Good Morning!

Crude Oil Tops $125 as Violence in Nigeria Continues ... Hezbollah Takes Over West Beruit ... Rice Trades "Limit Up" for Third Session ... Citigroup Shareholder Meeting Puts Pressure on New CEO Pandit ...Templeton's Mobius Likes Korean Stocks ... India Extends Ban on Commodity Trading in Foodstuffs ... Huntsman Profit Down 85%.

Asian stocks down ... European stocks down ... The dollar moving lower against the Euro, Japanese yen ... And the futures are trending lower in the hour before the bell.

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TradingMarkets 5 Business Stories You Need to Know

AIG Joins Capital Raising Club - Bloomberg

Back to back quarterly losses have forced AIG to seek $12.5 B in capital.  The insurance giant reported a first quarter loss of nearly $8 billion on Thursday.

Citi's Pandit Faces Shareholders - Bloomberg


Reversing fortunes at Citigroup may involve more than $200 billion in asset sales.  The largest bank in the U.S. holds its Investors's Day today in New York.

Hawkish Tone Lifts Euro - DailyFX


Inflation-fighting words friom ECB chief Trichet helped buoy the euro in recent days.  DailyFX chief strategist Kathy Lien considers the European currency's next move.

Conflict Breeds Profits for Alliant Tech - Bloomberg




Maker of ammunition for rifles used by U.S. soldiers in Iraq, Alliant Techsystems provided guidance on Thursday that was as positive as its Q4 earnings report, which announced profit gains of almost 20%.

Guitar Hero is Music to Investor's Ears - LA Times



With popular titles such as "Guitar Hero", Activision realized quarterly profits that were triple those of analyst expectations.  Quarterly sales nearly doubled for the video game maker.

For more stories as they happen, go to our Breaking News section.

TradingMarkets 7 Stocks You Need to Know for Today

Here are 7 stocks for traders for today from TradingMarkets.com:

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  Crocs ( CROX | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) ended Thursday up more than 14% after the company announced a forecast for 2008 that was better than expectations. The company's first quarter profits of $0.09 per share, excluding some items, were in line with analyst estimates.
  
  

  
  


• Better than expected same store sales helped boost shares of Wal-Mart ( WMT | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) though Costco ( COST | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating), which also reported strong sales, was lower on the day.
  
  
  
  
  
  


• Defense contractor Alliant Techsystems ( ATK | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) announced fourth quarter earnings that were up by nearly 20% to $1.83 per share, beating estimates.
  
  
  
  
  
  


• Activision ( ATVI | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) reported quarterly earnings of $0.17 per share, more than triple analyst estimates.
  
  
  
  
  
  


• Questions by the Justice Department about the company's handling of a study involving its cholesterol drug Vytorin did not stop shares of Schering Plough ( SGP | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) from gaining nearly 3% on the day.
  
  
  
  
  
  


• Shares of Best Buy ( BBY | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) slid more than 3% on news that the company has spent $2.1 Bn for a stake in British consumer electronics retailer, Carphone Warehouse.
  
  
  
  

For a list of today's highest PowerRating stocks, click here.

TradingMarkets 5 PowerRatings Stocks for Today

TradingMarkets Tracking the Wizards

Dee Ferris: Champion Stock Picker - TradingMarkets

Winner of our TradingMarkets Up or Down Contest for April, Dee Ferris walks away with $1,000 cash for her ability to predict the direction of stocks last month.  Now it's your turn.  Play TradingMarkets Up or Down Daily Stock Contest and you could win over $11,000 in cash prizes for predicting the direction of a stock!

How to Use a Stock Screener - TradingMarkets

Dave Goodboy introduces one of the stock traders best friends: the stock screener.  Here are a few basic tips to help you get started.

How to Read an Options Chain - TradingMarkets

TradingMarkets contributor Billy Fisher explains what you will find when reading an options chain, link by link.

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