Here are the stocks added to the Zacks #1 Rank ("strong buy") List today:

Advisory Board Co (ABCO) Amerigon Inc (ARGN) Amicas Inc (AMCS) Avago Technologies Ltd (AVGO) Bancorp Inc (TBBK) Bare Escentuals Inc (BARE) Benchmark Electronics Inc (BHE) BHP Billiton Ltd (BHP) BHP Billiton Plc (BBL) Cabela's Inc (CAB) Cadbury Plc (CBY) Cantel Medical Corp (CMN) Commerce Bancshares Inc (CBSH) Connecticut Water Service Inc (CTWS) Crane Co (CR) Domtar Corp (UFS) DryShips Inc (DRYS) EnerNOC Inc (...

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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By William Patalon III
Executive Editor
Money Morning/Money Map Report

[Editor's Note: When it comes to banking or global economics, there's literally no one better than Money Morning Contributing Editor Martin Hutchinson - a former investment banker with more than a 25 years experience. Hutchinson has proven himself to be a market maven and he is currently offering investors an opportunity to make $4.201 in cash in just 12 days. You can also subscribe to Martin's new investment service, The Permanent Wealth Investor, by clicking here .]

Just days after Chrysler LLC said it would be cutting one quarter of its auto dealerships, 1,100 General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) dealerships have reportedly been told not to expect a relationship with the embattled U.S. carmaker after October 2010.

GM dealers targeted for separation were informed by

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Just days after Chrysler LLC said it would be cutting one quarter of its auto dealerships, 1,100 General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) dealerships have reportedly been told not to expect a relationship with the embattled U.S. carmaker after October 2010.

GM dealers targeted for separation were informed by letter over the weekend, Reuters reported.

The eradication of hundreds of hundreds of American auto dealerships is merely the latest development in the ongoing dismantling of the so-called U.S. “Big Three’’ – a  process that seems likely to leave Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) as the last American automaker standing.

“These companies are making up for now for what they have avoided doing for years, if not decades,” industry analyst John A. Casesa, managing partner of consultantcy Casesa Shapiro Group LLC, told The New York Times. “And if the

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The fund filings are out. If you're wondering, these are the funds I like to track, and sometimes follow by buying the same stocks:br /br /-George Soros (Soros Fund Management)br /-Seth Klarman (Baupost Group)br /-John Paulson (Paulson amp; CO.)br /-Warren Buffett (Berkshire Hathaway)br /-David Einhorn (Greenlight Capital)br /-Bill Ackman (Pershing Square Capital Management)br /-Steve Cohen (SAC Capital Advisors)br /br /Today, I'm going toa href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchiveamp;sid=a_RT.rEuHt4M" take a quick look at Soros' holdings/a.br /br /blockquoteSoros Fund Management LLC, the investor’s hedge-fund firm, sold 5 million U.S. shares of Petrobras, as the Brazilian company is known, according to a filing today with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The New York-based firm’s remaining 32 million shares of the state-controlled oil company were valued at $963 million at the end of the quarter.br /br /The hedge fund also held 5.6 million shares of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan-based Potash at the end of the quarter, compared ...

Highlights include JC Penney Co., Inc. (JCP), Macy's, Inc. (M), Cost Plus, Inc. (CPWM), Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (WMT) and Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST).This morning the U.S. Census Bureau announced that April retail sales declined 0.4% vs. expectations of 0.0%; retail sales (ex-auto) declined 0.5% vs. expectations of +0.2%. March retail sales were revised lower.Department stores, electronics, food/beverages, furniture, and online all experienced sales declines in April. Restaurants, sporting goods, health/personal care, and building materials all saw gains in April. On a year-over-year basis, retail sales fell 11.4% in April. The market was clearly disappointed by this news.This was the second straight monthly drop in retail sales, and the eighth decline in the last ten months. Recall that retail sales increased in January and February, and the equity market gravitated to the idea that consumer spending bottomed out in the ...

Highlights include Macy's Inc. (M), J.C. Penney Co., Inc. (JCP), Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (WMT) and Family Dollar Stores, Inc. (FDO). The bounce in Retail sales we saw in January is starting to look more and more like just that -- a bounce, not a fundamental return of consumer spending. Since the consumer is responsible for over 70% of the economy, clearly this is significant. Here is the key section of the report: "The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for April, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, were $337.7 billion, a decrease of 0.4 percent (±0.5%) from the previous month and 10.1 percent (±0.7%) below April 2008. "Total sales for the February through April 2009 period were down 9.2 percent (±0.5%) from the same period a

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Highlights include JC Penney Co., Inc. (JCP), Macy's, Inc. (M), Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (WMT).Gasoline prices are climbing, and that is creating another headwind for retailers.According to AAA's Fuel Gauge Report, the national average price of gasoline is $2.23/gallon for regular and $2.45/gallon for premium. These prices look pretty cheap compared to May 2008, when the national average was $3.71 for regular and $4.08 for premium, but not so good compared to January 2009.Unfortunately, gas prices have been steadily climbing since the beginning of the year. The price of regular gasoline bottomed out in December 2008 around $1.65/gallon. The price has climbed about 35% in the last five months.Higher gasoline prices take a bigger bite out of consumers' wallets, and they have less to spend on discretionary items like clothes, shoes or house wares. ...

Wal-Mart (

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Highlights include Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (WMT), Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (ANF), Aeropostale, Inc. (ARO), Macy's, Inc. (M), down 9% vs. down 8% and Hot Topic, Inc. (HOTT).April retail sales were better than expected, with about 60% of retailers beating forecasts. That is an improvement from March, when about half of the retailers beat forecasts.Our sample of 20 retailers reported that April sales increased 1.7%, including Wal-Mart (WMT), but decreased 2.6% excluding Wal-Mart. Among those retailers beating forecasts were Wal-Mart, up 4% vs. expectations of up 3%, Abercrombie (ANF), down 22% vs. down 28%, and Aeropostale (ARO), up 20% vs. up 9%. Those retailers that fell short were Macy's (M), down 9% vs. down 8% and Hot Topic (HOTT), up 3% vs. up 7%.Retail sales have stabilized from the awful 2008 holiday season, but overall ...