[R]2:30PM NY – U.S. Market Movers.[/R]

U.S. market averages maintained their upward momentum on earnings, factor orders report and deal news.

Yum! Brands Inc (YUM: chart) reported first quarter earnings of 70 cents vs. 59 cents a year ago on revenue rise of 4%. The company reported revenue of $1.94 billion in the quarter and earnings of $194 million compared to revenue of $1.82 billion and earnings of $170 million a year ago. Total number of stores across the system rose 2% to 32,558. The company revised the earnings guidance to $3.23 per share from $3.21 and expressed that the operating profit growth in the U.S. division is going to be below the long term growth rate.

The company generates approximately 49% of its sales from its international operations and revenues in China increased by 24%. Sales in the U.S. based stores owned by company fell by 12% and at franchise owned locations rose by 1%.

CB Richard Ellis Group (CBG: chart) reported first quarter earnings of $12 million or $65 million excluding one time items vs. $36.9 million a year ago on revenue increase of 62% to $1.2 billion. The company reported earnings per share of 5 cents vs. 16 cents a year ago. Adjusting for accounting the earnings per share were 27 cents beating the analyst’s expectations of 15 cents.

In January 2007, the Company sold Trammell Crow Company’s approximately 19% ownership interest in Savills, plc, a real estate provider in the United Kingdom. This sale resulted in a non-cash, pre-tax loss of $34.9 million in the first quarter of 2007, which was largely driven by stock price depreciation at the date of sale as compared to December 31, 2006 when the investment was marked to market. The pre-tax proceeds from this sale, net of selling expenses, of approximately $311.0 million has been used to reduce net indebtedness.

The real estate advisory services and brokerage company generated $225 million in revenue in Europe, Middle East and Africa, $94 million in Asia and global investment management services revenue increased 181.6% to $85.6 million. The company guided that the annual earnings per share will be in the upper end of the previously issued forecast between $1.85 and $1.92.


[R]1:00AM NY, 5:00 PM Frankfurt European stocks closed higher, led by media stocks.[/R]

European stock markets closed higher on Wednesday, boosted by strength among media stocks. Shares in satellite broadcaster British Sky Broadcasting rose more than 5% after the company''s key performance indicators in Q3 exceeded market expectations. Dutch publisher Wolters Kluwer gained 2.8%, while Pearson closed down 3.4% in London. Mining stocks also contributed to the upward trend, with shares in Lonmin surged 7.7% after it posted a 63% increase in first-half pretax profit.

In earnings news, Henkel rose 2.7% after it said Q1 profit rose 14%. Shares of German tire maker Continental rose 3% after it reported 22%increase in Q1 profit. Shares of Danish pharmaceutical producer Novo Nordisk rose 7.6% after it reported Q1 profit increase of 41%. The U.K. FTSE 100 climbed 1% to 6,484.50, the German DAX Xetra 30 rose 0.6% to 7,455.93 and the French CAC-40 gained 0.5% to 5,990.13.


[R]11:30AM U.S. stock averages traded higher, driven by strong factory orders.[/R]
The three major stock averages rallied on Wednesday, driven by strength in the deal sector amid deal speculation, Q1 financial results released by Time Warner, and stronger-than-expected factory data.

Time Warner (TWX: chart) rose 2.5% after the media posted higher-than-expected quarterly earnings. Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG: chart) jumped 16% after the restaurant chain reported a profit rise above forecasts. On the merger-and-acquisition news front, Bisys Group (BSG: chart) rose 1.7% after Citigroup (C: chart) agreed to acquire financial services outsourcing company for $1.45 billion in cash.

The blue-chip average was boosted steeply higher, crossing the 13,200 level for the first time. The Dow benefited from strong gains by General Motors (GM: chart), up 3.3%, Verizon (VZ: chart), up 3.2%, and DuPont (DD: chart), up 2.6%. By sector, multimedia, telecoms, industrials, airlines, metals miners, and broker/deals moved notably higher.

Media stocks were lifted by deal speculation. News Corp. (NWS: chart) rose 1.8% after it launched a surprising bid for Dow Jones (DJ: chart). In another deal , Cablevision Systems (CVC: chart) gained 8% amid speculation it will be bought for $10.5 billion by its founding family, the Dolans.

In late morning trading, the Dow rose 84.11, or 0.64%, to 13,220.25. The blue chip index hit a fresh trading high of 13,228.78 after reaching 13,184.14 Tuesday. The Standard & Poor''s 500 index advanced 9.73, or 0.65%, to 1,496.03. The Nasdaq composite index rose 21.30, or 0.84%, to 2,552.83. Bonds fell following the factory order data. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 4.65% from 4.64% late Tuesday.

[R]New factory orders rose 3.1% in March.[/R]
The Department of Commerce released its report on new orders for manufactured goods in the month of March on Wednesday, showing that new orders increased by much more than economists had been expecting. The report showed that new orders for manufactured goods rose 3.1 percent in March following an upwardly revised 1.4 percent increase in February. Economists had expected orders to increase by 2.1 percent compared to the 1.0 percent increase originally reported for the previous month. The better than expected increase in orders for manufactured goods was partly due to a 3.7 percent increase in orders for manufactured durable goods.

The increase in durable goods orders was revised up from the 3.4 percent increase reported last week. A 9.5 percent increase in orders for transportation equipment contributed to the strong growth in orders for durable goods. The report also showed that orders for manufactured non-durable goods rose 2.3 percent in March following a 0.5 percent increase in February. The Commerce Department added that shipments of manufactured goods rose 1.5 percent in March following a 0.6 percent decrease in the previous month. At the same time, inventories of manufactured goods rose 0.2 percent. Subsequently, the inventories-to-shipments ratio came in at 1.23 in March, down from 1.25 in February.