Morning Market Comment

Along with the array of earnings reports after the bell today, and the energy inventory data at 10:30, one other interesting data point comes our way at 2 p.m: the release of the March FOMC minutes. Ah, the drama, the intrigue! You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll kiss your portfolio goodbye!

Citigroup (C) announces "streamlining" measures which include the axing of 17,000 jobs. Again, Charles Prince forgot to pink slip himself.

Gold up to $684/oz where I continue to be long and strong.

FDA's Position on New Drugs May Hurt Merck's Arcoxia Bid. MRK could be facing a big NO from the FDA as early as tomorrow.

Celgene Revlimid drug trial temporarily suspended, but so far only a modest dip in shares of CELG.

A morning warning: Biolase Technology Anticipates 1Q Loss.

Is premium angus beef coming to Mickey Dees (MCD)? Tests for new premium burger underway in Chicago.

Sony in talks over using your PS3 for commercial research. My six year old son and I were using the thing to play the new Family Guy game, and here they're talking about linking a bunch of PS3s together in a supercomputing application.

Among some of the more notable analysts comments this morning:

• AG Edwards upgrades American Home Mortgage (AHM) from Hold to Buy saying market has overreacted. Stock up 2%.
• Jeffries thinks Genentech (DNA) will post earnings tonight 1c above consensus and reiterates a buy rating. JEFF's target is $106. It feels Avastin and Lucentis could outperform the street.
• While JP Morgan reiterates an Outperform but says it's looking for 59c/shr in earnings vs consensus estimates of 62c for the March quarter.
• Goldman rates Alcoa (AA) a Sell saying it's concerned about rapid additions in worldwide aluminum production which could push prices lower.
• Citigroup lowers Amylin Pharma price target to $33 citing competition from Merck's (MRK) Januvia. All I can say is that Byetta from Amylin made me sick to my stomach. Januvia from MRK actually works wonders.
• Infosys (INFY) upgraded to Buy from Neutral on valuation at Goldman. INFY reports earnings on Friday.
• Gap (GPS) gets an upgrade from Wachovia to Outperform on optimism about the company's turnaround prospects.
• Dendreon (DNDN) was downgraded early this morning to Market Perform from Strong Buy on valuation at JMP.

Pete Stolcer's OneOption.com has a full list of movers this morning.

Kevin's Market Blog is a must read. http://kevinsmarketblog.blogspot.com/. He nails many things and his comments about Google (GOOG) are eye opening and so is the chart and his thoughts on the cyclical nature of how GOOG shares trade. Worth a look.