MORNING COFFEE

Non-Farm Payrolls.  Traders will be watching very carefully today when at 8:30 A.M EST the government will release that latest employment numbers.  Last week the government said the that numbers were affected negatively by the recent snow storms.  Economists are looking for a decline of 68,000 versus the prior months 20,000 decline.  A worst than expected number could cause the market to react negatively, fearing a double dip recession.

TiVo Shares Rocket Higher. TiVo (TIVO) shares rocketed +62% in trading yesterday after the company won a key appeal ruling against Dish Network (DISH) and EchoStar (SATS).  A federal court found that Dish Network and EchoStar are infringing on TiVo's DVR patents  and they should stop providing digital-video recording services. The ruling paves the way for TiVo to receive around $300 million in damages and sanctions. 

UBS Agrees to Settlement. UBS (UBS) reached a deal to buy back $200 million of auction-rate securities and pay a $6.64 million fine to settle charges it misled investors into thinking the securities were as safe as cash. The deal, reached with the Texas State Securities Board, covers investors left out of a 2008 nationwide settlement in which UBS agreed to buy back $18.6 billion of ARS and pay a $150 million fine.

FHA Understates Risk Exposure.  A group of economists from the New York Federal Reserve and New York University are saying that the Federal Housing Administration has understated how much risk it has taken on. In their study they found that the FHA is overlooking factors that could signal higher losses, making it more likely that the agency will have to ask for additional taxpayer funds to stay afloat. In their study they found that as many as 40% of FHA-insured mortgages are worth more than the homes that secure them, and as many as 14% of the mortgages may be for more than 115% of the home's value. The FHA's numbers put the latter figure at only 6%.

Bank Tax Will Hurt Consumers.  The Congressional Budget Office completed a study that concludes the White House's proposed $90 billion bank tax would have only a minimal effect on firms, and the fee would ultimately be "borne to varying degrees by an institution’s customers, employees, and investors." It would also result in a "slight decrease" in the total amount of credit available.

·         Futures: Dow +0.3%. S&P +0.4%. Nasdaq +0.2%. Crude +0.6% to $80.71. Gold +0.1% to $1134.70.

·          Asia: Nikkei +2.2% to 10369. Hang Seng +1.0% to 20788. Shanghai+0.3% to 3031. BSE +0.1% to 16994.

·         Europe: London +0.6% to 5558. Paris +0.7% to 3857. Frankfurt +0.5% to 5822.