4:30PM Global sell-off continues for the second week in a row.

-Dow closed down 18.73 points, Nasadq down 21.02 and S&P 500 down 4.96.
-Yields on 10-year bond closed at 5.036% and 30-year bond closed at 5.129%.
-Crude oil reversed its course and closed up 67 cents at $69.96 per barrel.
-Gold closed up 20 cents to $657.70 per ounce after trading as low as $636.80.

-Emerging markets around the world declined as Russia lost 9.1%, Indonesia declined 6% and India lost another 4.2%. Markets in Brazil declined 3.2% but in Mexico and Argentina lost 4%.

Market averages for the most part see-sawed towards the bottom and in the final hour of trading Nasdaq index lost close to 1%. Dow and S&P 500 staged a brief rally as few investors braved to buy falling stocks. Financial services including insurance companies, banks and mutual fund companies’ shares led decliners. Mining and metals sector and tech stocks joined the decliners list. Commodity markets saw volatile trading. Oil fell 2% but managed to close up 1%. Gold in intraday trading lost $20 but managed to close up 20 cents. Interest rate jitters in the U.S. are reverberating around the world as market after market in Europe, Asia and Latin America declined. European markets closed mostly lower but Russian market lost 9.1% at close and Norway lost 5%.

4:15PM Corning Declines to one month low on production problems.
Corning, Inc. (GLW: chart), a technology-based company, reaffirmed its Q2 guidance of $1.29 billion to $1.33 billion in sales and earnings per share of 24 to 26 cents before special items. The company now expects sequential liquid crystal display (LCD) glass volume to be flat to down 5% vs. previous guidance of flat to up 5%. Guidance for the company’s Telecommunications segment sales is expected to be up 15% to 20% up from the previous outlook of up 10% to 15%, which is being driven by the higher-than-anticipated increase in demand from the US and European carriers for the company’s fiber, cable, hardware and equipment products. Corning expects the LCD glass volume market to grow between 40% and 50% for the year and that the company will grow faster than the market.

It expects volume growth to be around 70% for the first half of the year in comparison to last year. Based on revised market data, the company expects LCD TV penetration for the year to average 19% and has raised its forecast of total LCD televisions shipped into the retail market to 41 million for the year, up from previous expectations of 38 million. Corning also announced that the damage to the glass melting tanks at its LCD plant in Shizuoka, impacted by the significant lightning strike, will be back on line at the beginning of June 2006. The impact is included in the company’s earnings per share guidance of 24 cents to 26 cents per share, before special items. Shares of the company closed down 6.41%.

4:00PM Bausch & Lomb receives IRS request for $200 million in tax liabilities.
Bausch & Lomb, Inc (BOL: chart) has received a Notice of Final Partnership Administrative Adjustment from the IRS in regards to tax years ending in June 24th and December 25th 1999, for Wilmington Partners LP., a partnership formed in 1993. The majority of the partnerships interests are held by subsidiaries of the company. Described in the 8-K form filed with the Securities and Exchange Administration is the asserted adjustments that could, if sustained in full, increase the tax liabilities of the partnership’s partners by more than $200 million, plus penalties and interests.

The company’s consolidated financial statements have included a deferred tax liability relating to this partnership since 1999, which would offset the earnings impact of increased taxes resulting from the proposed adjustments, if sustained. This tax liability equaled $162.8 million as of December 24, 2004. The company disagrees with the grounds asserted for these adjustments, the assertion of penalties, and interest and intends to file a petition in Tax Court to challenge the adjustments. Since the routine quarterly filing with the SEC has been delayed, & in the interest of full disclosure, the company has elected to record the receipt of the notice by filing an 8-k and issuing an announcement last Friday.

3:30PM Mittal revises the offer but Arcelor is still not ready.
Mittal Steel (MT: chart), after only one day of formally launching its offer for its competitor Arcelor (ARLOY: chart), raised its bid by 34% to €37.74 a share or €25.8 billion, an increase of €9.53 per Arcelor share. There would also be a maximum of approximately €7.6 billion of cash, an increase of 57% over the previous offer, to be paid by Mittal and additionally a maximum of 684.46 million shares of Mittal will also be issued. Based on the average closing price, on the NYSE, of Mittal shares of the 30 days prior to May 19th 2006, the revised offer values each Arcelor share at €41.5. This offer values Arcelor at an equity value of €25.8 billion on a fully diluted basis.

Under the terms of the revised offer, Arcelor shareholders will receive one Mittal share and €11.10 in cash for every Arcelor share; or €37.74 per share for each Arcelor share, subject to adjustments, including Arcelor’s announced dividend. The offer is 70% over the pre-announcement closing price of Arcelor’s stock.

Additionally, Mittal intends to relocate the company’s global headquarters and domicile to Luxembourg. It would also agree to give up the extra voting rights on shares held by the Mittal family. Arcelor’s shares closed down 5.57% and Mittal’s shares closed down 8.49%.

3:15PM Russian Index RTS Plummets 9.1% and 25% lower in eight days.
Russian market declines 9.1% and loses 25% in last two weeks of trading on a volume of $1.2 billion. Declining oil and commodity prices have finally caught up with emerging markets and rising interest and inflation rates in the U.S. are spreading around the world. Russian oil, metals and consumer products companies led the decliners. Gazprom lost 12% and Lukoil lost 8% at close. Surgutneftegaz lost 15% and Sibneft slid 9%. In the world market oil price is down from $75 a barrel to $69 a barrel in the last ten days. NorNickle plunged 13% as world copper, gold and zinc prices declined for the third day in a row.

Emerging markets around the world continued to slide led by declines in Asia, Latin America and Europe. India lost 4% today and lost 20% in the last ten trading days. Brazil and Mexico lost 4% and 5% respectively in today’s trading.

2:15PM Hastings announces positive earnings.
Hastings Entertainment, Inc (HAST: chart), a multimedia entertainment retailer, reported earnings of 17 cents per diluted share or $1.9 million up from 6 cents a share in the year-earlier period. In the last three months revenues rose $131.4 million up from $129.1 million a year ago. Total revenues for the year have risen to 1.8%. Same-store sales increased 2.4% for the quarter. Gross profit dollars for Q1 increased 5.9% or approximately $2.6 million to $46.6 million from $44 million a year ago. This was primarily the result of increased volume as well as lower freight, shrinkage and returns expense. As a percentage of total revenues, gross profit increased to 35.5% up from 34.1% in the year-ago period. Selling, General and Administrative expenses increased 32.6% approximately $0.6 million to $42.9 million for Q1 in comparison to 32.8% to $42.3 million a year ago.

The company’s board of directors approved $5 million shares of common stock to be repurchased on March 15th 2006 in addition to the prior $7.5 million from September 18th, 2001 (of $5 million shares) and April 4th, 2005 (of $2.5 million shares). As of April 30th, 2006 a total of approximately 1.2 million shares have been repurchased at a cost of approximately $6.7 million, for an average cost of $5.23 a share. The company did not, however, repurchase any shares during Q1 of this year. The company currently operates 153 superstores that average 20,000 square feet, primarily in mid-sized markets throughout the US. The stock is up at 1.2% this afternoon.

Boykin Lodging Co. (BOY: chart), a real estate investment trust that owns interests in 21 hotels in 13 states, has agreed to be acquired by Braveheart Holdings LP, an affiliate of Westmont Hospitality Group and Cadim Inc., which is a division of Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec for $11 a share. The total cost of the acquisition is approximately $416 million. Braveheart’s acquisition of Boykin also includes an assumption of the company’s debt. The offer is 20% more than Boykin’s May 19th closing price of $9.20. Before today, shares of Boykin’s stock had fallen 25% this year. Boykin’s stock is up in afternoon trading at 17%.

12:30PM European markets closed sharply lower.
European markets finished steeply lower, continuing a downward trend started last week when inflation and higher interest rates weighed. On Monday market sentiment was hurt by a heavy sell-off in the metals and energy sectors, reflecting a decrease in commodities prices. In merger-and-acquisition news, the NYSE Group Inc. proposed a $10.2 billion purchase of pan-European stock-exchange operator Euronext. Arcelor fell 5.6% after its board postponed a decision on whether to accept a 25.8 billion euro bid from rival Mittal Steel. The German DAX 30 slipped 2.2%, the French CAC 40 tumbled 2.56%, and London FTSE 100 dropped 2.2%.

Oil declined to $68 on rising inflation concerns and broad commodities stocks sell-off. Light crude fell 53 cents to $68 a barrel. London Brent crude shed 34 cents to $68.34. Gasoline lost 2 cents to $2.0175 per gallon. European gold further declined. In London the precious metal fell to $652 an ounce from $653.60. In Zurich gold traded at $651.45, down from $653.50. In London silver fell to $12.30 from $12.70. The dollar traded mixed in European trading. The euro traded at $1.2813, up from $1.2772. The dollar bought 112.11 yen, up from 111.66. The British pound stood at $1.8805, up from $1.8780.

11:30AM Market averages traded lower. The Nasdaq fell 1%.
Stocks continued their downward trend, with commodities helping to lead the markets lower. The gold sector was one of the market''s worst performances, as a retreat in the price of the precious metal, down $5 to $652.50, generated selling pressure. The Amex Gold Bugs Index dropped 3.3%, moving lower for the eighth consecutive session. Significant weakness also remains visible among energy stocks, with the Philadelphia Oil Service Index currently down 2.7 percent while the Amex Oil Index is down 2.5 percent. Energy stocks also posted weakness on declining oil prices.

Semiconductor stocks were under pressure, contributing to a 3.2% loss by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. Marvell Technology (MRVL: chart) led the sector lower after posting a strong gain in the previous session. Retail stocks also moved to the downside, led by Lowe''s (LOW: chart), down 3.7%, despite reporting better-than-expected Q1 earnings. The S&P Retail Index lost 1.5%. Considerable losses by some brokerage, housing, and disk drive stocks also helped to drag the markets lower. Among brokerage stocks, Bear Stearns (BSC: chart) and Goldman Sachs (GS: chart) stood out among losers. At the same time, utilities stocks bucked the downtrend by the broader market, contributing to a 0.8% gain by the Dow Jones Utilities Average.