While there have been some signs of recovery in real estate and the stock market it seems that the job market is still declining. Online advertised vacancies declined by 83,200 to 3,280,000 in October, according to The Conference Board Help-Wanted OnLine Data Series (HWOL)(TM) released November 2. Of course those jobs are only representative of the national job market and don’t include every available job.

The job market varies by region. The south showed job losses in both September and October. However, Texas and Florida were basically flat. The smallest decline was in the Northeast. In the West, California fell by only 3,700 about the same as Arizona with a much smaller population. In the Midwest most of the states declined but Michigan showed a small gain and Wisconsin had no change.

Don’t let a layoff take you by surprise. Keep your eyes and

...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - May 22, 2009 - Zacks Equity Research highlights ENSCO (ESV) as the Bull of the Day and Overseas Shipholding Group, Inc. (OSG) the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on T.J. Maxx (TJX), Saks (SKS) and Colgate-Palmolive (CL).

Full analysis of all these stocks is available at http://at.zacks.com/?id=2676.

Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:

Bull of the Day:

The recent strength in crude oil prices has improved the outlook for a cyclical recovery. Historically, jackup drillers like ENSCO (ESV) have enjoyed strong early-cycle leverage, a trend that we believe will play out this time as well.

While the near-term situation is expected to remain weak, with rig oversupply and soft demand weighing on dayrates, the medium to long-term outlook

...

Highlights include The TJX Companies, Inc. (TJX), Saks Inc. (SKS), Colgate-Palmolive Co. (CL) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ).Intial claims for unemployment fell 12,000 to 631,000. The four-week moving average dropped a slight 3,500 to 628,500. The four-week average is a key indicator at turning points in the economy -- when it peaks out it usually means that the official recession is over. We had started to see it decline, but then it reversed last week, and this week's very small decline is somewhat encouraging, but not very decisive. Looks like we will have to watch it closely for another few weeks.A year ago, initial claims were at 374,000 and we were losing jobs at that point, so this small drop we have seen does not indicate the employment picture is improving. Continuing claims continued to rise, up 75,000 this week to 6.66 ...