Companies featured in this edition of the newsletter: ACTC, CVM, CUR, DKAM, ENZ, IMUC, IWEB, PHC, SVUL, SRCO, SVUL, XSNX

Markets extended their winning streak yet again this week, as all ten sectors of the S&P 500 finished in positive territory and markets hit fresh highs for the year once again, despite the lack of any significant developments on either the corporate or economic fronts. All told, the Dow ended up 2.2% on the week, gaining 214 points to close at 9820 on the week, up 11.9% on the year. The Nasdaq performed slightly better, gaining 2.5% on the week, closing at 2132, up 35.2% on the year, while the S&P 500 and Russell 2000 gained 2.5% and 4.1% respectively, up 18.3% and 23.7% on the year.

While it was a relatively quiet week as far as headlines were concerned, there were some positive economic developments in the form

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After surging to almost one-year highs Wednesday, stocks took a step back as worries that the recent rally has gone too far, too fast resurfaced.  Investors pulled out profits even as latest round of upbeat economic data tried to convince them that a recovery is indeed underway.  Shares of companies that have led the recent advance failed to find favor amid a lackluster trading session.  Although the retreat was modest, it signaled a growing belief that the rally is overextended.

The Dow Jones industrial average declined 7.79 points, or 0.08%, to end the day at 9,783.92. The broad Standard & Poor's 500 Index retreated 3.27 points, or 0.31%, at 1,065.49 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index eased 6.40 points, or 0.30%, to end at 2,126.75.  On the New York Stock Exchange, declining shares beat those that advanced by eight to seven on volume of 1.52 billion shares.  At Wednesday's

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Companies featured in this edition of the newsletter: CUR, CVM, ENZ, IMUC, MBCI, ONEZ, PHC, SVUL

Markets finished in positive territory yet again during this holiday shortened week despite the lack of any significant developments on either the corporate or economic fronts. All told, the Dow gained 164 points to close at 9605, up 1.7% on the week and 9.4% on the year. The Nasdaq gained 3.1% on the week, closing at 2080, up 32% on the year, while the S&P 500 and Russell 2000 gained 2.6% and 4.0% respectively on the week, up 15.4% and 18.8% on the year.

It was a slow week on the corporate side, but there were some healthy signals from the technology sector, as Texas Instruments raised its Q3 outlook, guiding for EPS of between $0.37 and $0.41, up from previous forecasts of $0.29-$0.39. Fed Ex also guided higher, citing cost management and better

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Stock failed to extend their five-day winning run and ended marginally lower Friday as declining oil prices hurt commodities and investors pulled money out of stocks.  Bellwether FedEx’s improved outlook failed to cheer investors.  Gold prices closed above $1,000 level, indicating investors still want to play it safe. The dollar plunged to its lowest level of the year against a basket of currencies.

After closing Thursday at its highest level since October, the Dow Jones industrial average retreated 22.07 points, or 0.2%, to 9,605.41 on a quiet trading day.  The NASDAQ composite index eased 3.12 points, or 0.2%, to 2,080.90, and the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 1.41 points, or 0.1%, to 1,042.73.  On the New York Stock Exchange, 1.29 billion shares exchanged hands and about four stocks rose for every three that fell.  On the week, the DJIA rose 1.7%, the S&P 500 advanced 2.6% and

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JP Morgan is upgrading United Parcel (NYSE:UPS) to Overweight from Neutral this morning. They are raising their price target to $70 (prev. $57) Firm notes they believe that UPS is viewed as a defensive transport name with less operating leverage and that this perception has been a major driver of the underperformance in UPS stock versus most other transports in 2009TD. In their view, UPS stock has lagged too much, and the stock does not reflect the boost a turn in the U.S. economy would provide to UPS earnings performance and to the stock. They are upgrading UPS from Neutral to Overweight. Raising rating to Overweight as reward / risk is attractive. Relative to most other transports and many industrial stocks, JP Morgan believes that UPS reflects less anticipation of a turn in the economy, and they ...

Monmouth Real Estate Investment Corp. reported funds from operations (FFO) of $3.692 million, or $0.15 per share, for its third fiscal quarter of 2009, ending 6/30/2009. This brings its nine months FFO to $11.89 million or $0.48 per share, excluding non-cash impairment and other one-time charges.

Other highlights in the quarter include:

• An ending cash balance of $8.0 million • Occupancy rate of 96% • Average lease maturity of approximately 5 years

Eugene W. Landy, the President of Monmouth Real Estate Investment Corporation, said, “MREIC continues to perform well despite weakness in the overall economy. By investing in net-leased industrials on long-term leases to investment-grade tenants, our income streams have proven to be resilient.

The company also paid a common stock dividend of $0.15 in the quarter, bringing its annual rate to $0.60. Monmouth Real Estate Investment Corporation has a yield of over 9% based on its recent closing price of $6.42.

Monmouth

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Bond bubble remerges… details behind the gov’s latest debt struggle… The slow demise of snail mail… USPS forecasts record losses… Customized drugs: Patrick Cox on a breakthrough set to revolutionize health care… Bill Jenkins with another sign the euro is overvalued… his price targets below…

Just when you thought the bond bubble was being saved for another day…

The government managed to auction $39 billion worth of 5-year debt yesterday… barely. Wednesday’s debt sale drew a bid-to-cover ratio of 1.92, the lowest investor demand since September 2008. Low demand forced Uncle Sam to jack up interest rates at the last minute in two separate bond auctions this week — yesterday’s sale and Tuesday’s $42 billion auction of 2-year notes.

So what’s an indebted government to do? Manipulate the market, of course. Bond yields have given back yesterday’s spike partly thanks to the Federal Reserve, which bought $3

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The U.S. Postal Service is on track for a record $7 billion deficit this year. That’s more than double last year’s loss.

Postmaster General John Potter bumped up his previous projection by a billion bucks yesterday, citing the growing expenses of six-day delivery and employee retirement/health care plans. Potter and his team are scrambling to cut costs left and right — from a yearlong hiring freeze to early retirement offers to branch closures. But we wonder… will it even matter?

The Government Accountability Office recently labeled the USPS a “high risk” federal program, and while we’re hard-pressed to think of any risk-free government program, we’re inclined to agree.

The Postal Service is facing a perfect storm of business risk: The business is already loaded up with debt. Minimum wage and benefit costs are rising while revenues are

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The market has been looking to the financial sector for clues about the health of the economy and the strength of any pending recovery. But this is a departure from the past, mostly because of the group's role in the global economic meltdown that shook the markets last fall.

Historically speaking, other industries have offered more clues about the country's economic health, one of the best being transports.

Transports Are A Leading Indicator

Transports are considered early cycle indicators, with consumer and business spending quickly showing up in the group's results. So while the financials are squarely in the spotlight, the transports deserve some attention too in order to develop a more rounded view of the economic landscape.

Let's take a closer look at some major players operating in different segments of the transports sector.

Federal Express (

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – July 10, 2009 - Zacks Research Director, Dirk Van Dijk says that S&P 500 earnings are continuing to show red ink. He tracks companies on the Zacks.com web site, naming names, while forecasting trends for the months ahead.

Key Points from Van Dijk's Latest Earnings Assessment

Early reporters (May fiscal quarters) doing much better than expected Second-quarter total net income expected to be down 36.8% year over year Staples only sector expected to post positive growth in second quarter Six sectors expected to decline more than 25% Financials expected to rebound after disastrous 2008 Median EPS growth in second quarter expected to be -14.8% Third-quarter expected to be down 22.3% year over year Full year 2009 expected to fall ...