Milwaukee Professionals Association

Schacknow - Today's Brief, August 21, 2012

TODAYS PRIMER                            
Peter Schacknow, Senior Producer, CNBC Breaking News Desk

Wall Street’s recent trend of very little movement continues to be in evidence – most embodied by the S&P 500, which was lower yesterday by exactly 0.03 points. Trading ranges have been small and volumes light in recent weeks, as a slow — but mostly positive — month of August rolls on.

Not helping matters today: a complete lack of government economic reports for the second consecutive day. The schedule does have a speech by Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart at 8 a.m. New York time, but that’s unlikely to be a market mover.

A few earnings reports of note are on the calendar this morning, with the latest numbers from Best Buy (BBY) and Medtronic (MDT) on the calendar. After today’s closing bell, we’ll get the latest quarterly numbers from Dell (DELL), Intuit (INTU), Analog Devices (ADI), La-Z-Boy (LZB), and Williams-Sonoma (WSM).

DreamWorks (DWA) has signed a new 5-year movie distribution deal with 20th Century Fox, owned by News Corp (NWSA). It replaces a current DreamWorks deal with Viacom’s (VIAB) Paramount Pictures.

Urban Outfitters (URBN) reported second quarter profit of $0.42 per share, nine cents above estimates, with revenues also beating consensus. The youth apparel retailer also says it sees gradual improvement in its business, along with a further tightening of store inventories.

Investor George Soros has taken a 7.85 percent passive stake in Manchester United (MANU), according to an SEC filing.

Facebook (FB) remains in the news today, after touching another all-time low yesterday before rebounding. Company director Peter Thiel has sold 20 million shares, while retaining 5.6 million shares. An SEC filing says Thiel’s share sale was planned prior to the IPO in May.

China oil producer CNOOC (CEO) reported a first half profit of just over $5 billion, but below analyst forecasts. An oil spill forced CNOOC to cut back on production during the first half, and it also saw increased costs.

KKR (KKR) has acquired privately held Chinese retailer Novo Holdco for $30 million, hoping to cash in on the country’s $38 billion youth apparel market.

The chief executives of Apple (AAPL) and Samsung have talked, but have not come to any settlement in their high profile patent dispute case. The judge in the case had requested the two sides talk before the jury begins deliberating.

GNC Holdings (GNC) could get a boost today as Barclays initiates coverage of the health products retailer with an “overweight” rating.