Top Takes From RealMoney

The RealMoney contributors are in the business of trading and investing all day on the basis of ongoing news flow. Below, we offer the top five ideas that RealMoney contributors posted today and how they played those ideas.

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1. Deutsche Bank ETN Taps Out
By Don Dion
9:12 a.m. EDT

Deutsche Bank will redeem the outstanding PowerShares DB Crude Oil Double Long ETNs (DXO Quote) on Sept. 9. Creation of new shares was already suspended, but daily repurchases will continue until Sept. 9.

DB cites a "regulatory event" as the justification for its call of the notes, referring to pending CFTC rules changes.

Crude Oil Double Short ETN (DTO Quote) is still available, but that raises the questions of why. And after Deutsche Bank, who's next?

No positions.

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2. Auto Sales
By Marc Chandler
11:02 a.m. EDT

Stronger-than-expected U.S. auto sales point to a constructive August retail sales report when it is released on Sept. 15. However, the risk is that due to lighter back-to-school traffic, sales excluding autos and gasoline may be somewhat softer than the headline.

Total seasonally adjusted U.S. auto sales rose to an annualized rate of 14.1 million units, the highest since May 2008. This compares with consensus of 13.3 million to 13.5 million and July's 11.3 million. Domestic producers sold at a 10.2 million pace after 8.4 million in July. Ford (F Quote) and General Motors estimate that if it weren't for the government's incentive scheme, auto sales would have been around 10.5 million, from 9.5 million in June, before the Cash-for-Clunkers program.

The auto sales report underscores a theme that investors are watching: inventory developments. They are lean. Yesterday's data show Chrysler with 28 days, Ford 36, GM 48, Toyota (TM Quote) 11 and Nissan 22. Several producers have already announced reopenings of factories and production lines. The lack of inventory might help account for some of the gap between the sales of individual producers and analyst forecasts.

The recovery in manufacturing appears to be global in scope as was its collapse, as German auto sales reported earlier today were up for the seventh consecutive month. It is possible that at least part of the recovery story gets factored into the market so that there's less of a response to fundamental good news. Yesterday, for example, the stock market did not derive much strength from the stronger-than-expected U.S. manufacturing ISM. Also, the pace of improvement in manufacturing (globally) seems unlikely to be sustained, and some leveling out in the coming months should not be surprising.

No positions.