U.S. stocks tumbled Thursday as concerns about a subdued economic recovery played in the minds of investors.  Safer bets like dollar strengthened and oil prices slumped.  As investors turned to safe havens, Treasury prices rose, sending corresponding yields lower.  Yields on three-month bills, considered one of the safest bets, turned negative for the first time since December.  A Bank of America Merrill Lynch downgrade of semiconductor industry also added to the downward pressure.     

The spike in bond prices came even as the Treasury announced plans to auction a record $118 billion in new notes next week – an auction schedule of $44 billion 2-year notes on Monday, $42 billion 5-year notes Tuesday, and $32 billion 7-year notes on Wednesday.

The Dow, which had plunged as much as 170 points during the session, ended down 93.87 points, or 0.9%, to 10,332.44.  The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 14.90

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Companies featured in this edition of the newsletter: ACTC, CVM, CHIP, ENZ, HYTM, IWEB, ONEZ, PHC, SIHI, SRCO

Markets continued their strong performance this week in the absence of any major market driving earnings or economic reports, as the broad based buying that characterized the previous week continued and led to gains in all of the major indices. All told, the Dow added 2.5% on the week, gaining 247 points to close at 10,270, up 17.0% on the year. The Nasdaq posted a 2.6% gain on the week, closing at 2,167 to extend its yearly gains to 37.5%, while the S&P 500 and Russell 2000 gained 2.3% and 1.0% respectively, bringing their yearly gains to 21.1% and 17.4%.

Equity markets carried the momentum from the previous week’s session, as the thin economic calendar and lack of significant earnings reports provided little incentive for investors to slow their buying activities.

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Monday November 16, 2009

DrStockPick.com Stock Report!

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Healthy Coffee International, Inc. (Pinksheets:HCEI) has included to Mr. Michael Sharp to its team of sales leaders. A native of Florida, Mr. Sharp has over 20 years of combined experience in the network marketing business, representing three Multi Million Dollar MLM companies before moving to Japan. He has also worked as a motivational speaker for two large MLM companies, and was a former trainer with Disney World. His other list of activities include writing and publishing short stories for

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At the G20 finance summit in St Andrews, the problem of unemployment was raised as well as 'uneven growth'; Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin has said that 'exit strategies' will have to be considered.  Kudrin apparently believes that a second wave of crisis is unlikely.  Goldman Sachs will not become the key adviser to Rusal on its intended $30 billion stock-market listing, a decision which is 'mutual'; the Bank of America Merrill Lynch will take its place.  Apparently Goldman Sachs may have been deterred by Rusal owner Oleg Deripaska's problems in the US, fueled by allegations that he is involved with organized crime.  The government has nearly completed the initial development of an agency designed to help provide subsidies for exports loans and regulate export tariffs.  Mitsubishi has acquired a 40% stake in Russia's Rolf Import.  ...

BRE Properties (BRE), a leading real estate investment trust (REIT), has recently appointed Stephanie T. Andre as Vice President, Treasurer with immediate effect. The appointment is recognition of the increasing significance of the treasury function in the company, particularly in areas such as capital financing and financial risk management. Andre would be responsible for maintaining optimal liquidity along with budgeting and long-term forecasting. In its capacity as a treasurer, Andre would also develop capital strategies to control cost of capital and financial risk. In addition, she would manage external credit and capital relationships, and other operational strategies of the department.  Andre had earlier served Bank of America Merrill Lynch for the past eight years as Vice President and Principal, Real Estate Investment Banking division. During her tenure, she had completed over $5 billion worth of deals relating to mergers and acquisitions as well as debt and ...

This week on Consuelo Mack WealthTrack three investment pros discuss their winning strategies. David Winters is the founder and portfolio manager of the Wintergreen Fund that invests eclectically and globally; Whitney Tilson is a value investor who runs both mutual and hedge funds; Michael Hartnett is the chief global equity strategist for Bank of America Merrill Lynch. As always with WealthTrack this is good viewing material.

Note: The transcript of this interview is not available yet, but will be posted here as soon as it arrives.

Source: Wealthtrack, September 25, 2009.

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Thursday September 3, 2009

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NXT Nutritionals Holdings, Inc. (OTCBB: NXTH) developer and marketer of SUSTA(TM) Natural Sweetener, the great tasting, all-natural, healthier sweetener, and SUSTA(TM)-based food and beverage products, today announced it has retained Stern & Co. to launch a nationwide media campaign to introduce SUSTA(TM) and to provide media relations/public relations counsel.

First Solar, Inc. (Nasdaq:FSLR) today announced that Robert J. Gillette has been appointed chief executive officer, succeeding Mike Ahearn. Mr. Gillette brings a wealth of experience to this position, having spent the last four and a half years as the CEO and president of Honeywell

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[Editor's Note: If it's inflation you're worried about - and commodities you want to invest in - there's no better place to look than the Global Resource Alert trading service, which ferrets out companies poised to profit from the so-called “Secular Bull Market” in commodities. If you’re new to the commodities-investing arena, and are uncertain about the landscape – or even if you’re an “old hand” at natural-resource stocks, but want some insights into the new profit plays and new players – consider hiring a guide: Money Morning Contributing EditorPeter Krauth, a recognized expert in metals, mining and energy stocks, who is also the editor of the Global Resource Alert. A former portfolio advisor, Krauth continues to work out of resource-rich Canada, which keeps him close to most of the companies he researches. Against the growing global financial malaise, Krauth says that commodities are among …

“Words from the Wise” this week comes to you in a shortened format as I do not have access to my normal research resources while on the road in Europe (also see my post “Gone A.W.O.L. - to Slovenia and Switzerland“). Although very little commentary is provided, a full dose of excerpts from interesting news items and quotes from market commentators is included.

While investors’ hopes of an economic recovery might have got ahead of reality, the cartoonists continually reminded us of worrisome issues …

Source: Signe Wilkinson, Washington Post,  June 18, 2009.

The past week’s performance of the major asset classes is summarized by the chart below - a mixed bag so to speak.

Source: StockCharts.com

A summary of

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This week’s video-o-rama comes to you a day late as I make my away from Cape Town to Europe. Notwithstanding terribly slow broadband at South African airports, I have managed to compile an interesting potpourri of clips.

Topics ranged from another round of discussions about the proposed regulatory reform to Fed chairman Ben Bernanke facing a grilling on Capital Hill over the Bank of America-Merrill Lynch deal to the usual dose of debate on the outlook for the economy and financial markets.

The stars of this week’s round-up include Steven Pearlstein, Pete Peterson, Warren Buffett (US economy in “shambles”), Nouriel Roubini (US economy “sort of stabilizing”), Puru Saxena, Edmund Phelps, Mohamed El-Erian, Robert Prechter (a “lot more” bear market) and T. Boone Pickens.

The compilation kicks of with Barry Ritholtz, author of must-read “Bailout Nation” and editor of The Big Picture blog, sharing his views on

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