U.S. stocks closed modestly lower Wednesday, after paring deeper losses, as weak housing data and grim outlook from tech companies fuelled worries about the economy.  Stocks struggled to stay near the 13-month high reached the prior session as jittery investors decided to book profits.  Gold prices rose for the fourth straight session.

The Dow, which had slid as much as 77 points in the morning trading, closed down 11.11 points, or 0.1%, to 10,426.31.  The broader S&P 500 index slipped 0.52, or 0.1%, to 1,109.80, while the Nasdaq, hurt by the weakness in tech shares, fell 10.64, or 0.5%, to 2,193.14.  Bond prices fell, pushing yields higher. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 3.37% from 3.33% late Tuesday.  Crude prices advanced 44 cents to settle at $79.58 per barrel.  Volume remained light, with only 1.063 billion shares trading on the NYSE, and declining issues ahead

...

Key Points: •    Earnings Surprise Ratio (#beat/#miss) at 5.47, almost double normal •    Median Earnings Surprise  7.11%, very strong •    Year over year Earnings Growth Ratio (# Pos Growth/# Neg Growth) at 0.77 •    Sales Surprise Ratio at 1.37 •    Sales Growth Ratio at just 0.40 •    Total Net Income for S&P 500 reported so far is 11.6% below what those same 444 firms reported a year ago, 11.8% above what they earned in the 2Q09 •    Total S&P 500 Revenues reported so far down 13.4% year over year, up 2.0% from 2Q09 •    2009 Earnings Revisions ratio for full S&P 500 up to 3.05, up from 2.48 last week •    2010 ratio at 2.14, down slightly from 2.17 last week •    S&P500 expected to earn $570.6 billion in 2008, $706.8 billion in 2010 •    Bottom Up estimates:  $61.62 for 2009, $76.70 for 2010 •    Top Down estimates: $54.38 ...

Two Investments to Add to Your “Green” Portfolio

by Louise Harris, Investment U Research

Green investing can be tricky.

That was evidenced after oil prices dropped last year and alternative energy companies saw their profits fall just as quickly.

Naturally, investor enthusiasm followed, as green ETFs like Claymore/Mac Global Solar Energy Index (NYSE: TAN) and Market Vectors Solar Energy (NYSE: KWT) have tumbled 45% over the past 12 months.

Similarly, the broad alternative energy portfolio PowerShares WilderHill Clean Energy (NYSE: PBW), has declined by an average of 13.5% annually for the last three years.

But despite those woes, the alternative energy sector still has a few things going for it…

Popularity: The more scientists talk about climate change and how to prevent greenhouse emissions, the more popular alternative energies become. This is especially true in Europe, ...

Key Points:

Growth

Third quarter net income expected to be down 22.9% year-over-year Fourth-quarter net ince to more than double from a year ago, but it is all in the Financials Only 160, or 32% of all S&P 500 firms expected to see positive EPS growth in 3Q More than half expected to post positive growth in Q4

Levels

Bottom-up estimate for S&P 500 now $60.73 in 2009 S&P 500 now expected to earn $75.23 in 2010 Top down estimates $53.94 and $68.40, respectively

Revisions

Total estimate increases outnumber cuts by 7:4 for 2009 Upward revisions outnumber cuts by 2:1 for 2010 Revisions ratios for both years slip but still up big from earlier in the year Total revisions activity near seasonal lows For 2009, Tech and Staples lead; Utilities and Telecom lag Materials and Industrials coming on strong for 2010

Valuation

S&P 500 P/E at 17.6x based on 2009 earnings, an earnings uield of 5.69% P/E of 14.2x based on

...

Key Points:

Growth Third-quarter net income expected to be down 22.9% year-over-year Fourth quarter net income to more than double from a year ago, but it is all in the Financials Only 159, or 31.8%, of all S&P 500 firms expected to see positive EPS growth in Q3 More than half expected to post positive growth in Q4 levels Bottom-up estimate for S&P 500 now $60.84 in 2009 S&P 500 now expected to earn $75.23 in 2010 Top down estimates are $53.94 and $68.40, respectively

Revisions Total estimate increases outnumber cuts by almost 2:1 for 2009 Upward revisions outnumber cuts by more than 2:1 for 2010 Revisions ratios for both years have risen consistently for last 3 months For 2009, Tech and Staples lead; Utilities and Telecom lag Materials also look good for both years

Valuation S&P 500 P/E at 17.1x based on 2009 earnings, an earnings yield of 5.83% P/E of 13.9x based on 2010 Earnings, an earnings yield of 7.22% Earnings yields are

...

Sarah Lacy published a seminal piece yesterday on TechCrunch about the Israeli VC and entrepreneur scene.  In an article entitled, “Now that China Is the New Israel…What’s Israel?”, Lacy explores the evolution of the Israel tech industry.  From enrapture in 2000 to finishing 2008 without a single IPO and virtually no exits, Lacy questions whether Israel has just hit a bump in the road or just peaked out.

Lacy explains:

Israeli companies have raised just over $10 billion since the beginning 2001, but acquisitions and IPOs have returned just over $860 million over that almost eight-and-a-half-year period…

Somewhere along the way, the entrepreneur scene here lost its mojo.

So I don’t say this to trash Israel, but facts are facts. In sheer numbers, Israel’s place on the global scale of investing has been dwarfed by China, and matched by the United

...