>>> Microsoft’s latest attempt to get noticed in the mobile space can spell good

Microsoft’s latest attempt to get noticed in the mobile space can spell goodbye to long term network contracts


Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) has long lurked in the shadows of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in the smartphone industry. However, it appears the company is ready do give its all in a bid to get noticed. We take a look at recent reports which claim that the company is now planning to adopt a strategy which revolves around the manufacture of its own specially designed SIM cards.

Ever since the company struck a deal with Finnish company, Nokia Inc. (NYSE:NOK), its smartphone business has fallen to depths not many had expected. With the partnership now over and the company pursuing a change in policy by pushing forth its own manufactured smartphones, Microsoft might be heading toward a new era of mobile devices.

The company recently launched its Lumia 950 and Lumia 950XL, two flagship devices which feature specs that could compete with any existing smartphone in the industry. While the company might be falling short with its Windows Phone platform, it is hoping to attract users towards its devices via a new strategy, one that involves SIM cards.

According to reports, Microsoft is currently testing a cellular data application which will allow Windows 10 running devices, including smartphones, tablets and other devices, to connect to different mobile networks without a contract. Such a move requires the company to manufacture its own SIM cards, something that will make access to LTE far easier for users.

Although the application has been published on Microsoft’s Windows Store, the company is yet to confirm its plans regarding the service. The application can’t be downloaded by users just yet, but we have enough clues to figure out what to expect from it.

The application which is listed down as Free is called, “Cellular Data” and is only compatible on Windows 10 running devices that make use of a “Microsoft SIM Card”. According to details, we believe Microsoft is planning to create its own virtual mobile network which will allow users to connect to partner carrier networks.

For now, we are unsure of which partners will be on board with the new service, something Microsoft will need to focus on if it expects it to be a telling feature, to attract users towards its Windows 10 Mobile.

According to reports, the application will allow users to stay connected wherever they go. Having access to Cellular Data courtesy of your Microsoft Account is quite a tempting proposition. The best feature about the service is that users will be able to pay for data using only their Microsoft account information, i.e. they will no longer have to rely on long term commitments to mobile networks.

Its not known yet which markets are likely to get access to the service when it launches. However, many believe the company will only initiate International Roaming after gauging its success in the domestic market. Although Microsoft has confirmed that payment would be done via users' accounts, pricing details of the service are yet to be released.

By the looks of things, Microsoft is focusing on the hardware aspects when it comes to its smartphone business. While the manufacture of SIM Cards and provision of widespread access to Cellular Data will please many, the company needs to relay some focus onto its currently buggy Windows 10 Mobile.

>>> US Gapping up

Gapping up
In reaction to strong earnings/guidance: RT +4.6%, RTIX +2.8%, TSM +2.4%, CRUS +2.1%, FIVE +1.2%, (Five Below raises Q4 rev guidance and narrows Q4 EPS guidance; holiday comps +4.1%), BBBY +1.1%, URBN +0.6%, (Urban Outfitters reports Nov/Dec total company net sales were flat y/y, comparable retail segment (including direct- to-consumer channel) net sales -2%), .

M&A news: SHPG +2.6% (Potential Shire (SHPG) acquisition of BXLT at $48/share), BXLT +1.8% (Potential Shire (SHPG) acquisition of BXLT at $48/share)

Select China related names showing strength: YNDX +3.9%, WBAI +3.4%, CHU +2.8%, CHL +2.6%, HSBC +1.9%.

Select alt energy stocks trading higher: FCEL +12.8%, JKS +8.9%, CPST +7.1%, CSIQ +5.7%

Select oil/gas related names showing strength: CHK +3.6%, PBR +3.1%, SDRL +2.1%, DVN +1.6%, KMI +1.4%, COP +0.8%

Other news: SIEN +40.8% (Sientra sends letter to surgeons regarding the independent third-party testing of Sientra's products, the submission of such test results to the FDA and other business updates), XBIT +18.1% (completes data analysis for its Phase III European study), ATHX +14.6% (Athersys and Healios form alliance focusing on development and commercialization of regenerative medicine products for stroke in Japan), BCLI +10% (still checking), NGL +7.7% (announced that it has entered into an agreement with an affiliate of ArcLight Capital Partners to sell TransMontaigne GP LLC for $350 mln in cash), WTW +4.6% (cont volatility), DDD +4.2% (likely due to CES presentation), MNTA +4.1% (enters into an exclusive global collaboration agreement with Mylan (MYL)),ARDX +4% (prices 7.5 mln shares of its common stock at $10.00 per share), ARIA +3.8% (Ariad Pharm and its partner Otsuka Pharma submit NDA to the Japanese Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency seeking approval for Iclusig), FOMX +3.2% (announces positive results from a Phase 1 maximum use pharmacokinetics study of FMX-101, top line results indicate that the relative bioavailability of FMX-101 was more than 100x lower than that for Solodyn), GPRO +2.6% (cont vol pre-mkt), TWX +2.6% (could be forced to pursue a sale, or spin-off its HBO unit by activist shareholders, according to the NYPost), VRX +2.2% (cont vol pre-mkt), F +2.1% (reports Ford China sold a record 1.1 mln vehicles in 2015; December sales set a record, up 27%), CRH +1.4% (provides strategy update; confirms total disposal proceeds of EUR1 bln for 2015), NXPI +1.3% (following CRUS guidance)

Analyst comments: SGNL +17.6% (initiated with a Buy at Rodman & Renshaw; tgt $4 on favorable MyPRS view), SUNE +12.6% (upgraded to Hold from Sell at Axiom Capital), ARC +2.3% (initiated with a Buy at B. Riley & Co), PHM +1.7% (upgraded to Outperform from Mkt Perform at Raymond James), AA +1.7% (upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Macquarie), FL +1.5% (upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA/Merrill), MSFT +1.1% (initiated with an Outperform at BMO Capital
)

>>> US Gapping down

Gapping down
In reaction to disappointing earnings/guidance: TCS -27.6%, CUDA -26.4%, AEO -11.1%, GHDX -8.9%, QDEL -8.1%, GPS -7.4%, QRVO -5.2%


Select metals/mining stocks trading lower: HMY -8.3%, KGC -5%, AUY -4.3%, ABX -3.3%, SAND -3.3%, GG -2.5%, GDX -2.4%, GFI -2.2%, NEM -1.9%, SLV -1.5%, GOLD -0.8%

Other news: SFXE -32% (disclosed it assigned all of its rights as lender under SFXE's $30 mln revolving credit facility to Catalyst Fund Limited Partnership), SORL -8.7% (announces that the consortium has withdrawn its previously submitted non-binding 'going-private' offer due to market conditions), COLL -2.7% (prices a 2.75 mln share public offering of common stock at $20.00/share), NVCR-1.3% (submitted a premarket approval partial amendment application to the Japanese Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency for the use of Optune in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma), SWKS -0.9% (following CRUS guidance), AVGO -0.5% (following CRUS guidance), .

Analyst comments: N/
A

>>> US Early premarket gappers

Early premarket gappers

Gapping up: BCLI +10%, SUNE +9%, CPST +8.7%, JKS +7.5%, FCEL +7.1%, CSIQ +5.3%, ARDX +5.2%, AMD +4.6%, RT +4.6%, WBAI +3.4%, CHK +3.4%, DVN +3.3%, FOMX +3.2%, CHL +3.1%, VALE +3%, CHU +2.8%, SHPG +2.7%, PBR +2.4%, GSK +2.4%, URBN +2.4%, GPRO +2.1%, COP +2.1%, CCL +2.1%, IHG +2.1%, VRX +1.9%, TWX +1.9%, NVDA +1.8%, FCX +1.6%, HSBC +1.6%, FL+1.5%, CRUS +1.5%, KMI +1.4%, CRH +1.4%, YNDX +1.4%, ING +1.3%, FIVE +1.2%, BBBY +1.1%

Gapping down: SFXE -32%, CUDA -22.7%, TCS -19.5%, QRVO -9%, GPS -8.6%, QDEL -8.1%, HMY -7.6%, KGC -5%, AVGO -3.9%, ABX -3.9%, SWKS -3.7%, NEM -3.5%, SAND -3.3%, GG -2.9%, GDX -2.1%, STO -2.1%, SLV -1.6%, NVCR -1.3%, GOLD -1.3%, STM -1.3%, ASML -1%, RDS.A -0.8%

>>> Selloff in European Stocks is ‘Technical Correction’: BofA

Selloff in European Stocks is ‘Technical Correction’: BofA

(Bloomberg) -- New Year’s pull-back in European equities is technical correction where long positions looking for usual January rally are being flushed out of the system, rather than fundamental change of trend, BofA European equity strategists including James Barty and Ronan Carr write in note.
* BofA still structurally positive on European stocks
- Market offers “decent valuation, very good yield” vs other asset classes, while macro backdrop still improving
* “Right now we think markets are close to a near term low and would look to add risk into this weakness”
* Stay underweight China, commodities and expensive defensives
- Remain underweight basic resources: looking towards an end game of more equity raising
- Underweight autos: investors underestimating both China and VW risks
- Cautious on retail: fundamentals remain poor, valuations have yet to adjust
- Staples have an EM bias, and “simply too expensive”
* Overweight tech, industrials, media, healthcare
* Positive on banks, “where 2016 will be the acid test of whether the regulatory cycle will permit dividends. We think it will”

(Der SPiegel) Cologne Assaults: Police Report Outlines 'Chaotic and Shameful' Ne

Cologne Assaults: Police Report Outlines 'Chaotic and Shameful' New Year's Eve

{http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/cologne-attacks-on-new-years-produced-chaos-say-police-a-1070894.html}

An internal police protocol has revealed the full extent of the violence in Cologne on New Year's Eve. According to the report, which SPIEGEL has seen, officials were overwhelmed and powerless to help some people calling for help.

Law enforcement officials lost control of the situation in Cologne on New Year's Eve, according to an internal report by Germany's national police, the Bundespolizei, obtained by DER SPIEGEL. The author of the report, dated Jan. 4, is a senior official. He writes: "Women, accompanied or not, literally ran a 'gauntlet' through masses of heavily intoxicated men that words cannot describe." The horde in front of and inside the train station was unmoved by the presence of police.

According to the report, officers encountered many distraught, crying, frightened pedestrians, particularly women and girls. They reported "fights, thefts, sexual assaults against women, etc." Groups of male migrants were repeatedly named as perpetrators.
Identifying those responsible -- especially the perpetrators of sexual assaults -- "was unfortunately no longer possible." The reason: "Security forces were unable to get all of the incidents, assaults, crimes, etc. under control. There were simply too many happening at the same time." Police were frustrated at their inability to help each victim. At times, it wasn't even possible to record all of the complaints that were being lodged.

The report lists several examples of police officers' experiences:

Officers were hindered from pushing their way through to people calling for help by tight clusters of men.
A man is quoted as saying: "I'm a Syrian! You have to treat me kindly! Mrs. Merkel invited me."
Witnesses were threatened when they provided the names of perpetrators.
People reportedly demonstratively tore up residence permits in front of the police, grinned and said: "You can't touch me. I'll just go back tomorrow and get a new one." The report did not, however, confirm the authenticity of the documents.
Orders for people to leave the premises were ignored; taking repeat offenders into custody was not possible due to lack of resources.
After track closures due to overcrowding, people simply forced their way over adjacent platforms and train tracks back to the closed platform.
Physical fights broke out as trains were being boarded; it was "every man for himself."
The situation, which was described in the report as "chaos," was so out of control that there were concerns about serious injuries or even deaths, according to the author. That is why the operation leader decided to clear the square. The report notes that police officers were "bombarded with fireworks and pelted with glass bottles." Even after the square was cleared, there were "repeatedly multiple physical confrontations between people as well as groups of people, thefts and robberies in several places at the same time."
The author of the report draws a grim conclusion: The actions of the police officers was met with a level of disrespect "like I have never experienced in my 29 years of public service." Because too few officers were on the scene, the ones that were present "reached the limits of their abilities pretty quickly" -- their deployment lasted from 9:45 p.m. until 7:30 a.m. As central problems facing law enforcement, the report cites overwhelmed police officers, insufficient personnel and weaknesses in equipment, which were "not to be expected." The author describes the entire situation on New Years' Eve as "chaotic and shameful."

In the days since the New Year's Eve attacks, Cologne police have received more than 100 complaints. In an initial statement on the morning of Jan. 1, the police press department noted that the situation on the prior evening had been "relaxed." Cologne Police President Wolfgang Albers later admitted that "this initial statement was incorrect."