1:21PM Oilsands Quest announces restatement of financial statements (BQI) 1.24 +0.10 : Co announced that it has amended and filed its Form 10-Q for the quarter ended July 31, 2009 with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and with securities commissions in Canada. The amendment is required in order to restate the expense recorded for stock based compensation for the 3 months ended July 31, 2009 to correctly account for the forfeiture of options for employees who have left the company, as required by authoritative guidance on Share Based Payment issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board. The restatement does not have any impact on the Company's cashflows for the affected period nor does it affect the extent or value of the Company's resource base or other assets.

1:18PM NYMEX Energy Closing Prices (COMDX) : The Jan Crude oil contract ended lower by $2.15 to $75.81. Jan Nat gas rose 7 cents to $5.233, Dec heating oil fell 3.633 cents to finish at $1.9538 and Dec RBOB gasoline closed down 5.00 cents to $1.9476.

1:12PM COMEX Metals Closing Prices (COMDX) : Gold ended the day lower by $15.22 to $1171.78, silver lost 52.5 cents to $18.243 and copper lost 7.20 cents to finish at $3.0930 (all Dec contracts).

12:50PM Sector ETF strength & weakness heading into today's early closing bell (UNG) : Actively Traded Leading Sector ETFs:
Nat gas- UNG +2.25%, US Dollar index- UUP +1%, US Bonds- TLT +.25%

Actively Traded Lagging Sector ETFs:
China 25- FXI -3.5%, Coal- KOL -3.5%, Gold miners- GDX -3.25%, iShares INDIA- INP -3%, Emerging Mkts- EEM -3%, Global shippers- SEA -2.75%, Silver- SLV -2.75%, Solar power- TAN -2.75%, SPDRS metals/mining- XME -2.5%, RBOB gas futures- UGA -2.25%, Insurers- KIE -2.5%, Steel- SLX -2.5%

12:44PM Conferences and Shareholder/Analyst Meetings of Interest : Some notable events scheduled for the week of Nov 30 - Dec 4 are listed below. For a complete list of next week's events, please see the events calendar.

Monday:
- ANR at Macquarie Global Metals & Mining Conference
- APD, MOS at Citi Global Chemical Conference
- $30 bln 3 month and $31 bln 6 month Treasury Bill Auctions

Tuesday:
- MSFT, BMRN, CPHD, INTU at Nasdaq OMX Investor Conference
- MDT, BSX, MYGN, STJ at Piper Jaffray Healthcare Conference
- Fed's Plosser to speak on economic outlook

Wednesday:
- MOS, MON at Citigroup Global Markets Basic Materials Conference
- IBM, SYNA, BRCD, DELL at Credit Suisse Group Technology Conference
- Fed's Lacker speaks on economic outlook

Thursday:
- PFG Investors and Analysts Conference
- EMC, LXK, BRCM, BHE at Credit Suisse Group Technology Conference
- Fed Chairman Bernanke Confirmation Hearing

Friday:
- SON Analyst Meeting
- CW, BNE, FLS, SCG at Gabelli & Co. Best Ideas Conference
- Fed's Plosser to speak on lessons from the financial crisis

12:41PM US Natural Gas ETF moves to session highs as the best performing sector ETF heading into today's early closing bell (UNG) 9.73 +.17 : UNG has formed a potential 'bullish engulfing' bar on the daily as price makes a decisive move above the 9.64 Wed. HoD.

12:08PM Provident Fincl announces common stock offering of $40 mln (PROV) 3.78 -0.26 :  

12:00PM Curb Your Enthusiasm +13/32 3.222%...euro 1.4962...yen 86.8700 (BONDX) : Treasuries continue to knock around better, but are well off their best levels while the very short end of the curve sees added push as the rush to safety bounced prices. The minutiae of what the latest debt debacle means for other global players and financial shops is murky, and bonds have significantly backed-off prices reached as concerns over Dubai escalated. Global bonds are mixed with EuroLand going both ways as some of the panic trade is unwound, while Japan sees a continued bid with their 5-yr seeing a 4-year low yield as the currency rockets higher (Reuters). The week ahead has an economic calendar with a batch of higher-quality junk in the trunk while also getting the size of the year's final 3-10-and-30-yr auctions. The curve, in the form of the 2-10-yr yield spread, has been pulling a bit steeper, now 252.9, while the shorter spreads remain generally flattened. The dollar has also curbed its upside enthusiasm with the index backed off to sub-75 after a sudden rush over 75.57 while the yen has been also lost momentum following a run 14-yr lows. The euro has rebounded, trading back to Wednesday levels on the buck while seeing similar move from its worst levels on the yen since April.

11:53AM European Markets Closing Prices: FTSE: 5245.7 +51.6 +1.0%, DAX: 5685.6 +71.4 +1.3%, CAC: 3721.5 +42.2 +1.2% :  

11:27AM Floor Talk: Follow up on Dubai fallout -- taking a look at the implications (SPY) : Instead of the typical post-Thanksgiving void in the market, a surprising sell-off in overseas markets triggered by Dubai debt concerns led to sharp early losses and a spike in volatility in the U.S. markets. The concerns come after the Dubai government took charge of restructuring its corporate flagship, Dubai World, and asked creditors to defer payments of some $20 bln in debt coming due over the next 18 months. While a Dubai default would be the biggest sovereign default since Argentina in 2001, U.S. markets didn't initially react to the first headlines on the subject released on Wednesday. However, growing concerns triggered a sharp sell-off in overseas markets yesterday while the U.S. markets were closed for the Thanksgiving holiday. Now the U.S. markets are playing catch-up today, and the lack of any other news of note has focused investor attention solely on the Dubai situation.

While this situation is still in the early stages, and the actual direct impact of Dubai on the U.S. markets may be minimal, a potential default of this sort has several implications. First of all, the news acts as a nudge to those that may have already been considering locking in their gains after the incredibly strong rebound in global equity markets over the past eight months. Even if the actual impact of Dubai is minimal, a dent in sentiment could have a greater effect since the equity market has recently been showing diminishing strength amid the incremental new highs of the recent weeks (this is evident in the narrowing breadth of strength -- fewer issues/groups making fresh highs).

Second, there is a flight to quality taking place, which is evident in the rising yen and dollar (with the yen outpacing the dollar) and U.S. treasuries. If the Dubai situation happens to trigger a sustained reversal (strengthening) of the weak dollar, which has helped sustain gains in dollar-denominated assets, further pressure will be felt in U.S. assets, especially commodity-related stocks and exporters. This can be seen in the sharp sell-off in commodities today (oil -3.4% at 75.35, gold -0.5% at 1182, OIH -3.5%) and strength in the dollar ETF (UUP +1.0%).

Third, emerging markets ETFs are under pressure as the emerging markets are historically highly correlated, where a macro event that adversely affects one region has typically raised the risk profile for other developing regions. This weakness is evident in the EDC (Direxion 3x bull emerging markets) -8.0%, EEM (iShares Emerging Markets) -2.9%, EWT (Taiwan ETF) -2.7%, EWZ (Brazil) -2.6%. However, in this particular situation, a sharp sell-off in emerging markets with no relationship to Dubai which have their own fundamental catalysts, such as Brazil (EWZ), fears may be over exaggerated and could present a buying opportunity. In addition to emerging markets in general, the profile of other unique geographies such as Macau may be questioned, which is being reflected in stocks with exposure there such as MGM -4.8%, LVS -4.5%, WYNN -3.8%, MPEL -3.3%.

Fourth, financials and insurers were under notable pressure, as this sector likely has the most "real" exposure to Dubai. JPMorgan noted this morning that banks' exposures to Dubai World debt are relatively limited and are less of a concern compared to the spillover effects for related entities. The firm said the most exposed banks would be RBS with $0.23 bln, DB and CS with $0.17 bln each, followed by HBC and MTU. It is difficult to find disclosure of banks' exposure to Dubai, but JPMorgan noted that BCS and C are among other banks with exposure to the UAE as a whole. While insurers' portfolios are adversely impacted by a decline in world markets, it is hard to say which insurers might have direct exposure to the Dubai situation. We'd note that the credit default swaps of the major insurers are slightly higher today, led by AXA, RDN, Allianz, Zurich, MTG, Aegon (AEG), AVIVA, PMI and MET.

Finally, increased volatility is a factor that comes hand in hand with a shock to the markets such as today's sell-off. This is illustrated by the 14% spike in the VIX, which had been trading at 52-week lows. The VXX (VIX short-term ETF) is up +4.6%.

With limited participation in today's shortened session (U.S. markets close at 1:00 ET) and the early stage nature of the Dubai situation, it is still difficult to say how this will ultimately play out. It certainly has the potential to be a trigger for a more sustained (and long-awaited) correction in the equity markets, or it could be shrugged off as unsurprising in hindsight given the nature of the investments made in Dubai (especially if the UAE bails out Dubai). The markets have already pared a good portion of the early losses, with the Dow now down only 120 pts after the futures were down as much as 300 pts in the pre-mkt. We will get a better read on the implications of this situation next week as more information is known and participants return to the market. (See our 8:22 TALKX comment for further detail on overseas weakness)

11:09AM Market View - - S&P steadily recoups opening losses as it approaches the "psychological" 1100 level (SPY) : Dow -92, SPX -12, Nasdaq -21, Russell -7

10:35AM Sector ETF strength & weakness through the first hour of trading (UUP) : Actively Traded Leading Sector ETFs:
US Dollar index- UUP +1%, US bonds- TLT +.5%

Actively Traded Lagging Sector ETFs:
Coal- KOL -4.5%, China 25- FXI -4.25%, Crude/WTI oil- USO -4%, OIL -4%, Gold miners- GDX -3.5%, RBOB gas futures- UGA -3.75%, Emerging markets- EEM -3.5%, India- INP -3.25%, Silver- SLV -3.25%, Commods- GSG -3.25%, Nat gas- UNG -3%, SPDRS metals/mining- XME -3%, Steel- SLX -3%, Global shippers- SEA -3%

10:29AM NASDAQ 100 (NDX) leaders & laggards moving through the first hour of trading (APOL) : NDX Best % Performers:
APOL +.5%, ILMN +.25%

NDX Worst % Performers:
NWSA -4%, FLEX -4%, CTSH -4%, WYNN -3.5%, FWLT -3%, INFY -3%, STX -3%, STLD -3%, JOYG -3%, MICC -2.75%, ADSK -2.75%

NASDAQ TRIN @ +2.75
NASDAQ A/D line @ -1785

10:27AM Dow (INDU) leaders & laggards moving through the first hour of trading (AA) : INDU Best % Performers:
NONE

INDU Worst % Performers:
AA -2.5%, CAT -2%, MSFT -2%, GE -2%, HPQ -2%, BA -2%, UTX -2%

NYSE TRIN @ +4.5
NYSE A/D line @ -2375

10:23AM Some actively traded ETFs in play that a currently fairing better than the improving broad indices (UUP) : Major averages hover near their best gap down recovery levels of the first hour.
Some ETFs that are relatively stronger that demand attention are UUP, TLT, EWJ, KRE, COW, BBH, PPH, IBB, DBA, XLV, IBB, XLP, RTH

10:04AM streetTRACKS Gold Shares rallying back into the range from earlier this week, back over $114 (GLD) 114.35 -2.27 : Still down over $2, but up $1.75 off the lows.

10:03AM VIX Short Term Futures ETN moves to fresh lows as indices see some more money flow, pushing equity prices higher (VXX) 39.32 +1.58 : The gap close for this volatility proxy is 38.65. LoD currently @ 39.26

10:00AM Sector ETFs that have seen some of the best imporovement off the early volatility lows in the first half hour of trading (FXI) : FXI, EEM, USO, GLD, GDX all at or near gap down highs, working well off the gap lows

9:45AM Some of the international market ETFs in play are rising to gap down highs as the broad markets see some early improvement from lower opening levels (EWJ) : INP, EEM (emerging markets), EWJ, EWZ

9:37AM Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF sees an early improvement after gapping down into the rising 100 day SMA @ 14.20 (XLF) 14.39 -.28 :  

9:17AM Ship Finance Intl misses by $0.06, misses on revs (SFL) 13.36 : Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.47 per share, excluding non-cash mark-to-market of derivatives and a gain on a sale of assets, $0.06 worse than the First Call consensus of $0.53. Revs fell ~30% YoY to 80.2 mln vs the 94.5 mln consensus.

9:01AM Las Vegas Sands announces that project financing commitments for Las Vegas Sands Cotai Strip development complete at $1.75 bln (LVS) 16.49 : Co announces that through one of its subsidiaries, it has now secured project financing commitments of $1.75 bln, which will be used to complete the first two phases of construction of the company's largest integrated resort on the Cotai Strip in Macau - featuring a combined 6,000 rooms and suites from the Shangri-La, Traders, and Sheraton hotel brands. The $1.75 bln total reflects an additional $300 mln of commitments secured since the company originally announced the receipt of commitments for the financing of the project. In addition to the project financing, $500 mln of the proceeds expected to be received when the global offering of Sands China Ltd's. shares are listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange will also be used to fund development and construction of the project. The combined figures represent the total amount of funding needed to complete the Shangri-La, Traders, Sheraton integrated resort complex.

9:01AM Microvision prices 3.3 mln share common stock offering at $3.00 per share (MVIS) 3.58 : Co intends to use the net proceeds of the offering for general corporate purposes, including, but not limited to, working capital and capital expenditures.

9:00AM Plantronics announces 1 mln share repurchase program (PLT) 24.97 :  

8:42AM Wham +15/32 3.214%...euro 1.4911...yen 86.5900 (BONDX) : The market is seeing a large bid as the tentacles of the Dubai debt issues added in safe-haven buying as the looming crisis took the all maturities higher. The market will likely ride that wave for the duration of the shortened session while sparsely staffed desks will keep things extremely thin and therefore choppy. The 10-yr has seen a run to take yields off to the lowest since the start of October, tagging 3.152% from 3.415%, while the 2-yr was run to levels since mid-Dec 08, with the yield hitting 0.608% from 0.782% at the start of the week. The turmoil saw the first time the 3-mo dollar Libor was set higher for in 9 sessions but remains at historic lows. The curve has been flattened to the early November area with the 2-10-yr yield spread 253.1. The safety plays rocketed the yen and dollar higher with the yen shooting to its best level on the buck since, wait for it, 1995. The euro was knocked back to the lowest in a week trading back to under 1.4930 and saw the yen giving up the least since May. No data. No speaker. No players. Early close in financials, futures and options (13).

8:01AM Activision Blizzard says its "Call of Duty" franchise surpasses $3 bln in retail sales worldwide (ATVI) 11.56 : Co announces that the "Call of Duty" franchise has surpassed $3 bln in retail sales worldwide, according to The NPD Group, Charttrack, and internal Activision estimates. "Call Of Duty has become one of the greatest entertainment franchises of all time," said Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard, Inc. "If you consider the number of hours our audiences are engaged in playing Call of Duty games, it is likely to be one of the most viewed of all entertainment experiences in modern history."

7:39AM Commodities sharply lower, but up from overnight lows (USO) : Crude oil is now down 5.0% at $74.03 after hitting lows of $72.39 overnight; gold is now down 2.4% at $1159.70 after hitting lows of $1130.10 overnight. The dollar index is now 0.8% higher at 75.36 after having gains in excess of 1.0% overnight.

7:03AM Hurray Holding announces merger with Ku6 (HRAY) 5.11 : Co announces that it and the shareholders of Ku6 Holding Limited, an online video portal in China have agreed to the sale of Ku6 to HRAY, in an all stock transaction under which all of the outstanding capital shares of Ku6 will be sold to HRAY and all of the outstanding employee stock options of Ku6 will be cancelled, in exchange for an aggregate of 723,684,204 HRAY ordinary shares, of which 44,438,100 will be represented by American Depositary Shares of HRAY, each representing 100 ordinary shares of HRAY. After the completion of the merger, Ku6 will retain its brand name and become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hurray!.

6:21AM S&P futures vs fair value: -33.40. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -54.00. :

6:20AM European Markets : FTSE...5171.09...-22.70...-0.40%. DAX...5587.36...-26.80...-0.50%.

6:20AM Asian Markets : Nikkei...9081.52...-301.70...-3.20%. Hang Seng...21134.50...-1075.90...-4.80%.

2:34AM Frontline beats by $0.05, beats on revs (FRO) 26.99 : Reports Q3 (Sep) loss of $0.07 per share, $0.05 better than the First Call consensus of ($0.12); revenues fell 59.6% year/year to $233 mln vs the $195.7 mln consensus. Co reports average daily time charter equivalents earned in the spot and period market in the third quarter by the co's VLCCs, Suezmax tankers and Suezmax OBO carriers were $32,100, $15,900 and $42,200, respectively, compared with $38,400, $26,800, and $42,700, respectively, in the preceding quarter. The spot earnings for double hull VLCCs and Suezmax tankers were $26,800 and $12,800, respectively, in Q309, compared with $38,700 and $24,400, respectively, in the preceding quarter. The Gemini Suezmax pool had spot earnings of $14,866 per day in the third quarter.

1:39AM EnCana shareholders endorse split of co into two companies - Cenovous Energy and EnCana (ECA) 54.86 :  

1:35AM ING prices rights issue at EUR 4.24/share (ING) 12.28 : Co prices its rights issue at EUR 4.24/share. Co announces it has offered 6 new shares for every 7 existing shares held by shareholders. The offer price represents a 52.4% discount to Thursday's closing price of EUR 8.92 euros and a 37.3% discount to the theoretical ex-rights price. The total shares to be issued is 1,768,512,544.