Markets advanced Monday morning, with oil reaching a 6-week high above $73 a barrel, a rally in European stocks after Royal Philips Electronics announced its glowing earnings report, and a general sense of economic recovery. Going into a foreseeably light Columbus Day of trading, a weaker dollar has pushed all major energy and commodities sectors notably higher, extending last week’s gains, in anticipation of an onslaught by a spate of Q3 earnings data over the next few weeks.

Intel is poised to offer solid earnings data Tuesday afternoon and many investors are expecting a bullish Q4 outlook from the company, setting a positive tone for chip manufacturers. Fairchild Semiconductor (FCS) and Cypress Semiconductor (CY) data will be out before Thursday’s markets open with Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) posting its report after the close. Nokia, IBM and Google will also report Thursday with JPMorgan Chase & Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc.,

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The BIG FIVE TRENDS Video

In my new, short five minute video, I analyze the major trends in what I call the big five. We’ll be looking at the DOW (INDEX_DJI), the Dollar index (NYBOT_DX), crude oil (NYMEX_CL.J09.E), gold (FOREX_XAUUSDO), and the CRB index (NYBOT_CR).

I will show you step-by-step how to analyze each of these markets quickly to get the trend.

Once you discover this simple approach, you’ll be amazed at just how accurate it is over time.

This is one of my most important videos and I want you to be able to see it without having to register or pay a fee to watch it. I honestly believe that my new video can make a world of difference to how you approach the markets in the future.

Every success and enjoy the video.

Adam Hewison
President, INO.com
Co-creator, MarketClub

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Russia's long-term sovereign credit rating outlook was lowered yesterday (Thursday) - to negative - by Standard & Poor's Ratings Services due to their assessment that the cost of the government's "bank rescue operation'' may increase. S&P cut their outlook from stable, a move which reflects the increased probability of a downgrade at some point in the future. Russia has committed as much as 15 percent of gross domestic product in budgetary and reserve funds to maintain banking liquidity, according to calculations made by the rating agency. At the same time S&P affirmed Russia's BBB+ long-term foreign currency and the A- long-term local currency ratings and the short-term ratings of A-2.``We expect Russian corporate and financial sector default rates to increase asdebtors' access to official funds will vary,'' S&P said in the statement.``Other uncertainties remain regarding what the economic policy response will ...

It was a brutal day for stocks as the euphoria from the Fannie and Freddie bailout dissipated in response to renewed concerns about weakness in the financial sector. The Dow dropped 280 points to close at 11,231.

Lehman Brothers Inc. (LEH) spooked the market when word spread that the troubled investment bank's negotiations with Korea Development Bank had stalled. Lehman has been aggressively pursuing additional capital in order to provide protection against deteriorating assets and strengthen its balance sheet. Lehman shares were down more than 40% on the day.

The downtrend in the overall market and financial sector was hastened by American Insurance Group, Inc (AIG), as investors speculated that the world's largest insurer would also need to raise more capital to protect itself from exposure to mortgage related assets. AIG has already posted $20 billion in losses over the last three quarters and raised $20

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It was an up and down day for stocks as the major indices fluctuated on a mixed bag of economic news. The Dow managed to finish in the green, up 69 points to close at 11,417.

There was more news on the Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FMC) front, sending the companies' shares to an 18-year low on fear of an imminent government bailout. Freddie Mac representatives are scheduled to meet with Treasury officials on Wednesday, and while the exact intentions of the conversations is not clear, it is an obvious signal that the company continues to remain under considerable stress.

Freddie Mac was able to raise $3 billion in a debt offering yesterday, but the company paid out record yields on the notes in order to attract buyers and compensate for higher risk.

Oil prices traded higher in today's session in spite of a positive reading on crude inventories. The U.S. Energy Department reported

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