ECONOMY & MARKETS

The companies whose shares are moving in pre-market trade on Wednesday are: Capital Trust, Macy's, Rosetta Stone, Netapp, Carnival, Magic Software Enterprises, Aircastle, Walt Disney and Molycorp.

The top pre-market NASDAQ Stock Market gainers are: Rovi, Amtech Systems, ZAGG, Halozyme Therapeutics, and Magic Software Enterprises. The top pre-market NASDAQ Stock Market losers are: STEC, Ener1, Star Scientific, Harbin Electric, and ASML Holding.

Jefferies & Co. believes the Google Inc.'s (NASDAQ: GOOG) announcement of Android Ice Cream Sandwich is positive for Android handset original equipment manufacturers like Motorola Mobility, Samsung, and LG.

The top after-market NASDAQ Stock Market gainers are: Rovi, Imperial Sugar, Pegasystems, ZAGG, and Amtech Systems. The top after-market NASDAQ Stock Market losers are: Conceptus, STEC, Scientific Games, ACADIA Pharmaceuticals, and Mattson Technology.

The top after-market NYSE gainers on Tuesday are: Federal Agricultural Mortgage, ExamWorks Group, Capital Trust, Rosetta Stone and Hovnanian Enterprises. The top after-market NYSE losers are: Molycorp, Diana Shipping, Aircastle, AMB Property and F.N.B. Corp.

The US government can’t possibly pay back its $14-trillion debt. Not fairly, at least. Instead, its strategy is to devalue the US dollar so that the nominal value of the $14-trillion debt becomes less in real terms.

If you can help it, don’t buy US Treasuries. The main reason is that you’ll lose real value by doing so.

Gold’s decline last week provides a good opportunity for investors to buy on the dip.

The Japanese yen has been on a wild ride ever since the 2011 T?hoku earthquake. Now, as USD/JPY hovers around 80, it’s time to sell the yen (by buying USD/JPY), stated a Credit Agricole report.

RBC Capital Markets said Xoma Ltd. (NASDAQ: XOMA) continues to make steady albeit measured progress toward initiating a pivotal trial in Behcet’s disease, which could begin by year-end 2011, pending regulatory feedback.

The top pre-market NASDAQ Stock Market gainers are: CKX, China Valves Technology, Synthesis Energy Systems, China Information Technology, and Fossil. The top pre-market NASDAQ Stock Market losers are: Nanosphere, BioMimetic Therapeutics, SmartHeat, MannKind, and USA Technologies.

The companies whose shares are moving in pre-market trade on Tuesday are: Dean Foods, InterContinental Hotels Group, Carnival Corp, Xerox Corp, Advanced Micro Devices, Medtronic, Barclays, Thompson Creek Metals, Dice Holdings and Archer Daniels Midland.

Investors around the world, more so the Chinese, are buying up gold assets to cover against rising inflation risk, macroeconomic uncertainties, a possible currency doom and the ever worsening U.S. debt scenario. The gargantuan demand from China can cause the yellow metal's prices to skyrocket, analysts feel. If the Chinese buying trend is ably supplemented with a fall in the value of dollar, this could result in a skyrocketing of prices.

Wedbush Securities expects April U.S. retail video game console software sales data to be released by the NPD Group after the market close on May 12. The brokerage said April may be an anomalous month for software sales, with a rebound likely due to an outstanding lineup of blockbuster title.

Caris & Co. said Kindle is a multi-billion dollar opportunity for Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN). The brokerage said Kindle remains the most compelling eBook device and a material contributor to Amazon's non-core business growth.

The top after-market NASDAQ Stock Market gainers are: Cray, Yongye International, Orthovita, Integrated Device Technology, and Sino Clean Energy. The top after-market NASDAQ Stock Market losers are: Nanosphere, MannKind, Wilshire Bancorp, Sequenom, and American Science & Engineering.

Jens Nordvig and his team at Nomura International Securities have shorted EUR/SEK in their model portfolio.

There are three reasons to believe that the silver bubble has burst with last week's tremendous 30-percent crash.

Gold and silver have rebounded on Monday after last week’s big drop. Gold is trading above $1,500 per ounce and silver recovered to $36 per ounce

FBR Capital Markets said Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) and MasterCard Inc. (NYSE: MA) have been volatile for over a year due to the Durbin Debit Interchange Amendment. The brokerage said it is worth watching in the next few months in the wake of final regulations expected from the Federal Reserve.

S&P downgraded Greece on Monday to ‘B’ on increased risks that Greece will have to restructure its sovereign debt. Furthermore, the ‘B’ rating has been put on negative watch.

The top pre-market NASDAQ Stock Market gainers are: Oncothyreon, Affymetrix, USA Technologies, BroadSoft, and MannKind. The top pre-market NASDAQ Stock Market losers are: Zoran Corp., GTX, Auxilium Pharmaceuticals, ARM Holdings, and Lionbridge Technologies.

Wedbush Securities said that among the companies it covered in Life Sciences this week Chelsea Therapeutics International Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHTP) and Pacira Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: PCRX) are reporting earnings.

Wedbush Securities expects cash runway for XOMA Ltd. (NASDAQ: XOMA) through start of phase 3 Behcet’s Uveitis study by year-end 2011. The brokerage maintained its outperform rating on shares of Xoma with a fair value estimate of $16.

Jefferies & Co. reiterated its hold rating on shares of CSR Plc (London: CSR) with a price target of 360 pence per share, ahead of the company's first quarter results on April 10.

Commodities plunged across the board last week. As a broad asset class, it hasn't dropped like that for quite some time.

USD/JPY is trading at 80 again, which begs the question of whether or not it’s time to buy the pair.

Burdened with harsh austerity measures, Greece is considering leaving the euro, unnamed Germany government officials told Germany publication SPIEGEL ONLINE.

Economic forecasts are rarely correct, whether it’s the consensus forecast or forecasts by individuals. Moreover, they’re often the product of simple arithmetic calculations.