ASIA The Nikkei fell 0.7% as TDK Corp tumbled on a UBS downgrade and investors sold Softbank Corp and other issues that posted sharp gains the previous session. (RTRS) U.S. Stocks finished lower on Wednesday, despite good news on the inflation front with the Producer Price Index for Oct. coming in flat versus expectations of 0.2%. Additionally, retail sales for the month saw a slight gain of 0.2%, which may have been better than some participants had feared. Indices moved higher on the data but gave up gains late in the day due to weakness in the technology and retailers. Shares of Apple fell 2.3% following comments by DealReporter.com, which said that an iPhone deal between Apply and China Mobile could have issues, since the latter does not agree to revenue sharing. Regarding the retailers, shares of Macyâs tumbled 7% to $28.47 â its lowest level in 5 years â after the company cut its Q4 sales forecast. Elsewhere in the sector, shares of Target fell in sympathy by 4.75% to $56.77, while shares of Kohlâs dropped 3.6% to $49.38. Bucking the trend after positive Q3 results and guidance yesterday, Wal-Mart's shares rose 1.2% to $46.51. The DJI fell 83 pts (-0.6%) to 13,223. The S&P 500 Index declined 10.6 (-0.7%) to 1470.40 and the Nasdaq 100 Index dropped 28 pts (-1.36%) to 2038.05. Half the world's fund managers thank corporate earnings will fall over the next year and most suspect that emerging markets are in a bubble, yet they are piling into risky equities for fear of missing out on a late-cycle rally (Telegraph) Johnson & Johnson - Berkshire Hathaway has increased its stake in the company to 61.6 million shares. (BBG)** Citigroup / UBS- Subprime hits likely to keep coming as banks like UBS and Citigroup may face more charges than they've yet taken (WSJ)** Merrill Lynch - Merrill's new CEO, John Thain, said that it's likely that the prices of CDOs will fall more, there may be more writedowns, vast majority of Merrill Lynch is 'doing great'. (CNBC)** Bear Stearns - Moody's puts Bear Stearns rating on review for a possible cut (IFR Markets)** Applied Materials - The company reported Q4 EPS ex-items of USD 0.34 vs. USD 0.29 exp., Q4 sales were USD 2.37 bln vs. USD 2.38 bln exp., sees semi capex spending down between 5.0%-15.0% in 2008. Shares in the company were down 3.0% late in after-market trading last night. (BBG)** Network Appliance - The company reported Q2 EPS ex-items of USD 0.32 vs. USD 0.315 exp., Q2 sales were USD 792.2 mln vs. USD 759.7 mln exp., sees Q3 adjusted EPS USD 0.33-USD 0.34. Shares in the company were up around 9.0% in after-market trading. (BBG)** Anadarko Petroleum - Ichan Management has upped its stake in the company to 13.6 million shares. (DJ)** FTSE Barclays - The investment bank unit made a GBP 1.3bln writedown due to its exposure to credit market problems in the four months to the end of October. In a surprise trading update BarCap announced a writedown of GBP 500mln for Q3 and a further GBP 800mln writedown for October, less than many estimates. (RTRS) Barclays said it wrote down to zero all RMBS-backed CDO collateral and all second lien collateral. Finally, the bank said its liquidity positions remains very strong. (BBG)** GlaxoSmithKline - The company's Avandia get a US warning less stringent than Europe's. The new FDA warning for Avandia calls the evidence from different studies inconclusive. (BBG)* BHP Billiton - The company has said that power has been cut off to the operations at its Escondida, Spence and Cero Colorado copper mines after quake. (RTRS) SABMiller - 1H net USD 958mln vs Exp. USD 1.01bln, sees more challenging environment in the 2H. (BBG)** National Grid - 1H pretax, ex-costs GBP 757mln vs Exp. GBP 748mln, FY outlook 'in-line' with expectations. (BBG)** British Land - 1H nav per share GBP 16.82, property market correction is on-going and it is premature to know how much the debt market turmoil of recent weeks will dent the strong London offices market. (S&P)** Reed Elsevier - The company said it is on track to deliver goal in 2007. (BBG) Experian - The company said it is on course to deliver FY profit in-line with views and the first interim dividend was raised 18% to 6.5c. (BBG)** Vedanta Resources - 1H net income USD 465.0mln vs Exp. USD 407mln. (BBG)** DAX Volkswagen - Porsche denies break-up or merger, according to the WSJ.** BMW - The company is to reach 10% US sales growth. (S&P)** Infineon Technologies - Applied Materials said last night that it sees 2008 capex spending down between 5.0%-15.0% in 2008. Shares in Applied Materials were down around 3.0% late in after-market trading. (RTRS)** SAP - The company and CSC have formed an alliance to offer banks pricing optimization technology. (DJ) CAC Suez - 9-month operating profit rose 14.6% to EUR 3.892bln vs EUR 3.3989bln, 9-month revenue EUR 34.23bln vs Exp. EUR 34.715bln. (RTRS)** Vivendi - The company reported Q3 EBITDA of EUR 1.335 bln vs. EUR 1.305 bln exp., Q3 revenues were EUR 5.42 bln vs. EUR 5.28 bln exp., keeps goal for 2007 net adjusted profit of over EUR 2.7 bln. (RTRS)** Credit Agricole - The company reported Q3 gross operating of EUR 1.19 bln vs. EUR 1.35 bln exp., Q3 net profit was EUR 954 mln vs. EUR 935 mln exp. (RTRS)** Sanofi Aventis / L'Oreal - L'Oreal places 1.8% stake in Sanofi with the company's participation in the capital of Sanofi reduced to 8.7%. (S&P) Vallourec - The company reported Q3 net profit EUR 954mln vs Exp. EUR 935mln, raises 2007 sales rise forecast to above 10% from 7-10% previously. (RTRS)** Bouygues - 1H sales EUR 7.996bln vs Exp. EUR 7.79bln. (Thomson Financial)** EDF - The company has said that it is still interested in Distrigaz stake, doesn't plan public offer for Distrigaz. (BBG)** EUROSTOXX Companies paying dividend today: Enel SpA (0.20000 EUR) SMI Roche - FDA approves the company's Mircera drug. (S&P)** UBS - The company has shut loss-making trading desk that ran up to EUR 100mln in losses. (S&P) The WSJ also reports subprime hits likely to keep coming as banks like UBS and Citigroup may face more charges than they've yet taken.** Zurich Financial - 9-month net profit rose to USD 4.16bln vs Exp. USD 3.9bln. The company announced further cost savings of USD 3.1bln from 2007-2010. The group also has no material exposure to US subprime debt or CDO equity tranches. (RTRS)** BROKER UPGRADES/DOWNGRADES INFINEON: ABN DOWNGRADES TO HOLD FROM BUY L'OREAL: UBS UPGRADES TO BUY FROM NEUTRAL AMGEN RAISED TO `OVERWEIGHT' VS `EQUAL WEIGHT' AT LEHMAN The above commentary was provided by Real-time Analysis & News (R.A.N) Ltd (known to traders as âRansquawkâ) operates from 0630GMT until 2200GMT to incorporate full coverage of the US bond and equity futures markets. Currently R.A.N covers Bond, STIR and Index futures in the US, UK and Eurozone as well as NYMEX crude and Gold. Furthermore, R.A.N has a stand alone Forex service (Ransquawk FX) which covers all the major currency pairs. Coverage is based around the economic calendar for that day but the product finds its value looking at flows, rumours and breaking news and then deliver that information to the customer via an internet âsquawk-boxâ. For more information and a 1-week free trial please email us at info@ransquawk.com