DuPont Titanium Technologies, a subsidiary of EI DuPont de Nemours & Co. (DD), world’s second leading chemical company stated that demand for its titanium dioxide, a pigment, used in products such as tattoo inks, food dyes and sunscreen improved in the first half of 2009.   Wilmington, Delaware-based DuPont noted that demand for titanium dioxide usually moves in tandem with the economy. Titanium demand drops when recession intensifies and leads with economic recovery. DuPont added that the titanium dioxide industry operates on small margins, which is a significant entry barrier for new entrants. DuPont being a large-scale producer enjoys cost advantage.

During the first half of 2009, DuPont had reduced its working capital requirement by 28% and trimmed down fixed costs by 15% compared with the same period of 2008. The company was also able to cut its sales, marketing and administrative expenses by 17% year over year.

In addition, product

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• A Barron's article advised taking profits in Citigroup (NYSE:C) shares after the recent spike in the company’s shares, instead advising JP Morgan (NYSE:JPM) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) fundamentally stronger

• Baker Hughes (NYSE:BHI) announced plans to purchase rival BJ Services (NYSE:BJS) for $5.5 billion in a cash-and-stock deal to expand its international business

• Los Angeles-based Capital Group Companies has accumulated a 4.38% stake in UBS (NYSE:UBS) at an undisclosed price

• Huntsman Corp (NYSE:HUN) said it agreed to acquire certain assets of bankrupt Tronox (TRXAQ.PK) for $415 million

• Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ:JAVA) reported a fourth quarter loss of 20 cents a share, a 14 cent miss, on revenues of $2.6 billion versus $2.9 billion

Zacks Investment Research

Here are the stocks added to the Zacks #5 Rank ("strong sell") List today:

ABB Ltd (ABB) ACIW (ACIW) AnnTaylor Stores Corp (ANN) Argo Group International Holdings Ltd (AGII) Bancolombia SA (CIB) Bristow Group Inc (BRS) BRT Realty Trust (BRT) Cadence Financial Corp (CADE) CenterPoint Energy Inc (CNP) Collective Brands Inc (PSS) El Paso Electric Co (EE) Erie Indemnity Co (ERIE) Expeditors International of Washington (EXPD) Fairpoint Communications Inc (FRP) Ferro Corp (FOE) First Merchants Corp (FRME) First Security Group Inc (FSGI) Fuel Tech Inc (FTEK) Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA (GOL) Harleysville Group Inc (HGIC) Haverty Furniture Companies Inc (HVT) Heartland Payment Systems Inc (HPY) Huntsman Corp (HUN) Intrepid Potash Inc (IPI) ITT Corp (ITT) Jo-Ann Stores Inc (JAS) Kelly Services Inc ...

Huntsman Corp. (HUN) posted a wider-than-expected first-quarter loss as all of its businesses suffered at the hands of lower demand.

Shares are down more than 8% so far today.

The chemical maker lost 55 cents per share in the quarter, excluding items, while analysts expected a loss of 21 cents.

Sales declined 33% year over year to $1.69 billion.

Huntsman aims to cut back on costs to counter the falling demand for its products. In January, the company said that it would shed about 10% of its work force. It had also announced plans to slash capital spending.

Analysts, on an average, are expecting a loss of 27 cents per share for the current year, wider than a 2 month-ago projection for a loss of 23 cents.

The trading volume of this Zacks #4 Rank ("Sell") company is currently 8.6 million shares, unusually higher than its daily average

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Here are the stocks added to the Zacks #5 Rank ("strong sell") List today:

AmericanWest Bancorp (AWBC) Astronics Corp (ATRO) Banco Bradesco SA (BBD) Santander BanCorp (SBP) The Boston Beer Company, Inc (SAM) Cameron International Corp (CAM) Capital Bank Corp (CBKN) Century Casinos, Inc (CNTY) CNinsure Inc (CISG) Community Bancorp (CBON) Comtech Telecommunications Corp (CMTL) CONSOL Energy Inc (CNX) Core Laboratories NV (CLB) Duff & Phelps Corp (DUF) Eni SpA (E) Fairpoint Communications, Inc (FRP) First Merchants Corp (FRME) Flagstone Reinsurance Holdings Ltd (FSR) FNB United Corp (FNBN) GSE Systems, Inc (GVP) The Hain Celestial Group, Inc (HAIN) Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc (HE) Huntsman Corp (HUN) I-Flow Corp (IFLO) IMAX Corp (IMAX) INX Inc (INXI) Jo-Ann Stores, Inc (JAS) LDK Solar Co ...

Here are the stocks added to the Zacks #5 Rank ("strong sell") List today:

Arena Resources Inc (ARD) Bank of New York Mellon Corp (BK) W R Berkley Corp (WRB) Bristow Group Inc (BRS) Callwave Inc (CALL) Capital Trust Inc (CT) Carlisle Companies Inc (CSL) Carrizo Oil & Gas Inc (CRZO) Center Financial Corp (CLFC) Century Casinos Inc (CNTY) Cheniere Energy Inc (LNG) Churchill Downs Inc (CHDN) CNinsure Inc (CISG) Commercial Vehicle Group Inc (CVGI) Community Bancorp (CBON) CRM Holdings Ltd (CRMH) CryptoLogic Ltd (CRYP) Cutera Inc (CUTR) Cypress Bioscience Inc (CYPB) Dynamic Materials Corp (BOOM) El Paso Electric Co (EE) EnPro Industries Inc (NPO) Enterprise Financial Services Corp (EFSC) FalconStor Software Inc (FALC) FARO Technologies Inc (FARO) First M & F Corp (...

Here are the stocks added to the Zacks #5 Rank ("strong sell") List today:

Albemarle Corp (ALB) AptarGroup Inc (ATR) Arch Coal Inc (ACI) Cape Bancorp Inc (CBNJ) Care Investment Trust Inc (CRE) Century Casinos Inc (CNTY) Ceradyne Inc (CRDN) China Sunergy Co Ltd (CSUN) CoBiz Financial Inc (COBZ) Coleman Cable Inc (CCIX) Community Bancorp (CBON) Compass Minerals International Inc (CMP) Courier Corp (CRRC) CryptoLogic Ltd (CRYP) Dover Corp (DOV) El Paso Electric Co (EE) Flamel Technologies SA (FLML) HLTH Corp (HLTH) Huntsman Corp (HUN) International Game Technology (IGT) INX Inc (INXI) Mercer International Inc (MERC) Mettler-Toledo International Inc (MTD) Natural Resource Partners LP (NRP) Portfolio Recovery Associates Inc (PRAA) Prospect Capital Corp (PSEC) Rockwood Holdings Inc (ROC) STAAR Surgical Co (...

The once booming business of private equity faces an uncertain future. What’s not uncertain, however, is that many private equity deals are imploding from the weight of leveraged debt and greed. Inevitable bankruptcies will result in higher unemployment and a deeper recession.

Private equity is an asset class consisting of equity securities in operating companies that are not publicly traded.  The name “private equity”is the rechristened, kinder and more gentile label for what used to be known as leveraged buyouts, or LBOs. But make no mistake about it, while leverage may not be part of the name any more, it remains a big part of every private equity deal.

LBO firms, or “franchises”, as Henry Kravis, co-founder of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR), likes to call his shop, acquire publicly traded operating companies. Then they streamline management and operations to increase profitability and hope to cash out

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Consumer Confidence at All-Time Low; Home Prices Continue Collapse; OPEC Still Not Satisfied; Whirlpool Circles the Drain; Optimistic Wall Street; Banks Balk on Buyout; Stop the Presses?

* The Conference Board said yesterday (Tuesday) that its consumer confidence index fell to 38 – the lowest level since the Conference Board began tracking consumer sentiment in 1967. The index registered a revised 61.4 in September, which makes this month’s drop the third-steepest drop on record. A year ago, the index stood at 95.2.

* The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller 20-city housing index dropped a record 16.6% from August last year – the largest drop since its inception in 2000, The Associated Press reported. Prices in the 20-city index have plummeted more than 20% since peaking in July 2006, the group reported. The 10-city index tumbled 17.7% — the biggest decline in its 21-year history.

* The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said yesterday (Tuesday)

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Track insider buys and sells at:

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Recent Insider Activity

BUYERS:

COMPANY NAME INSIDERS NAME TITLE $ VALUE NO. OF SHARES IN TRANS. RANGE OF VALUES TRANSACTIONS DATES Hilltop Holdings G. Ford DO $54,857,985 5,626,460 9.75 Sept. 25, 2008 Triarc Cos E. Garden D 4,588,271 878,559 5.21-5.24 Sept. 24-26, 2008 Triarc Cos P. May DO 4,588,271 878,559 5.21-5.24 Sept. 24-26, 2008 Triarc Cos N. Peltz DO 4,588,271 878,559 5.21-5.24 Sept. 24-26, 2008 Triarc Cos E. Garden D 2,520,924...