General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) is closing in quickly on its June 1 deadline to finish overhauling its operations, or opt for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Because that deadline is actually one week from yesterday (Monday), analysts and investors will be watching GM closely this week.

No matter which path GM chooses – conventional restructuring or bankruptcy – the U.S. Big Three of GM, Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) and Chrysler LLC will have to adjust to the U.S. auto market’s post-financial-crisis “new reality.” Automakers will sell only 10 million cars and trucks in the U.S. market this year, the worst in at least 30 decades – and roughly 38% less than the 16 million vehicles that were sold in the United States annually in recent years before the financial collapse caused an accompanying collapse in auto sales.

Part of the reason for the

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

Aaron Rents Inc. (RNT) AEterna Zentaris Inc. (AEZS) Alleghany Corp. (Y) Aradigm Corp. (ARDM) ARM Holdings Plc. (ARMH) Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA (BBV) CombinatoRx Inc. (CRXX) CSG Systems International Inc. (CSGS) CTI Industries Corp. (CTIB) El Paso Pipeline Partners L.P. (EPB) Enersis S.A. (ENI) Ensign Group Inc. (ENSG) FPIC Insurance Group Inc. (FPIC) GeoEye Inc. (GEOY) ITT Educational Services Inc. (ESI) Kaman Corp. (KAMN) Labopharm Inc. (DDSS) Longtop Financial Technologies Ltd. (LFT) Maiden Holdings Ltd. (MHLD) Noven Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NOVN) Open Text Corp. (OTEX) ORBCOMM Inc. (ORBC) Orexigen Therapeutics Inc. (OREX) OSG America L.P. (OSP) PetMed Express Inc. (PETS) Richardson Electronics Ltd. (RELL) Thomson Reuters Plc. (RELL) ...

Investors occasionally use a stock trading technique called 'Buying Dividends,' which is the technique of buying stocks before the ex dividend date and selling the stock shortly after the ex date at about the same price, yet still being entitled to the dividend. This technique generally works only in bull markets.If you are interested in buying dividends, there are many stocks in many different industries to choose from. In order to be entitled to the dividend, you have to buy the stock before the ex-dividend date, and you can't sell the stock until after the ex date. The actual dividend may not be paid for another few weeks.All of the following stocks have market caps over $500 million, and yield over 2%. Nordic American Tanker Shipping Limited ( NAT ) The stock is going ex-dividend on 11/18/2008 and pays a yield of ...

It’s panic time for U.S. legislators, regulators, banks and lenders. More than $24 billion worth of adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) are expected to “re-set” to higher interest rates in November – boosting the likelihood of further home foreclosures.

And it gets worse. That increase in borrowing costs will spread to other parts of the global debt market, representing an across-the board threat to corporate, institutional and sovereign borrowers. If interest rates remain high and interbank lending remains tight, the credit crisis is not likely to recede.

This raises two key questions. Are desperate times prompting desperate measures? Is LIBOR being manipulated by banks that are trying to make their financial positions appear better than they really are?

If that’s the case, it’s one more reason the credit crisis will fester and spread undetected: The artificially low interbank lending rates removed a key “early warning” indicator, leading investors to believe the credit market was healthy

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