The U.S. auto industry showed signs of revival last month in the absence of any federal government incentive program such as “Cash for Clunkers." Auto sales soared 15% to 1.03 million in December after the market bottomed in November. Sales exceeded 1 million for the second time in the year, trailing only August – the month of Clunkers program.   Most of the prominent automakers, except General Motors and Chrysler, reported a sales gain during the month. Among the domestic automakers, Ford Motor (F) recorded the best sales gain. Meanwhile, Hyundai Motor Group ruled in terms of U.S. sales gain among all automakers.   Ford’s sales were up 33% to 184,655 cars and trucks in December, making it the company’s best month since May 2008. This was attributable to a surge in sales to corporate customers and a huge customer response received for vehicles including the redesigned Taurus, ...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – August 25, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: AutoNation (AN), Ford (F), Honda Motor (HMC), Toyota Motor (TM) and Phillips-Van Heusen Corp. (PVH).

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Here are highlights from Monday’s Analyst Blog:

“Cash for Clunkers" Ends Run

The surge of applications under the program saw dealers run out of stock for popular models, such as Ford Focus, Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla and Nissan Altima. As of Friday, August 21, about half a million cars – worth about $2 billion – had

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Today, the extremely popular vehicle exchange program "Cash for Clunkers" will complete its tenure. “Cash for Clunkers," a.k.a. the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS), introduced by the U.S. Government in late July, is a $3 billion cash incentive program. The program allowed consumers to trade in their fuel-inefficient vehicles for efficient ones. Customers received rebates of between $3,500 and $4,500, depending on the improvement in fuel efficiency from their old vehicle to their new one. The surge of applications under the program saw dealers run out of stock for popular models, such as Ford Focus, Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla and Nissan Altima. As of Friday, August 21, about half a million cars – worth about $2 billion – had been sold through the program. However, the sales under the program left many dealers worried about not getting reimbursed by the Government. As of August 21, dealers ...

General Motors has released a plan to increase output for the rest of 2009 to meet the demand generated by the recently introduced “Cash for Clunkers" program. “Cash for Clunkers" or the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS) introduced by the U.S. Government last month, is a cash incentive program. The program allows consumers to trade in their fuel-inefficient vehicles for efficient ones for a value of up to $4,500. Several automakers have increased production in response to the demand due to the program. Recently, Ford (F) has announced plans to scale up its fourth quarter output by 33% from a year earlier. Honda Motor Co. (HMC), Toyota Motors (TM), Hyundai Motor and Chrysler Group LLC have followed the lead as well. GM revealed its plan to add 60,000 vehicles to its production schedule in the third and fourth quarters and bring back about 1,350 ...

New All-Select Sector SPDRs to offer twist on equal-weighting strategies of the S&P 500. 

 

Another equal-weight exchange-traded fund based on the S&P 500 is being proposed, this time using Select Sector SPDRs to carve up the index.

The ALPS Equal Sector Weight ETF would track a Merrill Lynch benchmark that divvies up the broad U.S. stock market by its nine major sectors, according to a recent filing still under review by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Each would be represented by a Select Sector SPDR fund. 

"At all times, the Merrill Lynch Equal Sector Weight index will be comprised of the constituents in the S&P 500, albeit in different weights," said the registration statement. 

The fund-of-funds ETF is expected to come with an annual expense ratio of 0.55%. 

The proposed ETF would compete against equal-weight sector portfolios both  from Rydex and ProShares. But one other, the Rydex S&P Equal Weight (NYSE:

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Highlighted stocks include Boeing's (BA), Embraer (ERJ), B/E Aerospace (BEAV), Hexcel (HXL) and Ladish (LDSH).The Sky is Falling!  Really!The aviation financiers gathered together in Phoenix this week to commiserate -- with each other as well as the commercial aircraft manufacturers. Their message: "You can build 'em, but you can't get financing for 'em!" Uh oh!One attendee opined that we who live in the Pacific Northwest are about to see whitetails (vernacular for undeliverable aircraft) at Boeing's (BA) finishing plant in Seattle (as are the French at the Airbus plant in Toulouse). The ultimate consequence of this shortfall in funding is that Airbus and Boeing -- plus Bombardier and Embraer (ERJ) -- are about to encounter the same thing that has happened to the executive aircraft manufacturers (not to mention the automobile makers, et al): Too many ...

Adding fuel to the controversy that Amazon.com (AMZN) will evade paying royalties to authors from its Kindle device, Discovery Communications Inc. (DISCA) sued the online retailer for violating its patent on electronic book technology.

On Tuesday, the media company filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Delaware accusing Amazon's electronic reader Kindle of infringing intellectual property rights of a patent it had registered in November 2007.

Amazon introduced the second version of Kindle last month for a retail price of $359, calling it the future of book reading. The first model of the wireless device was released in November 2007.

Discovery sought a "fair compensation" through damages for "any future infringement" of the patent but did not seek an injunction preventing sales of the Kindle.

"AMZN" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?"DISCA" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?...

Medicis Pharmaceutical Corp. (MRX) slumped the most in 12 years on Wednesday after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration rejected the company's appeal for banning generic versions of its acne drug Solodyn from entering the market before the patent expired.

Mylan Inc. (MYL), Barr Laboratories Inc. and Novartis AG (NVS) unit Sandoz Inc. have submitted abbreviated new drug applications (ANDAs) for Solodyn. Israel-based Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (TEVA) has already received a nod from federal health regulators to market its generic version of the oral antibiotic and began shipment of the product.

Medicis filed its petition for a 30-month stay on ANDAs of Solodyn, after suing all the generic makers. Solodyn, which is scheduled to lose patent protection in 2018, contributes nearly 50% of the Scottsdale, Arizona-based company's total revenue.

Shares of the company are down more than 11% today.

"MRX" Free Stock ...

While downside risks remain, the overall outlook for the oil sector has improved in recent days, owing largely to the tentative signs of a supply response to anemic global demand. With demand falling sharply due to worldwide economic problems, inventories started building at a faster rate since last fall.In response, OPEC (which accounts for roughly 40% of all oil supplies) announced a number of production cuts. While there was ample skepticism early on regarding OPEC's ability to enforce the announced cuts, recent evidence suggests a significant level of compliance within the cartel.As such, while oil prices over the coming weeks will track the outlook for the global economy, the commodity's improved supply situation is expected to help prices consolidate around current levels.Natural gas, on the other hand, is a North American story and developments here over the coming months will determine its outlook....

Fidelity National Financial Inc (FNF) shares are experiencing unusually high trading volume. The Jacksonville-based company's stock jumped over 6% at noon.

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