American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) shares are down 50% in the last 3 months and trading under $20 a share.  Why care?  First off, Berkshire Hathaway is its largest stockholder with 151 million, or 13%, of AXP shares. Barron's says "Berkshire's stake suggests the company's stock may be near a bottom". At Barron's: American Express: Nowhere Near Its Credit Limit By ANDREW BARY

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AmEx CEO Ken Chenault is considered among the best

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Market consolidation continues as AMEX and NYSE merge, shuffling some issues and creating different platforms for individual investors. 

While many Americans may be moving in with relatives as a result of the housing crisis, the 38 Vanguard exchange-traded funds are set to begin rooming, listing and trading together, due to the acquisition of the American Stock Exchange by NYSE Arca.

The consolidation of all Vanguard ETF trading on NYSE Arca will commence this Friday morning.

There are already four Vanguard ETFs—Vanguard Mega Cap 300 ETF, Vanguard Mega Cap 300 Growth ETF, Vanguard Mega Cap 300 Value ETF and Vanguard Total World Stock ETF—trading on the NYSE Arca.

There have been many recent "housekeeping" moves in the ETF market as a result of the acquisition of AMEX by NYSE Arca. In at least one respect, the move of the AMEX-listed ETFs to NYSE Arca represents an important historical footnote for the

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Pipex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (AMEX: PP) recently announced that Nicholas Stergis, co-founder and vice chairman of the board of directors, has joined the executive management team as chief executive officer, replacing Steve H. Kanzer who will continue to serve as the company’s chairman. In addition, the company announced the resignations of Daniel J. Dorman, a director, and Dr. Charles L. Bisgaier, Pipex’s president, effective immediately.

As an original co-founder of Pipex Therapeutics, Inc., the predecessor company, Mr. Stergis has been vice chairman of the company’s board of directors since March 2007. He has also served as Pipex’s chief operating officer from 2001 until October 2006. Prior to co-founding Pipex, Mr. Stergis was co-founder, chief operating officer and director of Developmental Therapeutics, Inc., a cardiovascular drug development company. Mr. Stergis earned his his Bachelor of Science degree in biology from the University at Albany, State University of New York, and his Master of

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Uranium Energy Corp. is focused on becoming a near-term ISR uranium producer in the United States. The company has acquired, and is developing, uranium properties throughout the southwestern US. In today’s news, Uranium Energy Corp. announced that it is now listed in the Russell Microcap Index as part of Russell Investment Group’s annual reconstitution of its family of U.S. indexes.

The Russell indexes are well known, and widely used among investment managers and institutional investors for both active and passive investment strategies. As of the end of May, the Russell indexes have captured the 4,000 largest domestic stocks, which are ranked by market cap to create the Russell 3000 Index and the Russell Microcap Index. Becoming a member of the index ensures Uranium Energy a greater exposure to institutional investors, as well as constant comparison to other industry players.

In other recent news from the company, Uranium Energy announced last month that

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Entrée Gold Inc. (EGI) is an American mining and exploration company with active copper and gold interests in both the United States and Mongolia. Of the company’s 179,000 hectares (or roughly 4.5 million acres) of prime mining property, 40,000 have been thoroughly explored and shown to be extremely promising.

The land is part of a joint venture between EGI and Ivanhoe Mines, Ltd., and is known as the Oyu Tolgoi development project located in Southern Mongolia’s Gobi Desert. The resources contained in this stake are estimated to be more than four billion pounds of copper, and over two million ounces of gold. On an added note, Ivanhoe is a world mining leader, and has been associated with other multi-billion dollar superpowers such as Rio Tinto in the past. Both Rio Tinto and Ivanhoe own roughly fifteen percent of Entrée Gold, Inc. Partnership with these companies all but ensures EGI’s potential

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New Home Sales Plummet; Mexico Staves off U.S. Slowdown; Monsanto Reaps Big Rewards; MasterCard Pays AmEx $1.8 Billion; Buffett Concerned About Stagflation; Reduced Damages for Exxon; Nike Strong in Asia; More Cuts for Penney’s As the Federal Reserve pondered interest rates yesterday, the Commerce Department released data showing that sales of new single-family homes fell 2.5% in May from April, and more than 40% year-over-year. In a separate report, new orders for long-lasting U.S. manufactured goods were unchanged in May after two months of decline, Reuters reported. Unlike our northern neighbor, Mexico has been fairly able to stave off the effects of the U.S. slowdown. Agustin Carstens, Mexico’s finance minister, said that the Mexican economy grew more than 3% in the first half, Bloomberg reported.  For the medium to long term, the government may reevaluate its gasoline subsidy, he ...

Asia Time Corporation, a Chinese timepiece manufacturer, was featured in a trade alert issued today by Beacon Equity. The stock has traded from $4.50 to over $5.00 in just a few sessions, with indicators pointing toward a continuation of momentum.

The company’s first quarter financial results were impressive, showing a marked improvement across the board, as compared to those of a year ago. Revenues hit $36.8 million, with a net income of $2.4 million, greatly superseding last year’s Q1 revenues of $21.1 million, and net loss of $193,000.

With a market cap of a mere $126.8 million, Asia Time Corporation is a subject of intrigue for many investors, and appears to be building strength as a company at an alarming rate. According to the Beacon Equity report, “The company attributes the increases to a portfolio of diversified products with higher selling prices, flexible and extended credit terms, and a targeted

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Seabridge Gold Incorporated is a mining company that engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of mineral properties in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. The primary target for Seabridge Gold is gold itself, but several of its projects have copper as a byproduct of mining. With the value of copper rising along with the price of gold, it is not a bad problem for the company to have.

The company is led by a management team with a highly diverse background, and includes financial experts, miners, engineers and even certified geologists. President and CEO of the company, Rudi Fronk, has over 20 years of experience in the gold business and has served as both a senior officer and director of other publicly traded companies. Several other directors bring at least 20 years of experience in their respective fields and are willing to make the necessary sacrifices

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Looking at market sectors is a great way to get overall perspective. When sector breadth shrinks, as it has over the last few weeks, it is a warning. Our weekly ETF update takes a time frame of about one month. We are especially interested in being on the right side of big moves. So should you!

Those with different time frames may reach wildly different conclusions. Those investing in bank stocks, for example, include both those who are looking a year ahead and those thinking one week ahead.

Successful investing means knowing your time frame and your mission.

Our rankings resemble the TV reality show, Survivor. The story is mostly about what is wrong. Secondarily one may ask, “Is there anything left to buy?”

This week’s featured sector reflects the circumstances.

The Featured Sector: Environmental Services

Market Vectors Environmental Services ETF (EVX) is a mostly about …

The world is all pissed off about high oil and gas prices; protesting is happening in Scotland, Hong Kong, Nepal and Europe as I write.  Spanish truck drivers are blockading their country’s border with France for crying out loud. There's only one way to play it - UltraShort Oil & Gas ProShares (AMEX:DUG). DUG is the answer, and it's probably wise to build a small position before everyone else does.  What the hell is DUG? UltraShort Oil & Gas ProShares (AMEX:DUG) seeks daily investment results, before fees and expenses, which correspond to twice the inverse of the daily performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Oil & Gas index. The fund normally invests 80% of assets in financial instruments with economic characteristics that should be inverse to those of the ...