For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – October 12, 2009 – Zacks.com releases the list of companies likely to issue earnings surprises. This week’s list includes Intel (INTC), Goldman Sachs (GS), Google (GOOG), Fairchild Semiconductor International (FCS) and Safeway (SWY). To see more earnings analysis, visit http://at.zacks.com/?id=3207.

Every day, Zacks.com makes 4 stock picks available, free of charge. To see them, go to http://at.zacks.com/?id=5612.

This Week's Events

Large-cap companies will dominate the earnings headlines this week.

Six Dow components, including Intel (INTC), are scheduled to release third-quarter results. Joining them will be Goldman Sachs (GS) and Google (GOOG). In total, we have confirmed reports from 72 companies, 29 of which are in the S&P 500.

There will be quite a bit of economic data published, including CPI and industrial production and capacity utilization. We will also get the minutes from

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St. Louis-based Patriot Coal (PCX) is a leading coal producer in the eastern U.S., having substantial thermal as well as metallurgical coal reserves in the Appalachian region. Appalachian coal receives a premium to other regions in the U.S. due to high heat content (i.e. high Btu). Besides producing high-quality thermal coal, this region is known for its metallurgical coal reserves. Additionally, the relative proximity of the Appalachian Basin to the European and the Asian markets further adds to its attractiveness to foreign buyers. Patriot Coal has handled the challenges arising from a depressed coal market well by rescheduling production plans, idling high-cost mines, optimizing longwall developments and relocating equipment and miners to higher-margin mines. These actions have strengthened the competitiveness of the company and preserved coal assets for a better pricing environment in the future. Globally, energy prices have started showing initial signs of recovery, ...

In our history, the American nation committed obvious sins against select groups of people, and we’ve paid bitterly for some of that. But now it’s our sins against the land itself that threaten to sink the USA as a viable enterprise.

It’s odd, that in his otherwise excellent blow-by-blow account (”Eight Days,” in the Sept 21 New Yorker Magazine) of the September 2008 Wall Street meltdown that left Lehman dead, and AIG croaking in a ditch, and the banking system in general functionally crippled, reporter James B. Stewart never got around to really describing the cause of it all — namely, the on-the-ground material catastrophe of American suburbia.

It was the worthlessness of the tradable securitized debt associated with all those overpriced (and overvalued) chipboard and vinyl houses, smeared recklessly over the American landscape, that started all the trouble in the first place. And it is our inability to come to

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Bank of America Corporation (BAC) will lay off 51 workers by closing its check-processing center in St. Louis. According to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification filed with the Missouri Department of Economic Development, the retrenchment will take place by Oct 2, 2009. As the use of debit cards and online banking has increased significantly in the recent years and customers now write fewer checks, BofA is trying to consolidate its check-processing operations nationwide. BofA is the second-largest bank in the St. Louis area with $7.9 billion in deposits. BofA’s banking and non-banking subsidiaries across the United States and in other international markets provide a diverse range of banking and non-banking financial services and products. We, however, think that Bank of America is in a relatively good shape from a capital perspective. During this delicate period of market stress, the availability of significant private-sector capital ...

U.S. consumer sentiment rose in late September to the highest level since January 2008 as expectations of an economic rebound gathered momentum. This data added to indications the economy is pulling out a lengthy recession more powerfully than many economists had expected a few months ago.

The Reuters/University of Michigan Survey of Consumers said its final index of sentiment for September rose to 73.5 from 65.7 in August. This was above economists’ expectation for a reading of 70.3. The index of consumer expectations rose to 73.5, the highest in two years, from 65.0 in August. The index of current conditions rose to 73.4 in September from 66.6 in August and the survey’s 12-month economic outlook jumped to 88 from 69 August.

The Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers, in an upbeat statement, said, “Consumers reported that the economy had already begun to improve and anticipated further gains in the year ahead. The

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German unemployment falls!  RBA disappoints the markets…  China to buy Canadian company…  ISM to print positive? And Now… Today’s Pfennig! Good day… And a Terrific Tuesday to you! And Welcome to September! Well… Here’s a thought to get our engines started this morning… Bill Bonner of the Daily Reckoning ( www.dailyreckoning.com )had this to add to my ranting about our National Debt going to over $20 Trillion in the next 10 years, due to deficit spending…

“The Obama administration, for example, expects to run $9 trillion in deficits over the next 10 years – and that number is based on a recovery! Imagine what will happen if the economy doesn’t recover?”

Now, that’s a nice comforting thought to start our day right? NOT! WAKE UP! Morning has broken, and the coffee is on… If you are still of the thought that this is all going to end up seashells and

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The U.S. dollar rose on Wednesday as news that China would act to restrict redundant investments underscored concerns about a global recovery and tempered the positive impact of data showing a jump in new U.S. home sales.

Reports that China intends to curb excessive investment in a range of industries “hurts the strong global growth outlook and is one of the things moving the dollar today,” said Chuck Butler, president of Everbank World Markets in St. Louis.

Investors tend to buy the dollar and yen as safe havens or unwind trades in higher-yielding assets financed with the U.S. and Japanese currencies when recovery optimism fades.

Two reports offered some encouragement about the health of the U.S. economy. A rise of 9.6 percent in new homes sales in July was the fastest pace in nearly a year.

U.S. durable goods orders also rose in July, but a key measure of business demand

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European orders increase more than expected… Was Cash for Clunkers necessary?… Roubini sees a ‘W’ not a ‘V’… Lessons from Mary Poppins…And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

Good day… And welcome to another week, the last one in August! The weather here in St. Louis has shifted toward fall, which is my favorite season. Chuck is flying back home from San Francisco today and will be back in the saddle tomorrow. Both he and the big boss, Frank Trotter, sent me some great Pfennig pfodder over the weekend so lets get right to it.

The dollar continued to drift lower throughout the trading day on Friday, with the commodity currencies of Australia, South Africa, and New Zealand leading the way. Confidence is returning to the markets, and investors are once again moving out of the ’safe havens’ of the Japanese yen and US dollar. The reports coming out of Jackson Hole indicate that central bankers believe

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Monsanto Corp. (NYSE: MON), the world’s largest seed maker, says it’s on track to more than double its 2007 profit by the year 2012 and is expecting a “technology explosion” to provide even stronger products going forward. But while Monsanto continues to build on its reputation as a cutting edge agricultural business, it is also under siege by competitors and advocacy groups who claim the company is a monopoly.

The St. Louis-based Monsanto said in June that its fiscal third-quarter earnings fell to $694 million, or $1.25 a share, from $811 million, or $1.45 a share, in the same period a year ago. Sales slipped to $3.16 billion from $3.54 billion last year. The company also said its annual earnings would likely be at the low end of its $4.40 to $4.50 a share forecast range.

That’s not very impressive for a company that last year posted record net sales

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Below are some of the key sections of the Summary of the Fed Beige Book and my reaction to it interspersed. I have also bolded what I consider to be remarks worthy of emphasis in the report. "Reports from the 12 Federal Reserve Districts suggest that economic activity continued to be weak going into the summer, but most Districts indicated that the pace of decline has moderated since the last report or that activity has begun to stabilize, albeit at a low level..." In other words, the economy is no longer falling off a cliff, but it has not started to climb back either. This is consistent with most of the other economic data we have been getting recently. "Most Districts reported sluggish retail activity...Manufacturing activity showed some improvement in the Richmond, Chicago and Kansas City Districts; while St. Louis and Dallas reported some moderation ...