U.S. stocks advanced on Wednesday after data showed July new home sales rose at their fastest pace in almost a year, while durable goods orders increased, but less than forecast excluding transportation.

Sales of new homes rose for a fourth straight month in July and at their fastest pace since September 2008, while the inventory of unsold homes fell to the lowest level in 16 years, the government reported.

“These are great numbers, and they should definitely add fuel to the move higher in the market,” said Peter Kenny, managing director at Knight Equity Markets in Jersey City, New Jersey.

“It’s all very positive, not just because of the macro implications but because they will drive consumer confidence numbers (higher).”

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> added 19.57 points, or 0.21 percent, to 9,558.86. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index <.SPX> rose 2.15 points, or 0.21 percent, to 1,030.15. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC>

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Max Capital Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: MXGL; BSX: MXGL BH) announced today that the Company’s Board of Directors, at a meeting held on August 4, 2009, declared a dividend of $0.10 per share. The dividend is payable on September 1, 2009, to shareholders of record as of August 18, 2009.

Today, Logitech (SIX:LOGN) (NASDAQ:LOGI) introduced a convenient and clutter-free way for you to connect wireless keyboards and mice to your laptop – the Logitech® Unifying receiver. So small that it can stay in the laptop when you’re moving around, a single Logitech Unifying receiver can be paired with multiple Unifying-compatible Logitech mice and keyboards – freeing up valuable USB ports and making it easy to mix, match and add to your existing setup, no matter where you are. The Logitech Unifying receiver is debuting with four new products: the Logitech® Wireless Keyboard K350, Logitech® Wireless Keyboard K340, Logitech® Marathon Mouse M705 and

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Is housing hitting a bottom?

There's been a lot of talk in recent days that the housing bust may finally be about over. While no one is projecting a robust recovery in the housing market, there is hope that the worst of the slide may be behind us.

June new home sales rose 11% in May to 384,000 from 346,000, the largest monthly jump in 8 years. However, it was still well below last year's 488,000 sales.

New housing sales appear to be turning a corner. This is the good news. The bad news is that June's number was the lowest monthly sales total since 1982.

Of course, this upturn is taking place during the time of the year, the summer, when most home buyers are looking to buy (although the numbers are adjusted for seasonality.) The $8,000 first-time buyer tax credit also seems to be boosting sales.

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Here are the stocks added to the Zacks #1 Rank ("strong buy") List today:

Achillion Pharmaceuticals Inc (ACHN) Advance Auto Parts Inc (AAP) Advantest Corp (ATE) Agree Realty Corp (ADC) Aluminum Corp of China Ltd (ACH) Amkor Technology Inc (AMKR) ARYx Therapeutics Inc (ARYX) Barloworld Ltd (BRRAY) Bio-Reference Laboratories Inc (BRLI) The Buckle Inc (BKE) California Pizza Kitchen Inc (CPKI) Cerus Corp (CERS) Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc (CMG.B) Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc (CCE) Crucell NV (CRXL) D R Horton Inc (DHI) Dana Holding Corp (DAN) Delhaize Group (DEG) Diageo Plc (DEO) Distribucion Y SVC (DYSVY) Emergency Medical Services Corp (EMS) Gen-Probe Inc (GPRO) Healthcare Services Group Inc (HCSG) HLS Systems International Ltd (HOLI) ICU Medical Inc (ICUI) Keppel Corporation Ltd (KPELY) L'Oreal SA (...

We've mentioned it here before, but it's worth saying again: Nearly half of a stock's price movement is tied to the performance of its respective group (Sector and Industry).

That being said, most great stocks from great groups often have some great peers as well.

If you find yourself in a killer trade, take a look at the characteristics of THAT STOCK and then hunt within its group to find OTHER STOCKS that share the same characteristics.

Does a certain outstanding stock exhibit great sales growth? I'm sure there are at least a few within its group that are also showing similar numbers.

What about increasing margins? If the stock is doing well, it's likely that the industry itself is experiencing meaningful increases in margins too.

This type of screening is often called 'modeling'. Figure out the components of what makes something successful and concentrate on that.

If you're

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