Baltimore-(TFN):Time to panic? If you are part of the Obama administration the answer is yes. If you are an American investor, hold off on the freaking out for at least another month or so.

With the nation’s unemployment rate officially in double-digit territory and the under-employed rate ready to the 20% mark, the politicians that promised bliss in the days ahead are eating their words today.

And that means Wall Street is eating its recent gains.

For nearly a month, the Dow has hovered around the 10,000 mark. After hundreds of billions of dollars were withdrawn earlier this year, it was relatively easy to put that money back to work and send the equities market higher.

But now that the economic data is showing facts of slower-than-expected expansion rather than “ideas” of growth, investors are forced to explain their logic. The Dow doesn’t want to budge from 10k.

So far, I’ve heard very

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News Corp. (NWS) recently reported its first quarter results. Earnings of 22 cents a share surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 17 cents and climbed 10% from 20 cents posted in the prior-year quarter.   Total revenues tumbled 4.1% year on year to $7,199 million due to fall in Television (down 7.7%), Direct Broadcast Satellite Television (down 4.3%), Newspapers and Information Services (down 17.7%), Book Publishing (down 1.6%) and Other (down 44.4%) segments, offset by rise in Filmed Entertainment (up 20.8%), Cable Network Programming (up 10.5%) and Integrated Marketing Services (up 3.1%) segments.   However, significant cost-cutting initiatives taken by management and robust performance at Filmed Entertainment and Cable Network Programming segments have boosted the operating income by 9.3% to $1,042 million. Management expects fiscal 2010 operating income to increase within a high-single digit to low double-digit percentage range.   Filmed Entertainment posted a record first quarter operating ...

Fuel Your Portfolio With BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP): The Best-Run Commodities Company In The World

by Tony Daltorio, Investment U Research

Some companies just stand out – both in their own sectors and in the larger market.

Australian firm BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP) is one of them.

As the largest and most diversified commodities producer in the world, BHP has leading positions in most key, low-cost, metal and mineral deposits in the world.

And as if that weren’t enough, it also has a solid position in oil, thanks to its petroleum division, which had operating profits of $4 billion last year.

Impressively, that total only made the petroleum division BHP’s third-best performer in 2008. Its iron ore segment scooped up $6.23 billion, while base metals enjoyed a $4.62 billion operating profit.

Crucially, that sets BHP’s oil division apart from its competitors. Not only

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(click on pictures for better viewing)

It is indeed an old adage that while goods things are to be preferred over bad things it is possible to get too much of the former. Looking at recent comments from the governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia it is not difficult to imagine how these, albeit old and worn, pearls of wisdom may well have inspired Mr. Stevens in his effort to tiptoe the thigthrope between signalling the intention to raise rates into an expected economic recovery on the one side and trying to prevent the Aussie shoot of on helium into the sun with wings of wax on the other.

(quote Bloomberg)

Australia’s central bank Governor Glenn Stevens signaled a surge in the nation’s currency to near parity with the U.S. dollar has given him scope to slow the pace of future

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VistaPrint N.V.’s (VPRT) first quarter earnings for fiscal year 2010 came in at 29 cents per share. Results were a nickel ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 24 cents. The company had earned 18 cents in the year-ago quarter. Results were driven by higher-than-expected revenue increases. Also, key operating metrics remained strong. The company reported a 27% year-over-year increase in revenue to $145.1 million. Gross margin improved 290 basis points from the year-ago quarter to 63.6%. The results were impacted positively by lower shipping costs, including some one-time shipping-related rebates, labor efficiencies, favorable product mix shifts and improved materials pricing, which more than offset higher overhead costs and lower referral revenues. Operating income was $14.4 million, reflecting an increase of 47% from the prior-year period. Operating margin was up 130 basis points to 9.9%. Turning to key metrics, we note that website sessions were ...

SAP AG (SAP) reported third quarter of 2009 net income from continuing operations of 60 cents per share, compared to the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 58 cents. U.S. GAAP software and software-related service revenues were €1.94 billion (previous year: €1.99 billion), a decrease of 3%. U.S. GAAP total revenues were €2.51 billion (€2.76 billion), a decrease of 9%. U.S. GAAP software revenues were €525 million (€763 million), a decrease of 31% (30% at constant currencies). In the third quarter of 2009, SAP closed major contracts in several key regions including Dagrofa/SuperGros, Prada S.p.A., SeverStal OAO, Surgutneftegaz OAO, Swiss Life AG, and Telefonica, S.A. (TEF) in EMEA; Banco Industrial S.A., ConocoPhillips (COP), Dolby Laboratories (DLB), Fairfax County, Research In Motion Limited (RIMM) and Valero Services Inc. in Americas; and APL Co. Pte. Ltd, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australia, HDFC Standard Life ...

Tenneco (TEN) showed an improvement in profit to $3 million or 7 cents per share for the third quarter of the year, compared to less than $1 million or 1 cent per share in profit a year ago. This is also better than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 4 cents per share for the quarter. Adjusted EBIT went up 36% to $46 million from $34 million in the prior-year quarter. However, lower original equipment (OE) production volumes in Europe, North America and Australia as well as declining European aftermarket sales squeezed revenues by 16% to $1.25 billion. The decline was partially softened by stronger OE production volumes in China and South America as well as higher North American aftermarket sales. In fact, revenue increased 13% from $1.11 billion in the previously reported quarter. Gross margin of 16.8% depicted an improvement versus 13.3% a year ago despite ...

Chicago Bridge & Iron Company NV (CBI) reported net income of $40.8 million, or 42 cents per diluted share, for the third quarter of 2009, compared with $8.6 million, or 9 cents per diluted share, in the third quarter of 2008. This was higher than Zacks Consensus Estimate of 38 cents per share. Revenue for the quarter was $1.0 billion compared with third quarter 2008 revenue of $1.6 billion.  New awards for the reported quarter totaled $1.6 billion, including CB&I’s $550 million Gorgon LNG contract in Australia and the $530 million GASCO award in Abu Dhabi. With less work, the company cut sales-related costs 39%, although overhead shrank by a more modest 12%.  Earlier, the company had announced that it has agreed to buy hydrogen-management technology from H2Gen Innovations Inc. in order to get hold of the Mars modularized Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) technology. H2Gen's PSA technology ...

The video clips below provide a handy summary of the reports expected on the economic, financial and corporate front around the globe during the week ahead.

US: Employment, autos, rates

Jobless numbers, auto-sales figures and an FOMC meeting are due in the first week of November. Then there’s the progress of the health-care overhaul in Washington and more.

Europe: BOE meeting, UBS results

The Bank of England may take steps to buy up to 50 billion pounds more of assets on Thursday to help the UK escape recession. Earnings are due from UBS, BNP Paribas, Societe Generale, Total, Adidas and Deutsche Telekom among many others.

Asia: Carmakers in focus

Toyota, the world’s largest carmaker by sales, and

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Cliffs Natural Resources (CLF), the largest producer of iron ore pellets in the U.S., recorded third-quarter 2009 profits of 45 cents, significantly lower than last year’s earnings of $1.61 per share, on weak iron volumes and prices. However, reported earnings were in contrast to the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 6 cents. Consistent with weaker year-over-year global demand for iron ore -- the steelmaking raw material -- revenues in the quarter tumbled 44% to $666.4 million. Performance by Segments North American Iron Ore: Sales in the segment slipped 47% to $428.2 million on a 31% decline in volumes to 5.5 million tons. Iron ore production halved to 4.6 million tons in the quarter. Demand for iron ore pellets remained weak year over year despite steel demand picking up in the last quarter. Capacity utilization in the North American steel industry ramped from 49% in ...