 7.3% to follow last week's 7.3% decline 
  • The Treasury budget showed a deficit of $56.80 billion in November, down from a deficit of $135.2 billion in November 2013. The Treasury data are not seasonally adjusted, and the November data cannot be compared to the $121.7 billion deficit in October 
    • The Consensus expected a budget deficit of $59.0 billion 
    • The November deficit was slightly smaller than the CBO's forecast of a $59.0 billion deficit 
Tomorrow, weekly Initial Claims (consensus 295K), November Retail Sales (consensus 0.4%), and November Import/Export prices will be reported at 8:30 ET while the Business Inventories report for October (consensus 0.2%) will be released at 10:00 ET.
  • Nasdaq Composite +12.2% YTD 
  • S&P 500 +9.6% YTD 
  • Dow Jones Industrial Average +5.8% YTD 
  • Russell 2000 UNCH YTD

Telefonica, Oi, Claro Said to Plan $15 Billion Offer for Tim

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Telefonica, Oi, Claro Said to Plan $15 Billion Offer for Tim 2014-12-10 18:43:51.298 GMT

By Cristiane Lucchesi, Manuel Baigorri and Christiana Sciaudone Dec. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Oi SA, Telefonica SA and Claro SA are planning to make an offer for Tim Participacoes SA that would value Brazil’s second-largest mobile-phone company at about $15 billion, people with knowledge of the matter said. The bid to buy Rio de Janeiro-based Tim, which is 67 percent owned by Telecom Italia SpA, would be made by Grupo BTG Pactual acting as a financial vehicle, the people said, asking not to be identified because the discussions are private. BTG would acquire Tim and then split it into three, the people said. Oi would have about 25 percent of Tim, and Claro -- owned by billionaire Carlos Slim’s America Movil SAB -- and Telefonica would divide the rest between them, the people said. Telefonica will join Oi and Claro later, after the acquisition of Brazilian broadband provider GVT is approved by Brazilian regulators, the people said. The companies are prepared to offer about 7.5 times Tim’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, the people said. That would work out to be more than 40 billion reais ($15.3 billion), or about 40 percent above Tim’s valuation including debt, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Representatives for Oi, Telefonica, Tim, America Movil, Claro and BTG declined to comment. Telecom Italia believes Tim should be valued at about 20 billion euros ($25 billion) or more, including debt, according to a person familiar with the matter. A Telecom Italia representative declined to comment. The Italian carrier last month received authorization from its board to explore a combination between Tim and Oi.

Portugal Sale

Mergers could help alleviate competition in Brazil, where price wars and government-mandated investments have eaten away at phone carriers’ margins. Oi said this week it agreed to sell its Portuguese assets to billionaire Patrick Drahi’s Altice SA for 7.4 billion euros, unraveling its merger with Portugal Telecom. The proceeds will enable Oi to pare its debt and take part in mergers and acquisitions. It said in a Dec. 8 statement that Oi would “maintain its objective of leading the consolidation movement in the Brazilian telecommunications market.” Telefonica, owner of the Vivo brand in Brazil, is prepared to take part in further consolidation in the country’s phone market, Chief Financial Officer Angel Vila said last month at a conference in Barcelona. Telefonica agreed in September to buy Brazilian broadband provider GVT from Vivendi SA. “We are in a position to participate, but probably we don’t need to be the ones to initiate,” he said. Banco Santander SA is advising Telefonica on the Tim deal. The bank declined to comment. America Movil Chief Financial Officer Carlos Garcia-Moreno said in a Sept. 9 interview that the carrier was entering talks to make a joint bid with Oi for Tim.

For Related News and Information: Tim Analyzes Oi, Says Deal for Brazil Rival Could Be ‘Accretive’ Billionaire Drahi to Buy Oi’s Portuguese Assets for $9.1 Billion Telecom Italia Gets Board Backing to Explore Oi Deal in Brazil Top Brazil Stories

--With assistance from Jonathan Levin in Sao Paulo, Daniele Lepido in Milan, Patricia Laya in Mexico City and Rodrigo Orihuela in Madrid.

To contact the reporters on this story: Cristiane Lucchesi in Sao Paulo at +55-11-2395-9317 or clucchesi5@bloomberg.net; Manuel Baigorri in London at +44-20-3525-4457 or mbaigorri@bloomberg.net; Christiana Sciaudone in Sao Paulo at +55-11-2395-9268 or csciaudone@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Kenneth Wong at +49-30-70010-6215 or kwong11@bloomberg.net; Aaron Kirchfeld at +44-20-3525-8830 or akirchfeld@bloomberg.net Elizabeth Wollman, Ville Heiskanen

>>> Oddo Comment on Airbus - move is refelcting street adju. but buying opp.

AIRBUS: -11%, IS IT OVERDONE? stock is taking a major hit as the slide 14 of the CMD presentation mentions that EBIT’16 will be flat vs. EBIT’15. And the sell-side community was definitely not expecting a flat EBIT’16 vs. EBIT’15. We were expecting an EBIT’16 flattish vs. EBIT’15 while the market was expecting a +10% variation EBIT’16 vs. ’15. The 11% drop is partially reflecting the adjustment that the sell sides will have to do in order to stick to the new guidance from Airbus. BUT, our analyst Yan is actually quite in line with these slides and still believes that the story is a Buy (TP Eur66 ; 48% upside). we should see LOs buying on weakness as plenty of hedgies are selling/shorting.