STOCKS NEWS US-Zions Bancorp falls after KBW downgrade

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1049 EST 4Feb2010
Zions Bancorp falls after KBW downgrade

Keefe, Bruyette and Woods downgraded Zions Bancorp to 'underperform' from 'market perform,' saying the bank would need to raise as much as $700 million in common equity before it repays bailout funds.

The brokerage said Zions would be pressured to repay the money it received under the Treasury's Troubled Asset Relief Programme as other banks, such as PNC Financial Services Group, have already begun to raise capital to repay TARP. For details, see

Shares of Zions fell 4.1 percent to $17.86.

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1024 ET 04Feb2010 Volatility looms ahead of Friday jobs data

The CBOE Volatility Index, Wall Street's favorite pulse of investor anxiety, jumped 15.05 percent to 24.85, as investors were inclined to bid up options to manage their stock market risk ahead of Friday's jobs data.

The so-called VIX is a 30-day risk forecast priced off of Standard & Poor's index option prices and generally moves up when the underlying S&P benchmark falls sharply. The S&P 500 dropped more than 2 percent as materials, energy and financial shares dropped after the government said the number of initial claims for jobless benefits unexpectedly rose last week. 'Investors are clamoring for protection,' said Ryan Renicker, equity derivatives strategist at Ticonderoga Securities. 'Given the sell-off this morning, investors appear to be hedging their books with VIX call options and puts on the S&P 500 ETF heading into the Friday jobs number.'

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1008 EST 4Feb2010
Factory orders up 1 pct in December

New orders at U.S. factories jumped by an unexpectedly large 1 percent in December despite a drop in transportation equipment orders, while inventories shrank, the government said on Thursday.

Analysts polled by Reuters expected orders to increase by 0.5 percent. Factory orders for November were revised up to a 1 percent gain.

Transportation orders fell by 0.5 percent on a 34.1 percent drop in civilian aircraft orders. Excluding transportation, new orders rose 1.2 percent in the month.

For details, see

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0940 EST 4Feb2010
Markets open lower on jobs data, euro zone woes

U.S. stocks fell on Thursday after data showed new applications for jobless benefits rose unexpectedly last week, adding to worries over sovereign debt in some euro zone countries.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 83.21 points, or 0.81 percent, to 10,187.34. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index lost 10.34 points, or 0.94 percent, to 1,086.94. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 17.33 points, or 0.79 percent, to 2,173.58.

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0901 EST 4Feb2010
Goldman adds Franklin Resources to conviction buy list

Goldman Sachs replaced BlackRock Inc with Franklin Resources Inc on its Americas conviction buy list, saying a potential shift from fixed income to equities at Franklin should boost the asset manager's earnings and valuation.

BlackRock, the world's largest independent money manager, is well positioned to gain market share over time, Goldman analysts said, adding 'However, we see fewer near-term catalysts (at BlackRock) and prefer to opportunistically swap into Franklin.'

For details, see

Shares of Franklin rose 2.9 percent to $104.83.

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