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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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – November 20, 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: Toyota Motors (TM), Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. (PBR), ExxonMobil Corp. (XOM), Chevron Corp. (CVX) and Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDS.A).

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:

Toyota’s 1st Sales Gain in 15 Months

Toyota Motors (TM) has posted its first year-over-year monthly sales gain across the globe in 15 months during October. The company’s sales rose 4% to more than 630,000 vehicles. In the U.S., the company’s sales fell 3.5%.

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Brazilian energy giant Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. (PBR), or Petrobras S.A. announced encouraging third quarter results, helped by strong performance from the Supply segment. Earnings per ADR came in at R$1.66 (96 cents), comfortably beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 80 cents. However, on a year-over-year basis, Petrobras’ earnings per ADR was down approximately 28.7%, hurt by lower prices of oil and natural gas. Still, they were better than the high double-digit earnings decline suffered by other majors such as ExxonMobil Corp. (XOM), Chevron Corp. (CVX), and Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDS.A).   Upstream   Total oil and gas production during the third quarter of 2009 reached 2,534 million oil-equivalent barrels per day, from 2,524 million in the previous quarter and 2,437 million in the same period of 2008. Compared to the third quarter of 2008, Brazilian oil and natural gas liquids production increased 4.8%, while ...

Recently, the federal government’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) issued an overall bullish report, showing a smaller-than-expected build in crude stockpiles. Further, the data showed that gasoline inventories were down as predicted, while distillate stocks also declined, though fell short of expectations. In its release, the agency said that crude inventories rose by 1.3 million barrels for the week ending October 16, much lower than analysts' expectations. This is the second successive week in which the crude buildup has been lower than originally anticipated. A major contributing factor to the modest increase can be attributed to a fall in crude oil imports, which dropped to the lowest level in two months. Current crude oil stocks, at 339.1 million barrels, are 8.9% above the year-earlier level and remain above the upper limit of the average for this time of the year (depicted in the first EIA chart below). The ...

Oilfield service provider Acergy S.A. (ACGY)  yesterday announced the receipt of a $500 million contract from the Nigerian subsidiary of Chevron Corp. (CVX). As per the deal, Acergy will support Chevron Nigeria Ltd’s gas development program in Escravos, offshore Nigeria, in water depths of up to 40 meters.    The contract, encompassing engineering, procurement, fabrication, transportation, installation, tie-in and commissioning, calls for Acergy to obtain and install over 130 kilometers of pipelines, to fabricate and install 15 risers and 3 subsea tie-ins, and to install over 40 crossings. Acergy is due to commence engineering work immediately, while offshore installation is likely to begin during the fourth quarter of 2010.   The London-based seabed-to-surface service provider described the award as recognition of its strong local engineering and project management skills in Nigeria. Acergy further said that the contract award will re-enforce its strong presence in the upgrade ...

Earlier this week, Chevron Corp. (CVX) – the second-biggest U.S. oil company – announced the discovery of a new offshore natural gas site (Achilles-1) in Western Australia ’s Carnarvon Basin . The discovery builds on the integrated energy giant’s leading position in this hydrocarbon-rich area and follows the Clio-2 and the Kentish Knock-1 finds in August. Drilled to a total depth of 4,500 meters, the Achilles-1 well encountered 100 meters of net gas pay. The find is situated in the WA-374-P permit area (in the Greater Gorgon region), 160 kilometers off the coast of northwest Australia . Chevron Australia has a 50% operated interest in the prospect, with the other partners being ExxonMobil Corp. (XOM) and Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDS.A). We believe that the latest exploration success will boost Chevron’s growth prospects in Australia by adding to its already significant gas interests in ...

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Consorteum Holdings, Inc. (OTCBB: CSRH) has launched its mobile check cashing program. The introduction of this service will offer those that are currently using check cashing facilities a much more convenient way to cash their payroll checks. After two years of development with its partners, Consorteum has now proceeded to the pilot phase of its check cashing program in the Toronto, Ontario region. The first stage of the pilot implementation will be the deployment of this new service on

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Yesterday, the U.S. Energy Department's weekly inventory release showed a less-than-expected build in crude stockpiles. However, the headline news was centered on a sharp drop in gasoline stocks and refinery utilization that pushed oil prices to a fresh 2009 peak and lifted energy stocks. The federal government’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported a 400,000 barrels rise in crude inventories for the week ending October 9, much less than analyst expectations. The modest increase can be attributed to scaled back operations by the refiners (prompted by weak profit margins) even as imports fell. This follows last week’s report, which showed an unexpected rise in oil supply figures, against consensus forecast of a buildup. Current crude oil stocks, at 337.8 million barrels, are 9.6% above the year-earlier level and remain above the upper limit of the average for this time of the year (depicted in the first EIA chart ...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – October 12, 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: Ford (F), Honda (HMC), Caterpillar (CAT), Boeing (BA) and Chevron Corp. (CVX).

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 Friday’s Analyst Blog:

Trade Deficit Improves

While the year-over-year improvement in the trade deficit is very good news, the reason for it is not so good. It was a reflection of the overall collapse in world trade, something that makes everyone poorer. As far as the GDP calculations are concerned, it does not make any difference

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Yesterday, after the market close, Chevron Corp. (CVX) released its third-quarter interim update, covering the first two months of the quarter. On the whole, the update is positive, with earnings expected to be higher than in the previous quarter. The company expects the upstream segment to benefit from an increase in crude oil prices as well as from gains of about $400 million associated with asset sales and tax items. Downstream results are likely to be relatively flat, as it continues to be hurt by weak refining margins. Chevron further said that unfavorable foreign currency movements will affect the segment profitability. Upstream The best part of the update pertained to upstream volumes, highlighting Chevron’s attractive growth profile among the super-majors. The company reported that oil and natural gas production average 2.687 million oil-equivalent barrels per day – better than estimates and nearly 10% above ...