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U.S. SEC to meet April 8 to weigh uptick revival

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said it will meet on April 8 to consider whether to propose short sale price test rules, which could include reinstating the so-called uptick rule.

The uptick rule, adopted after the 1929 stock market crash, allowed short sales only when the last sale price was higher than the previous price. The SEC abolished the rule in 2007, after concluding that advances in trading strategies rendered it ineffective.

The SEC put up temporary hurdles to short-selling last year at the urging of distressed financial firms, and some lawmakers, who charged that aggressive short-selling was exaggerating the drop in share prices.

In late July and early August, short sellers had to show they had pre-borrowed stock before making short trades in 19 financial stocks. A temporary ban on short-selling in hundreds of companies followed, but expired in October.

Many experts judged the measures ineffective. Then SEC Chairman Christopher Cox later said he had some regrets over the emergency measures. At the time there were calls for reinstating the uptick rule.

Cox's successor, Mary Schapiro, said earlier this week that the agency aimed to issue a proposal in April to restore the uptick rule. She also said the SEC will look at other ways to address short-selling in the stock market.

Barney Frank, who chairs the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee, told reporters on Tuesday he hoped the uptick rule would be reinstated within a month. But the SEC said any proposal would likely be subject to a public comment period. That could mean a final rule is months away.

Short-sellers borrow stocks they expect will fall in price in the hope of repaying the loans for less and pocketing the difference. They defend their role, saying they prevent shares from becoming overvalued.

The SEC last year included an exemption for option and equity market makers so they could continue to add liquidity to the markets. Despite that exemption, some experts have said there was less liquidity.

In options, the impact of the reinstatement of the short sale rule is going to have a lot to do with what the Commission does on market maker exemption for bonafide hedging, said Ed Boyle, senior vice president of NYSE Euronext Inc , which owns both the Arca Options and the NYSE Amex Options exchanges.

(Reporting by Karey Wutkowski with additional reporting by Doris Frankel in Chicago; editing by Carol Bishopric and Tim Dobbyn)

Disappointed US Retail Sales data means no recession bottom here

EUR/USD (1.3565)

European & US sessions forecast levels: 1.3445/1.3655

Trend Sessions: European: Neutral/Downward

US: Neutral

Market Focus: 8:30 AM PPI, Core PPI, Initial Claims.

Daily Strategy: The disappointed US Retail Sales data show the end of the optimism. The risky assets have to forget as the traders turn back to the dollar. This is the main reason for the end of the tendency by the last couple of days for weak dollar. The shares also break into down tendency. This tendency may lead to fresh recovery of the dollar if the next fundamental reports show that the bottom of the recession may be is far away. The trading strategy is to buy dollars these days. The recovery of the dollar has to go further with levels of 1.3350 till the end of the week.

Skin Cancer Treatment

Treatment is dependent on type of cancer, location of the cancer, age of the patient, and if the cancer is primary or recurrence. One should look at the specific type of skin cancer (basal cell carcinoma,squamous cell carcinoma, or melanoma) of concern in order to determine the correct treatment required. An example would be a small basal cell cancer on the cheek of a young man, where the treatment with the best cure rate (Mohs surgery) might be indicated. In the case of an elderly frail man with multiple complicating medical problems, a difficult to excise basal cell cancer of the nose might warrant radiation therapy (slightly lower cure rate) or no treatment at all. Topical chemotherapy might be indicated for large superficial basal cell carcinoma for good cosmetic outcome, whereas it might be inadequate for invasive nodular basal cell carcinoma or invasive squamous cell carcinoma.

For low-risk disease, radiation therapy, topical chemotherapy (imiquimod or 5-fluorouracil) and cryotherapy (freezing the cancer off) can provide adequate control of the disease; both, however, may have lower overall cure rates than certain type of surgery. Other modalities of treatment such as photodynamic therapy, topical chemotherapy, electrodessication and curettage can be found in the discussions of basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma.

Mohs' micrographic surgery (mohs surgery) is a technique used to remove the cancer with the least amount of surrounding tissue and the edges are checked immediately to see if tumor is found. This provides the opportunity to remove the least amount of tissue and provide the best cosmetically favorable results. This is especially important for areas where excess skin is limited, such as the face. Cure rates are equivalent to wide excision. Special training is required to perform this technique.

In the case of disease that has spread (metastasized), further surgical procedures or chemotherapy may be required.

Scientists have recently been conducting experiments on what they have termed immune- priming. This therapy is still in its infancy but has been shown to effectively attack foreign threats like viruses and also latch onto and attack skin cancers. More recently researchers have focused their efforts on strengthening the body's own naturally produced helper T cells that identify and lock onto cancer cells and help guide the killer cells to the cancer. Researchers infused patients with roughly 5 billion of the helper T cells without any harsh drugs or chemotherapy. This type of treatment if shown to be effective has no side effects and could change the way cancer patients are treated. 

A cream used to treat pre-cancerous skin lesions also reverses signs of aging, a study released in April 2009 indicated.

Forex: USD/JPY: Dollar, consolidating below 99.00

FXstreet.com (Barcelona) - The Dollar has moved further down from 99.60 May 1 and May 4 high and, after having dropped to 97.90 intra-week low yesterday, the Dollar has been unable to reach above 98.85 resistance level during Wednesday's Asian session.

On the 4-hour chart, we can see the pair forming a triangle pattern with resistance line off 99.60 May 4 high, and support line off 97.90 May 6 low.

Resistance levels lie at intra-day high 98.85 and 99.20 (May 5 high), once above there, 99.60 (May 1 and May 4 high). On the downside, support levels lie at 98.20 and below there, 97.95 (May 6 low) and 97.45/50.

For more information, read our latest forex news.

Virgin Megastore closings mark end of U.S. retail era

HMV was the first to land in November 1990, with an East Coast incursion, followed soon by Virgin's entry on the West Coast and W.H. Smith's focus on the country's heartland malls.

The three chains came in thinking they could teach the Americans a thing or two about merchandising music. But their high-handed attitude wasn't directed at their competitors, like Tower Records, Camelot Music, Record World and other long-dead music chains. Rather, it was targeted at the record labels.

They were arrogant, a label sales executive told Billboard about the British chains before Virgin confirmed its U.S. closings. They thought they knew everything. They thought they were going to take the U.S. by storm. But I grew to love them. They were all good music guys and their stores were great.

The British merchants were especially known for championing certain kinds of artists and genres. But their fatal flaw was a failure to understand the U.S. real estate market. HMV and Virgin had a history of overpaying for locations, which meant both chains usually had more unprofitable stores than profitable ones.

At its peak, the Virgin Megastore chain had 23 stores and revenue of $280 million annually, but at least 12 of those stores weren't profitable. After a four-year store-closing spree, the chain was down to six stores by January, all of them profitable, and combined they were doing a very respectable $180 million in annual sales. The chain's New York Times Square location generated $55 million, with $6 million in profit, while its Union Square store downtown had $40 million in sales and a few million dollars in profit, according to sources.

SALES SLIDE INSURMOUNTABLE

With CD sales sliding, I tried my hardest to come up with a new model, and we were making a lot of headway with it before the holidays, said Virgin Entertainment Group North America CEO Simon Wright.

Virgin outlasted HMV and W.H. Smith, with the former pulling out in 2004 and the latter selling out to Camelot Music in 1998. But Virgin couldn't withstand the combined blows of big-box loss leaders, chain-store exclusive releases and digital cannibalization.

We have made a great contribution to music retailing, but it's time to move on, Wright said.

In August 2007, Virgin Entertainment Group North America was bought by two real estate companies, the Related Cos. and Vornado Realty Trust, which hold stakes of 51 percent and 49 percent, respectively. In June 2008, a Vornado executive told Reuters that the Times Square store would shut down in first-quarter 2009 because the company could make more money on the real estate.

Virgin was destined to lose its Times Square space, but it might have been given a shot next door in the much smaller Vornado-owned space formerly occupied by the Bar Code bar and gaming arcade, sources said.

But the holidays were what they were and the economy is what it is since then, Wright said. The economy is so bad, it's all about batten down the hatches.

Just as Tower Records once helped transform Broadway from a warehouse district into a top-notch retail street, the Virgin Megastore was key in revitalizing the Union Square area, which 10 years ago was filled with bargain stores and pot dealers.

We changed the face of Union Square, Wright said. What will happen there now with both us and Circuit City leaving at the same time?

(Editing by Sheri Linden at Reuters)

Kengo Suzuki, currency strategist at Shinko Securities

The Guardian - The market will be looking cautiously to economic data and comments from officials for clues on whether the economy is in a recession or not.

Scarlett Johansson

Scarlett Johansson

Scarlett Johansson

Scarlett Johansson

Scarlett Johansson

Scarlett Johansson

Scarlett Johansson

Scarlett Johansson

Scarlett Johansson

Scarlett Johansson