By Don Miller Associate Editor Money Morning

U.S. retail sales rose unexpectedly in October as vehicle sales rebounded from a deep slump. However, non-auto sales rose less than forecast, suggesting consumers remain cautious as unemployment surges amid a “jobless recovery.”

Sales at the nation’s retail outlets increased 1.4%, the Commerce Department said today (Monday), much better than the 0.9% increase projected by the median estimate of 66 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. But September sales were revised downwards to a 2.3% decrease from the previous estimate of a 1.5% decline.

Aside from automobiles, other sales rose just 0.2%. That increase marked the third month in a row that sales rose, but failed to meet the 0.4% climb economists had predicted.

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Monday October 19, 2009

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Cavitation Technologies, Inc. (CTI) (OTC Bulletin Board: CVAT) has signed Miura Engineering Co., Ltd. Tokyo, Japan (www.miura21.co.jp) as its new agent to serve markets in Japan for CTI’s Nano-Cavitation Process Systems. Miura is a leading Engineering Company specialized in Edible Oil Processing Plants in the Far East.

Xilinx, Inc. (Nasdaq: XLNX) and ARM (Nasdaq: ARMH) today announced they are collaborating to enable ARM processor and interconnect technology on Xilinx® FPGAs. Xilinx is adopting ARM Cortex processor

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Ford Motor Co. (F) has finally reached a tentative national agreement with 250 leaders of the United Auto Workers (UAW) on modifications to its 2007 labor contract. The deal, which runs until 2011, will help Ford end its cost disadvantage while securing jobs for the union workers at the same time. However, the deal has yet to be approved by the 41,000 UAW members at Ford. Voting will begin this week. Ford was upset with its higher labor costs compared to its Detroit rivals, General Motors and Chrysler. Both of those companies were given concessions as they headed into bankruptcy protection earlier this year. However, the deal will enable the automaker to lower the labor costs to match those of its rivals. If the members ratify the agreement, they will be given bonuses and additional work with investments at some factories. The $1,000 bonus is payable ...

A U.S.-led group – the Crown consortium – has revealed its interest to acquire the ailing Volvo unit from Ford Motor Co. (F). The group included former Ford director Michael Dingman and former Ford and Chrysler executive Shamel Rushwin. In 1999, Ford had acquired the Volvo Car Corporation from Sweden-based Volvo Group for $6.45 billion. However, the company put up the unit for sale in December last year in an effort to cut costs and raise cash amidst plunging industry-wide auto sales. Ford had discussions with many automakers for the sale, including Renault SA and China’s third-largest automaker, Dongfeng Motor Group. So far, China's Geely Automotive has submitted the only concrete bid for the unit. Media reports have disclosed that Geely has valued the unit at around $2 billion. Rumors had spread that Crown consortium had offered significantly less than Geely, but both plans involved ...

Hartford Capital Appreciation A (ITHAX) seeks growth of capital. The fund invests in companies of all sizes by employing a bottom-up approach.

The fund may invest up to 35% of total assets in securities of foreign issuers and non-dollar securities, including emerging market securities. As of April 2009, its portfolio turnover was 80%.

Ford Motor Co. (F), ACE Ltd. (ACE) and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) are among the fund’s key holdings.

Hartford Global Technology A (HGTAX) seeks long-term capital appreciation by investing in stocks of technology companies worldwide.

The fund uses bottom-up security selection based on fundamental research and valuation analysis to determine favorable investment opportunities not yet recognized by the market. It has an expense ratio of 0.98%.

The fund pays dividends and capital gains annually.

Hartford Global Financial Services A (HGFAX) was incepted in October 2000. The investment

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There’s no question that the big “winner” in the global financial crisis has been China. While for the past two years developed economies have been scrambling to keep afloat China has taken a nuanced approach to achieving its economic and political goals.

China has used depressed commodities prices to stock up on long-term supplies of raw materials such as oil, copper, and iron.  And it’s used structural weakness in the U.S. financial system as justification for replacing the dollar as the world’s main reserve currency.

Now, the Red Dragon is looking to make headway on the highway by winning global market share in the automotive market while U.S. heavyweights spin out.

“We aren’t afraid of the financial crisis,” Zhou Fuquan, vice president of Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd. (PINK: GELYF), told Bloomberg News. “On the contrary, we hope it will penetrate even further as

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An investment arm of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) is poised to invest about $250 million in Geely Automotive - China's largest privately-owned carmaker - by purchasing the company's convertible bonds and warrants.

Geely Automotive is the Hong Kong-listed arm of Chinese automaker Geely Holding. Goldman Sachs Capital Partners will buy convertible bonds and warrants issued by Geely's Hong Kong-listed subsidiary. The deal is almost complete, but some technical details of the investment are still pending. Confirmation of the deal could be announced as early as this week.

Geely plans to use the proceeds from the Goldman investment to boost its production capacity, which could free up capital for its parent to bid for Volvo. Geely's parent company has made global headlines in recent weeks after contemplating a bid for Volvo, the Swedish car brand owned by Ford Motor Co. (F). A successful deal would boost Geely's profile and

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Friday September 18, 2009

DrStockPick.com Stock Report!

PWRM, IBM, NWMT, CVAT, CSRH, F, AQNM, NVS

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PWRM, Power 3 Medical Products Inc, PWRM.OB

Power3 Medical Products, Inc. is a leading bio-medical company engaged in the commercialization of neurodegenerative disease and cancer biomarkers, pathways, and mechanisms of diseases through the development of diagnostic tests and drug targets. Power3’s patent-pending technologies are being used to develop screening and diagnostic tests for the early detection and prognosis of disease, identify protein biomarkers, and drug targets. Diagnostic tests are targeted toward markets with critical unmet needs in areas including neurodegenerative disease (NuroPro) and breast cancer (BC-SeraPro). Power3

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Ford Motor Co. (F) has stated that it foresees a strong rebound in industry sales for August. The company has attributed the possible surge in sales to the much-talked-about "Cash for Clunkers" program. The program, launched by the U.S. Government late July, allowed consumers to trade in their old gas-guzzling cars and trucks with a mileage of 18 miles per gallon (mpg) or less for a value of up to $3,500-$4,500. According to Mark Fields, Ford's president in the U.S., sales may rise to 13 million units on an annualized basis during August. The company itself has surpassed last year’s sales in August. For July, Ford witnessed a 2% year-over-year sales gain -- the first gain since November 2007. The U.S. Department of Transportation reported that as many as 690,114 new cars were sold under Cash for Clunkers, reflecting a $2.88 billion in rebate applications, ...

Asia is poised to become the “new” Detroit.

Here in the United States, at a cost of a mere $3 billion, the “Cash-for-Clunkers” program appears to have given new hope to the U.S. auto industry.

But that new hope is destined to be short-lived.

It’s true that - in terms of value delivered for the money invested - “Cash for Clunkers” has eclipsed every other stimulus program that has been tried. But the program has a projected lifespan of only three months, meaning it can’t reverse the powerful global forces that are destined to turn the U.S. auto market from leader to laggard on the global stage.

Financial Crisis Fallout Reshapes Sector

Thanks to the financial crisis whose impact continues to be felt, worldwide automobile demand had dropped on an overall basis since 2008.

But regional differences are already emerging.

In the United States, for instance, the benchmark seasonally adjusted annual sales rate (SAAR)

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