For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – November 4, 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: Stanley Works (SWK), Black & Decker Corporation (BDK), Joy Global (JOYG), Paccar (PCAR) and Illinois Tool Works (ITW).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5513

Here are highlights from Tuesday’s AnalystBlog:

Stanley Works Acquires B&D

Stanley Works (SWK) and Black & Decker Corporation (BDK) have entered into a definitive merger agreement to create Stanley Black & Decker, an $8.4 billion global tool maker. The Board of Directors of both companies approved an all-stock transaction valued

...

While last week GDP growth came in better than expected at 3.5%, which was a very welcome development, there was very little change in the coverall shape of GDP. This is a troubling development for the long term. GDP is the sum of spending by the Consumer, Private Investment, Government Spending and Net Exports. The Graph below shows the percentage each of them has contributed to overall GDP since 1947. The Consumer is still by far the dominate force in the economy, and it is becoming more so. In the 3Q, PCE, meaning the consumer, rose to 70.98% of GDP, up from 70.66% in the second quarter. That is an all-time record high. At the same time, private investment was virtually unchanged near an all-time low as a share of GDP at 11.04%, up from 11.03% in the 2Q. Government spending as a share of GDP ...

Percent Changes by Major Category In the second quarter GDP fell at an annual rate of 1.0%, better than consensus expectations of a 1.5% drop (and my own expectation of down about 2.0%). However, the first quarter was revised to a decline of 6.4% from a decline of 5.5%. This was a surprise, since the previous two revisions had been in the direction of a smaller decline. Consumption: Negative After Being Positive The consumer was actually weaker in the second quarter than in the first, with personal consumption expenditures (PCE) falling 1.2% vs. a rise of 0.6% in the first quarter (org. up 1.4%). The swing in goods, particularly durable goods, was large with a decline of 4.0% vs. an increase of 2.5% in the first quarter for all goods and a decline of 7.1% vs. an increase of 3.9% in the first quarter for Durable Goods. Non-Durable ...