• DryShips (NASDAQ:DRYS) reported third quarter earnings of 27 cents a share, 6 cents above Zacks estimates, on revenues of $228.2 million, down 30.4%, but above Zacks projections of $211 million

• Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU) offered downside fourth quarter guidance as third quarter results posted a slight miss at $2.07 versus $1.47 a year ago

• BP (NYSE:BP) posted 50% better-than-estimated interims as cost-cutting measures generated results of $4.98 billion, down 50% from last year, due to lower oil and gas prices

• Johnson Controls (NYSE:JCI) reported fourth quarter earnings of four cents above Zacks estimates at 52 cents, on inline revenues of $7.87 billion, off 15.5%

• US Steel (NYSE:X) posted a third quarter loss of $2.11, versus Zacks estimates of a $2.91 per share loss, on estimate-topping revenues of $2.82 billion, down 61.5%, but above estimates of $2.67 billion. Noting customer order rates below second quarter levels, the firm provided a cautious outlook

...

Despite the mis-informed opinions that flow from some on Wall Street, China is becoming less and less dependent on exports to the U.S. More demand for products is coming from China itself.

Recent shipping container points to this change. A year ago there were only 56 tons of Chinese imports for every 100 tons of Chinese exports. One year later, this figure has grown to 80 tons of Chinese imports for every 100 tons of Chinese exports. This is a dramatic change for just one year.

Retail sales also support the idea that the Chinese consumer is beginning to spend. For the first half of 2009, overall retail sales in China rose by 15% – a figure that American retailers would love to have. The rise in retail sales is due in part to massive spending by one segment of the population – women under the age of 35.

This trend looks likely

...

It seems that people can’t help but go after the successful. Moreover, I’m sick and tired of all the sensationalist title lines that stock market prognosticators can’t help themselves with. For example, this one – “Did Google Just Gag?”  

ComScore, a notoriously poor predictor of overall performance, released January 2009 U.S. search share data. 

Yes, Google lost a bit of market share but remains 3 times as popular as Yahoo for search in the United States. In the article mentioned above, the author notes that Yahoo has gained share from 19.7% in August to the current 21.0%. Of course, the “Fool” fails to note that Google’s share in August was 63.0%, the very

…

Small Cap Stocks: How to Find the Russell 2000 All Stars

Alex Williams, Advisory Panelist, Investment U

Over the last 52 weeks, 2,725 stocks outperformed the S&P 500. And 2,356 of them – or 87% – were small caps. Trouble is, the small-cap universe, as a whole, can be tough to navigate. Over the same period, the Russell 2000 Index lagged the S&P 500.

The trick is to find the right small-cap stock – one that’s safe, yet growing its business quickly… and rewarding shareholders for taking an early position. Here’s one way to sift through the potent Russell 2000 Index and uncover a winner – using the stock screener of your choice:

Size: Isolate stocks with a market capitalization between $1 billion and $5 billion.

Growth: Screen your results again for companies growing earnings faster than 50% a year. According to TDAmeritrade’s stock screener, we’re already down to 31 companies.

Management Effectiveness: Now, to

...

ITAT Group, one of China's largest apparel chains, has opened an online retail store 51itat.com. ITAT's cooperative partners attended the opening ceremony and many IT companies, including Google, Baidu, Sina, NetEase, Sohu, and Alibaba sent congratulatory messages. The website is managed by the Shenzhen-based Morganip.com Liu Zelong, chairman of Morganip.com, said at the opening ceremony that jointly [...]

Julian RobertsonJulian Robertson Interview VideoQuick Link: Hedge Fund VideosBelow is a short video with Julian Robertson. If you are viewing this post via my daily hedge fund newsletter please click here to view it on my website now.Some quotes from this video:

“America is a like a family who over-spent for years.. has to de-lever itself.. take a long, long time for that to be completed.. I look for a long tough period for the American people”

“I am not positioned long… I am short personally quite a bit”

“So far I don’t think we had the blow to the economy that will eventually obviously come from the wealth devastation that’s occured the last several months”

“General de-leveraging will be a strain on the economy for a

...

ADR of Chinese web company Baidu (BIDU) tested and rebounded from strong support line $200. This is good time to enter long position. The first cross over on July 2007, through the resistance at $200, led to sharp jump. At the beginning of 2008 the line had been used as a support. And now tested again.Volumes had been the biggest during the bull run and early year sell off.http://stockweb.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Chinese Internet company Baidu has announced that it has completed amendments to its e-commerce platform and will now accept up to 10,000 applications for beta testers. For customers who apply to become beta testers, and are accepted, Baidu's e-commerce platform will offer independent .CN domain names, free promotions, and customized marketing activities. In addition, these customers [...]