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 ...

If You Thought the Housing Meltdown Was Bad… Doug Hornig, Senior Editor, (Casey Research):

…wait until you see what’s in the cards for commercial real estate.

That’s right, the next train wreck will be in commercial real estate. Couldn’t be worse than last year’s residential market crash? That remains to be seen. But it’s coming soon, probably as early as the second quarter of next year, and there’s nothing that can prevent it. The government will intervene, trying desperately to delay the day of reckoning, and may even succeed. For a while. But make no mistake about it, that train is going off the tracks no matter what.

Every part of the sector – from multifamily apartment buildings to retail shopping centers, suburban office buildings, industrial facilities, and hotels – has accumulated a huge amount of defaulted or nonperforming paper. It’s an impossible, swaying structure that cannot long stand.

Just ask Andy Miller.

Andy

...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – November 13, 2009 – Zacks Equity Research highlights Expedia Inc. (EXPE) as the Bull of the Day and Triumph Group, Inc. (TGI) the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Target (TGT), TJ Maxx/Marshall’s (TJX) and Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF).

Full analysis of all these stocks is available at http://at.zacks.com/?id=5506

Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:

Bull of the Day:

Expedia Inc. (EXPE) is one of the leading online travel companies in the world. The company reported strong results in the last quarter, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Promotional activity continues to have a positive impact on the conversion rate, and spending is expected to strengthen in the next few quarters.

We are also positive about international initiatives, which we think will be the key to future growth.

...

Initial claims for unemployment insurance (or jobless claims) fell to 502,000 last week -- a drop of 12,000 from last week's revised level (and 10,000 from last week’s unrevised level). That brought the four-week moving average down to 519,750 -- a decline of 4,500 from last week, and of 139,000 from its mid-April peak. That was the lowest level of initial claims since the first week of January (when the numbers were distorted due to the New Years Holiday). As the chart below (from http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/) shows, that was probably the high point for this cycle. The decline has been quite smooth and steady -- unlike the experience of the last two economic downturns, where after an initial decline, claims leveled off and remained high for an extended period of time. The fact that we are back to around the same levels we were in January points ...

Initial claims for unemployment insurance (or jobless claims) fell to 502,000 last week -- a drop of 12,000 from last week's revised level (and 10,000 from last week’s unrevised level). That brought the four-week moving average down to 519,750 -- a decline of 4,500 from last week, and of 139,000 from its mid-April peak. That was the lowest level of initial claims since the first week of January (when the numbers were distorted due to the New Years Holiday). As the chart below (from http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/) shows, that was probably the high point for this cycle. The decline has been quite smooth and steady -- unlike the experience of the last two economic downturns, where after an initial decline, claims leveled off and remained high for an extended period of time. The fact that we are back to around the same levels we were in January points ...

 

The stock market is nothing if not a place of pure deception.  Just when you think you have the market figured out it changes course leaving you scratching your head in frustration.  Or even worse, just when the market seems to be making logical sense it makes no sense whatsoever, which seems to be the case most of the time anyway.

 

 

 

LOGICAL DECEPTION

Think about the following: all you hear in the news media is how the consumer is not spending any money; how the Christmas season will be dismal; how continued unemployment  will  stifle any improvement in consumer sentiment, etc. etc. yet have you taken a look at the retail sector in the last few months? The RTH (Retail Holders Trust) broke out yesterday to a high it has not seen since the

...

The October employment report came in weaker than expected as the country lost 190,000 jobs, rather than the 175,000 expectation. It was, however, an improvement over the 219,000 lost in September, but worse than the 154,000 jobs lost in August. Both the September and August job losses were revised sharply lower. As of last month it was thought that we lost 263,000 jobs in September and 201,000 in August. So in that context, missing expectations for October by 15,000 does not seem that bad. Of course, it is bad if you happen to be one of those losing your job. Based on the establishment survey we have now lost 7.3 million jobs since the recession started.

In general though, the pace of job losses has been slowing, especially if you step back and look at the big picture. Over the last three months, the economy has been dropping an average of

...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – November 6, 2009 – Zacks Equity Research highlights Acorda Therapeutics (ACOR) as the Bull of the Day and Canon (CAJ) the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Big Lots (BIG), Wal-Mart (WMT) and Nordstrom (JWN).

Full analysis of all these stocks is available at http://at.zacks.com/?id=5506

Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:

Bull of the Day:

Acorda Therapeutics (ACOR) is one of the more interesting biotechnology companies under our coverage. The company's key pipeline drug, Fampridine-SR, is currently under U.S. FDA review, with a decision expected in late January 2010.

Outside the U.S., Acorda has partnered with Biogen Idec under very favorable terms. Fampridine-SR has blockbuster potential worldwide in our view. Plus, the company is extremely well-capitalized with over $290 million in cash, and management has commercial experience

...

Initial claims for unemployment insurance fell by 20,000 this week to 512,000. Last week's numbers were revised slightly higher, so arguably the drop was 18,000, but that's still a nice improvement. The four-week moving average dropped by 3,000 to 523,750. Since new claims can be volatile from week to week, the four-week moving average is generally considered a better gauge of where we are. The graph below (from http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/) shows the history of that average. We are now 135,000 below the peak set back in April. This is a key piece of evidence that the recession is over. However, we remain above the highest levels seen in either of the last two recessions. The level indicates that we are still losing jobs, but at a slower rate than we had been. In the past we did not start to see actual increases in the number of ...

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Power3 Medical Products, Inc. (OTCBB: PWRM), a leader in neurodegenerative disease and cancer biomarkers and diagnostic tests, announces further international recognition of validity as the company’s President and CSO, Dr. Ira Goldknopf, will deliver an invited Keynote address and chair a session on “Biomarkers and Diagnostics in Personalized Medicine (Track 6-4),” at the BIT Life Sciences 2nd International Congress and Expo of Molecular Diagnostics in Beijing, China, November 19-21, 2009. The Theme of the meeting is “New Leadership of

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