Citigroup Former Exec CHARGED with Wrongdoing and 4 Morning Hot Stocks Turning Heads Mid-Week

Citigroup (NYSE:C) former executive Brian Stoker, charged with wrongdoing for selling a CDO without disclosing to prospective investors that the bank had taken an opposite position on the instrument, received a clean chit from the court yesterday. As Stoker was the sole individual defendant in the case, this may prejudice the SEC’s drive to punish individuals involved in the financial crisis.

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Costco‘s (NASDAQ:COST) same-store sales in July rose 5 percent y-on-y reflecting flat growth in international markets and a 7 percent growth in the U.S., impacted by currency moves and lower gasoline prices. Not counting these factors, overall same store sales grew 7 percent comprising U.S growth at 8 percent and international at 7 percent.

Quarterly results at Cell Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CTIC) are a negative EPS of $0.28; the company proposes to launch Pixuvri (used to treat adult patients with non-Hodgkin’s B cell lymphoma) in Q4 and names Steven E Benner as Chief Medical Officer; the company aims to reduce its operating burn rate from the current $6.5 million a month to $4.5 million over the rest of 2012.

The launch of the Nexus Q music-and video-streaming device from Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) is delayed as the company plans to “work on making it even better,” possibly to address reviews that said the $299 device was more expensive and had fewer features compared to rivals. The new launch date has not been disclosed, though it was initially planned to ship to pre-ordering customers by July.

Q2 net profit at American Tower (NYSE:AMT) tumbles 58 percent to $48.2 million reflecting the impact of $118.6 million in losses due to foreign currency movements and other charges. The company maintains its rental and management revenue guidance but improves its outlook for adjusted cash from operations from the previous range of $1.17 billion to $1.2 billion to a slightly better $1.19 billion to $1.21 billion.

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