With no economic reports on Wednesday and bond markets closed for the Veteran’s Day, Wall Street was witness to a quiet trading session, but stocks managed to inch higher on expectations interest rates would remain at a record low for some time.  Also, strong Chinese manufacturing and retail sales data lifted investor sentiments.  Gold prices touched an all-time high.  

The Dow Jones industrial average, which hit an intraday high of 10,341, advanced 44 points, or 0.4%, to close at 10,291.26. The S&P 500 added 6 points, or 0.5%, to close at 1,098.51, and the tech-laden Nasdaq composite rose 16 points, or 0.7%, to end the day at 2,166.90.  On the New York Stock Exchange, 19 stocks were higher in price for every 11 that declined

Nine of the ten S&P500 industry groups ended in the green, with financials (+1.3%), basic materials (+1.0%) and technology (+0.7%) leading the gainers.  Utilities

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U.S. stocks posted modest gains Friday even as a surprisingly weak jobs report failed to deter investors from taking a broader view that the economy is improving.  Analysts’ upgrade of General Electric and Amazon.com helped the market keep its head above water as many on the Street averred the worst for the labor market was over.  Although the unemployment rate – at its highest level in 26 years – aggravated concerns about consumer spending, it nevertheless reassured some investors that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates near historically low levels in the near future.      

On Friday, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 17.46 points, or 0.2%, to 10,023.42 and the Standard & Poor's 500 index added 2.67 points, or 0.3%, to 1,069.30.  The Nasdaq composite index advanced 7.12 points, or 0.3%, to 2,112.44.  For the week, the Dow and the S&P 500 index advanced 3.2%, while the Nasdaq

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• Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) reported fourth quarter earnings of 24 cents a share, up from last year's 10 cents, above Zacks estimates of 21 cents, as revenues dropped 3.7% to $2.42 billion. The firm raised its 2010 guidance to 15-20% earnings growth from prior guidance of 13-18% growth

• Hyatt Hotels (NYSE:H) shares gained 12% on their NYSE debut.  The company sold 38 million shares at $25 per share

• JP Morgan (NYSE:JPM) lifted its price target on Ford (NYSE:F)

• The smartphone marketplace will watch today's launch of Verizon's (NYSE:VZ) much-heralded new "Droid" launch, using Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android operating system

• AIG (NYSE:AIG) reported third quarter earnings of $2.85 ex-items

• Bernstein upgraded General Electric (NYSE:GE) and Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) shares

• JP Morgan (NYSE:JPM) upgraded Macy's (NYSE:M) shares

• Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB) upgraded Blue Nile (NASDAQ:NILE) shares, lifting the price target from $30 to $50

Zacks Investment Research

Macy’s Inc. (M), the operator of department stores, recently reported a 2.4% decline in total sales for the month of September. Total sales for the month were $2,043 million versus $2,093 million posted in the same month last year.   Year-to-date total sales were down 8.5% to $13,948 million from $15,244 million reported in the same period last year.   Online sales, which include macys.com and bloomingdales.com, jumped 14.8% for the month under review, and were up 13.3% year-to-date.   The company’s comparable-store sales for the month of September 2009, dipped 2.3%, whereas year-to-date comps slid 8.2%.   Macy’s department stores sell a wide range of merchandise. Macy’s products include men’s, women’s, and children’s apparel and accessories; cosmetics; home furnishings and other consumer goods.   However, sales at these departmental stores have been falling, as consumers, hit by recession and with less disposable income, focus more on basic ...

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 61 points on Thursday as traders reacted to news that retailers last month had their first sales gain in more than a year.  A closely watched gauge of sales at major retailers rose 0.1% in September. Still, most stores posted sales declines -- though smaller than in recent months -- even as their figures are compared with last September when business plummeted as the financial meltdown ballooned.  While still tepid, it was the first monthly rise in the International Council of Shopping Centers-Goldman Sachs tally since July 2008. 

On Thursday, the European Central Bank and Bank of England left interest rates unchanged.  Sentiment also received a boost from domestic corporate borrowing, which rose for the eight straight week. 

The growing optimism surrounding consumer spending, which is crucial for an economic recovery, followed late Wednesday's good results from Alcoa.  The company surprised investors with

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• China Unicom also advised iPhones will be sold in China beginning in October.  Meanwhile, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) said iTunes' application downloads exceeded the 2 billion mark

• MBIA's (NYSE:MBI) main bond insurance unit was downgraded by S&P to non-investment grade status

• Dell (NASDAQ:DELL) revealed a new, high-end, ultra thin PC

• Cameron International (NYSE:CAM) reported a $500 million subsea equipment deal with Petrobras

• Howard Shultz, CEO of Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX), offered high hopes for its Via Ready Brew instant coffee product, claiming it "perhaps the biggest opportunity" in the company's history, amid today's North American launch

• Walgreens' (NYSE:WAG) reported fiscal fourth quarter results of 47 cents ex-items, topping estimates of 39 cents, on sales of $15.7 billion

• Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) lifted price targets on several retailers, including conviction buys on Target (NYSE:TGT) and Macy's (NYSE:M)

• Citigroup (NYSE:C) started coverage of Dr. Pepper Snapple (NYSE:DPS) and Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) with "buy" recommendations

• Bank of America

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Traders were back on the buying table Tuesday, adding to their holdings even as they remained glued to the Fed for its take on the economy, interest rates and inflation.  Banks and industrial companies led the advance as stocks zoomed to new highs for 2009.  Nevertheless, uncertainty remained if the Central Bank will offer any detail on an exit strategy. 

The 30-share Dow Jones industrial average finished higher by 51 points, or 0.52%, at 9,829.87. The broad Standard & Poor's 500-stock index gained 7 points, or 0.66%, at 1,071.66 and the technology-laden Nasdaq composite index gained 8.26 points, or 0.39%, to 2,146.30.  Treasury prices rallied after the government’s successful auction of $43 billion in two-year notes.

Meanwhile, dollar continued its downward spiral against other major currencies, sending energy and material shares higher.  Gold and crude prices also advanced.  Gold reached $1014 per ounce, up $12.50, and oil, after a

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Sometimes in investing there is a tendency to over think things, to get bogged down in the details, to lose the forest through a close study of the trees. It is not that such matters are irrelevant, but that if you get the big major questions right you will be most of the way there. Unfortunately, most investors tend to avoid even asking the big really important questions, or at least don't act on them. The big questions really tend to boil down to what sectors you should be investing in. Yet, many investors simply rely on indexing instead. Even worse, those that do not explicitly index often invest in mutual funds that "closet index". Investment managers will do that because there is a big premium put on not being too far away from the "bogey", usually the S&P 500. Sure, it's great if they are ...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – August 28, 2009 – Zacks Equity Research highlights Acergy (ACGY) as the Bull of the Day and Loews Corporation (L) the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Bank of America (BAC), Wal-Mart (WMT) and Macy's (M).

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:

Acergy (ACGY) posted better-than-expected second quarter 2009 results, though revenue and backlog slipped, reflecting the tentative operating environment stemming from commodity price and credit market overhang.

With a still healthy backlog, significant cash balances and no near-term refinancing requirements, Acergy remains comfortable to weather the challenging business environment.

Our continued Outperform recommendation on Acergy ADRs also reflects the company's strong leverage to the still very favorable outlook for deepwater oilfield activities

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Initial claims for unemployment came in at 570,000, a drop of 10,000 from last week's revised figure. However, last week was revised up by 4,000, so the net improvement was only 6,000 from where we thought we were. The four-week moving average dipped by 4,750 to 566,250. New claims peaked at 92,500, higher than back in April, but recently the rate of decline has slowed. As the chart below (from http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/) shows, recessions prior to the 1990 downturn tended to to come down fast and in a straight line. The last two recessionary episodes had a quick initial decline, but then remained high for an extended period of time. I think we are transitioning into that phase. Being stuck at this level means that the economy is still losing jobs, but just not at the rate it was at the beginning of the year. At the same time, other economic indicators -- ...