While the Indian government buys its gold in the hundred of tons, a growing number of people around the world are buying by the ounce. For years Irsquo;ve been saying on TV and elsewhere that one-ounce coins like the American Eagle and the Canadian Maple Leaf make excellent gifts that the recipients will always remember and treasure. The same goes for 24-karat gold jewelry. The U.S. Mint seems to be thinking the same thing ndash; it plans to restart the sale of half-ounce, quarter-ounce and one-tenth-ounce gold coins on December 3, just in time for Christmas gift-giving. Last year, the Mint ran out. Coin sales have been impressive this year ndash; the Mint has sold more than 1.1 million of the one-ounce American Eagles and 140,000 American Buffalo coins, also one ounce. In Britain, the Royal Mint quadrupled its gold-coin output in the third quarter of 2009 to meet demand. The World Gold Council says ...

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company (GT) has revealed details about its master labor contract, ratified by members of the United Steel Workers (USW) union on Sep 18. The master contract covered about 10,300 employees at seven tire plants in the U.S. The plants are in Akron, Ohio; Buffalo, New York; Danville, Virginia; Fayetteville, North Carolina.; Gadsden, Alabama; Topeka, Kansas; and Union City, Tennessee.  The master contract is expected provide Goodyear with cost savings of $215 million over its term. Combined with savings realized through pre-bargain agreements to reduce staffing levels at five plants, the company expects to realize $555 million in total savings over the term of the agreements.  The contract also allows Goodyear to invest $600 million over the term of the agreement in its USW facilities to make them more efficient and productive. Additionally, it provides continued job security for six of the ...

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (GT) revealed that it reached a tentative four-year agreement on a United Steel Workers (USW) deal, about three hours before a midnight deadline for expiration last Saturday. The new contract covers about 10,300 employees at seven tire plants in the U.S. The plants are in Akron, Ohio; Buffalo, New York; Danville, Virginia; Fayetteville, North Carolina.; Gadsden, Alabama; Topeka, Kansas; and Union City, Tennessee.

The three-year old contract has been extended twice. Goodyear was in talks with USW in Cincinnati since June 8. The steelworkers were adamant throughout the negotiations about maintaining their job security. However, Goodyear did not disclose any details about the deal, especially on job cuts and plant closures.

Goodyear is focused on streamlining its operations by achieving cost reductions of $2.5 billion by 2009. Of this, the company already achieved $1.8 billion by the first half of the year. Goodyear anticipated that

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Three more U.S. banks failed; tally reaches 84 this year Bank failures continue unabated as U.S. regulators on Friday closed down three more banks in California, Maryland and Minnesota. This takes the total number of failed federally insured banks this year to 84, compared to 25 in 2008 and 3 in 2007. The failed banks were Ventura, California-based Affinity Bank, with about $1 billion in assets and $922 million in deposits; Baltimore-based Bradford Bank, with $452 million in assets and $383 million in deposits; and Forest Lake, Minnesota-based Mainstreet Bank, with $459 million in assets and $434 million in deposits. Failure of these banks represents another sizable impact on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s (FDIC) fund for protecting customer accounts, as it has been appointed receiver for these banks. The failure of Affinity Bank is expected to cost the deposit insurance fund an estimated $254 million; ...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – July 31, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Famous Dave’s (DAVE), BJ’s Restaurants (BJRI), Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD), California Pizza Kitchen (CPKI) and Red Robin Gourmet Burgers (RRGB).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5513

Here are highlights from Thursday’s Analyst Blog:

Famous Dave’s Efficient with Costs

Famous Dave’s (DAVE) ended the quarter with 176 restaurants – 46 company-owned and 130 franchise-operated. The company recently updated its guidance on franchise restaurant openings for fiscal 2009, joining the group of BJ’s Restaurants (BJRI)

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Buffalo Large Cap (BUFEX) was incepted in May 1995. The investment seeks long-term capital appreciation.

The fund primarily invests in domestic common stocks, preferred stocks, convertible preferred stocks, warrants and rights in companies that have market capitalization of $10 billion or more at time of purchase. As of March 2009, its portfolio turnover was 27%.

Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK), Walgreen Co. (WAG) and Intel Corp. (INTC) are among the fund’s top holdings.

Buffalo USA Global (BUFGX) seeks long-term capital growth. It invests in well positioned US-based companies that stand to benefit from international expansion and emerging markets' growth.

The fund follows a bottom up stock selection method for portfolio construction and sector allocations. It has an expense ratio of 1.05%.

Kent Gasaway has been lead manager at the fund since its inception in May 1995. The fund has topped the total

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Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD), best known for its chicken wings and sports bar, sustained its growth momentum in the second quarter of 2009, despite economic turmoil and rising unemployment, and affirmed its growth target of 15% in units, 25% in revenue, and 20% to 25% in net earnings, showing its resilience in a turbulent environment.     The company’s second quarter 2009 profit soared 24.2% year over year to $7.0 million. As a result, EPS jumped 25.8% to $0.39, surpassing street estimate by $0.05. Menu price increases, new restaurant openings and operational focus on product preparation drove the growth in EPS. The restaurant chain was able to increase its menu pricing when other restaurant operators were offering discounts to woo consumers during the recession. Total revenue climbed 32.4% to $129.6 million. Sales at company-operated restaurant surged 34.6% to $117.8 million driven by comparable sales increase of ...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - July 2, 2009 - Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: BJ's Restaurant and Brewery (BJRI), Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD), Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc (RRGB), California Pizza Kitchen, Inc. (CPKI) and McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurants Inc. (MSSR).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5513

Here are highlights from Wednesday's Analyst Blog:

The Consumer & Casual Dining

We think the restaurant growth stock sector has limited upside and that achieving the high-teens 2010 EPS growth implied by consensus estimates will be challenging. Kitchen and labor scheduling

...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - July 2, 2009 - Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: BJ's Restaurant and Brewery (BJRI), Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD), Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc (RRGB), California Pizza Kitchen, Inc. (CPKI) and McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurants Inc. (MSSR).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5513

Here are highlights from Wednesday's Analyst Blog:

The Consumer & Casual Dining

We think the restaurant growth stock sector has limited upside and that achieving the high-teens 2010 EPS growth implied by consensus estimates will be challenging. Kitchen and labor scheduling

...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - July 2, 2009 - Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: BJ's Restaurant and Brewery (BJRI), Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD), Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc (RRGB), California Pizza Kitchen, Inc. (CPKI) and McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurants Inc. (MSSR).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5513

Here are highlights from Wednesday's Analyst Blog:

The Consumer & Casual Dining

We think the restaurant growth stock sector has limited upside and that achieving the high-teens 2010 EPS growth implied by consensus estimates will be challenging. Kitchen and labor scheduling

...