Weak volumes and prices drive losses United States Steel Corporation (X) recorded its third sequential loss -- $3.03 billion or $2.11 per share in the third quarter of 2009 in contrast to a net income of $9.19 billion or $7.79 per share in the third quarter of 2008. However, losses narrowed sequentially and were lower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of $2.91. On a year-over-year basis, revenues were down 61% to $2.82 billion, driven by a 35% year-over-year decline in total steel shipments to 4.2 million tons. However, shipments increased 41% quarter on quarter. The company saw lower year-over-year volumes and prices across all major segments on the back of a slump in the economy. Additionally, increasing competition from China and weak demand in major markets, especially Europe, which resulted in lower capacity utilization have impacted results. Two of the company’s ...

Retailers will start to release second-quarter results this week, accounting for nearly 10% of the 246 scheduled reports. Dow component Wal-Mart (WMT) will be joined by 15 other members of the S&P 500, including J.C. Penney (JCP), Kohl's (KSS) and Macy's (M).

The Fed will hold a 2-day meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday. No change in interest rates will be made, though the statement should acknowledge that the economy is nearing stabilization.

The bond markets could be volatile, not only because of the Fed meeting, but also because of quarterly refunding. The Treasury Department will auction 3-year, 10-year and 30-year bonds. The offerings should total $75 billion.

Most of the week's economic data will be released after the Fed's meeting, with the exception of the preliminary estimate of Q2 productivity. We'll see the latest industrial production and consumer sentiment numbers on Friday.

Tuesday: Q2 productivity Wednesday: June

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I wanted to follow up on the earnings results and subsequent market reaction of a couple of names I was watching. br /br /First, Advanced Battery Technologies (a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=ABAT"ABAT/a). I've never held any positions in this, and it caught my eye purely because of last weeks 1 million share buy by their CEO, just before earnings. The market was thinking the same thing I was apparently. The stock shot up to end the week, and after the results, it sold off. The earnings were fine, but no blowout like many thought possible. I do like their product (lithium ion battery sales-mostly in China), and their balance sheet (solid amount of cash for a company of its size). On the technical side, there is little support near current levels, and the stock could fall a bit more. I may look at buying it if ...

A couple of earnings releases I'm watching today:br /br /-Ormat Technologies (a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=oraamp;.yficrumb=IUlUc7b9bTK"ORA/a) reports this morning. I haven't seen anything out yet, but I'll do a post once I see those results. I'm looking to Ormat for an outlook on the geothermal industry, as they are a major player there.br /br /-Advanced Battery Technologies (a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=ABATamp;.yficrumb=IUlUc7b9bTK"ABAT/a) reports after the close. This is a stock that I haven't followed, and quite frankly haven't done a ton of research on. I was intrigued by their CEO buying 1 million shares last week and the stock ramped up going into this release. Be careful here, as their is a lot of risk trying to play earnings, but I'll definitely be interested to see their results.br /br /-Granite City Food and Brewery (a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=GCFBamp;.yficrumb=IUlUc7b9bTK"GCFB/a) announces after the bell. This is a stock I've watched for some time. ...

Wal-Mart (

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A old holding of mine, Granite City Food and Brewery (a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=GCFB"GCFB/a) exploded 213% yesterday. This is a casual to upscale regional chain in the Midwest. I owned it a couple of years ago as their expansions seemed to be on track. To make a long story short, they got saddled with debt, kept opening new locations and can't seem to get profitable.br /br /Chain restaurants have been posting better than expected earnings and Granite City could follow that trend. They are cutting costs and benefiting from lower commodity costs as well. I did some analysis on this last week if you care to see more detail.br /br /a href="http://briskycapital.blogspot.com/2009/04/not-so-fast-pf-changs.html"Not So Fast, PF Chang's/a?br /a href="http://www.fundmymutualfund.com/2009/04/americas-hottest-sector-casual-dining.html"America's Hottest Sector: Casual Dining Restaurants. (via Fund my Mutual Fund). /abr /br /About a week ago, I checked back in to find the stock at 0.18/share. I considered ...