FirstAlert[tm] 3/31: Little Red Wagoner

March 31, 2009 (FinancialWire) (By Philip Holmes) -- Automakers GM and Chrysler got a stern talking to on Monday by the Obama administration, which demanded a major restructuring of the companies and concessions from unions and creditors as the price of any ongoing bailout by the federal government. The administration showed its mettle by forcing the resignation of GM CEO Rick Wagoner. In his public remarks on the matter, the president raised the prospect of a controlled bankruptcy process for either or both firms as part of a bailout package. All this tough talk for the automakers who, after all, make a tangible product that holds a somewhat predictable amount of its value over time, unlike, say, the makers of mortgage-related securities. An interested passer-by to this moment in history might wonder, "Why aren't they bankrupting Citi and demanding the CEO's head?" The interested passer-by might be a European head of state or finance minister who, upon catching up to our young president at the upcoming G20 summit, might be moved to ask just this sort of question. Of course we'll stick with the global plan: Jettison the manufacturing base, move it on out to low-wage countries, who will thank us by snapping up our debt at low interest. Just make sure the credit keeps flowing in ingenious new ways. We can't lose.

The Investrend Earnings Calendar features Apollo Group (NASDAQ: APOL), expected at $0.65; Borders Group (NYSE: BGP), expected at $0.95; China Direct (NASDAQ: CDII), expected at $0.04; GigaMedia (NASDAQ: GIGM), expected at $0.15.

The Investrend Economics Calendar lists Weekly Chain Store Sales (8:55 a.m.), Chicago PMI for March (9:45 a.m.), Consumer Confidence Index for March (10 a.m.), Treasury auctions 3&6-month bills.

The Investrend Events Calendar showcases CPN Analyst Meeting; KMT Analyst Meeting; KR, CMG, JACK, WEN at Morgan Stanley Arizona Field Trip; PNR at Janney Montgomery Scott Water Industry Summit; WSM, VFC, JCP, LIZ at Telsey Advisory Group Consumer Conference; XLNX, MENT, ZRAN at Globalpress Connection Electronics Summit.

The Investrend Money Index is an indicator of the depth of market direction or indirection. While not always including the same stocks, the NYSE/NASDAQ 50 Most Actives indicate the direction in which the mass of money is flowing. Last session's trading showed four advancers versus 45 decliners and one unchanged. Advancers were led by Financial Bear 3x (NYSE: FAZ) up 23.51%, Ultrashort Financial (NYSE: SKF) up 15.83%, Pt Ultrshrt Sp500 Ps (NYSE: SDS) up 7.13%. Decliners followed Lincoln Natl Cp (NYSE: LNC) down 38.19%, Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARNA) down 28.22%, Gen Motors (NYSE: GM) down 25.41%, Financial Bull 3x (NYSE: FAS) down 23.50%, Bk Of America Cp (NYSE: BAC) down 17.85%, Dryships Inc. (NASDAQ: DRYS) down 15.54%, Ultra Financials Pro (NYSE: UYG) down 15.52%, Wells Fargo & Co New (NYSE: WFC) down 14.24%, Alcoa Inc (NYSE: AA) down 14.23%, E*Trade Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: ETFC) down 12.12%, Us Bancorp (NYSE: USB) down 11.89%, Citigroup Inc (NYSE: C) down 11.83%, Sprint Nxtel Cp (NYSE: S) down 9.85%, Jp Morgan Chase Co (NYSE: JPM) down 9.31%, Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) down 9.12%, Gen Electric Co (NYSE: GE) down 7.88%, Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: JAVA) down 7.54%, Companhia Vale Ads (NYSE: RIO) down 7.32%, Ultra S&P500 Proshrs (NYSE: SSO) down 6.91%, Amer Intl Group Inc (NYSE: AIG) down 6.86%, News Corporation (NASDAQ: NWSA) down 6.63%, Ishares Tr Ftse Indx (NYSE: FXI) down 6.43%, Nvidia Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) down 6.41%, Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA) down 6.12%.

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Investrend Website of the Day: http://www.meez.com

Quote of the Day: "Bear costumes are funny.bears as well." Christopher Walken

Today is: Bunsen Burner Day.

Happy Birthday: Rene Descartes, Franz Josef Haydn, Jack Johnson, Gordie Howe, Liz Claiborne, Shirley Jones, Herb Alpert, Christopher Walken, Gabe Kaplan, Al Gore, Rhea Perlman, Angus Young, Ewan McGregor.

Today in History: The Kingdom of Great Britain ordered the port of Boston, Massachusetts, closed in the Boston Port Act in 1774. Commodore Matthew Perry signed the Treaty of Kanagawa with the Japanese government in 1854, opening the ports of Shimoda and Hakodate to American trade. The Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (later National Collegiate Athletic Association) was established in 1906 to set rules for amateur sports in the United States. The United States took possession of the U.S. Virgin Islands in 1917 after paying $25 million to Denmark. Daylight Savings Time went into effect in the United States in 1918 for the first time. The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, crossed the border into India in 1959 and was granted political asylum. Actor Brandon Lee was accidentally killed in 1993 during the filming of "The Crow." Netscape released the code base of its browser in 1998 under an open-source license agreement, thus creating Mozilla Foundation, a non-profit corporation to oversee the development of Mozilla.

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