Stocks are lower as an unexpected drop in home construction raised concerns about the pace of the economy’s recovery

The Commerce Department said construction of homes and apartments fell 10.6 percent in October to an annual rate of 529,000, well below the pace of 600,000 that economists polled by Thomson Reuters had predicted.

Building permits, a key indication for future activity, slid 4 percent to an annual rate of 552,000, also below the rate of 580,000 that analysts had forecast.

There was little reaction to a report that found inflation at the retail level remained tame as rising unemployment, nervous consumers and tight credit keep prices stable.

The Labor Department said consumer prices rose 0.3 percent in October, slightly above the 0.2 percent economists expected. Core inflation, which excludes volatile energy and food prices, rose 0.2 percent, compared to expectations of a 0.1 percent rise.

A report released Tuesday on prices at the wholesale

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Honeywell International Inc., a Fortune 100 diversified technology and manufacturing leader, recently announced that the company’s third-quarter profit fell 15 percent due to slower sales in all its divisions with aviation and industrial products continuing to struggle.

For the third quarter ended September 30, the company earned $608 million, or 80 cents per share, down from $719 million, or 97 cents per share, one year ago. In addition, revenue declined 17 percent to $7.7 billion, down from $9.28 billion during the third quarter of 2008. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected lower earnings of 72 cents per share on higher revenue of $7.88 billion.

More than half of Honeywell’s sales are overseas and as a result, the company has been hit by some of the economy’s weakest sectors, including the aerospace, automotive and construction markets. Sales in the company’s aerospace business decreased 16 percent in the third quarter compared with one year

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Gilead Sciences, Inc. (Public, NASDAQ:GILD) reported earnings yesterday, but the blow-out-quarter doesn't seem to be impressing investors today, as shares are down 3%. Here is a summary of the call: * Net profit 72 cents/share beats 67 cents/share estimate * Revenue increases 31 pct to $1.8 billion Gilead Sciences Inc said on Tuesday its quarterly profit rose 36 percent, due in part to royalties on sales of the flu drug, Tamiflu, but sales of its core HIV drugs failed to impress investors ...

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts!

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Tuesday October 20, 2009

DrStockPick.com Stock Report!

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Power3 Medical Products, Inc. (OTCBB: PWRM), a leader in neurodegenerative disease and cancer biomarkers and diagnostic tests, announces further international recognition of validity as the company’s President and CSO, Dr. Ira Goldknopf, will deliver an invited Keynote address and chair a session on “Biomarkers and Diagnostics in Personalized Medicine (Track 6-4),” at the BIT Life Sciences 2nd International Congress and Expo of Molecular Diagnostics in Beijing, China, November 19-21, 2009. The Theme of the meeting is “New Leadership of

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A continued decline in initial claims for unemployment resulted in roughly 10,000 fewer than last week’s upwardly revised total of 524,000. For the fifth time now in six weeks, this figure has declined, beating the Thomson Reuters forecast by 2%, with the four-week average falling six times in a row to 531,500. The initial claims figure is incredibly important because it is a direct expression of lay-offs and the overall propensity within the labor market for hiring.

Several economic analysts have pegged the floor below 200,000 job losses for October, which would set a record for the year. However, the unemployment rate is at 9.8%, the highest in 26 years, and the labor market has lost 7.2 million jobs since December 07. Although initial claims paint a somewhat rosy picture, suggesting improvement, the labor market is still well below the 325,000 benchmark for initial claims, which is an historical indicator of

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A Labor Department report issued Thursday Oct. 8 shows initial claims for unemployment fell 33,000 from the prior week’s revised total to 521,000, the lowest level since the beginning of 2009. This figure was 19k less than the Thomson Reuters survey, giving some cause for hope amid a generally depressed economic outlook.

With the four-week average down to 539,750, there is strong evidence of a recovery in the labor market to many investors. The second lowest point this year being reached, on the graph of this closely watched statistic, indicates too many economists that the propensity for hiring by companies is up and that layoffs are less likely. Nevertheless the unemployment figures are still well-above the accepted 325,000 for initial claims, which signifies a robust economy.

The outstanding number of claimants also fell 1.8%, defying analysts’ expectations of a growing pool of recipients. For the week ending Sept. 19, the total

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DrStockPick.com Stock Report!

Tuesday August 25, 2009

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OmniComm Systems, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: OMCM), a leader in integrated electronic data capture (EDC) solutions for clinical trials, announced today that their EDC tool, TrialMaster(TM), has been selected by Pleiad, Inc., a Cambridge, Massachusetts based Contract Research Organization (CRO) with European operations in the U.K., to provide eClinical services to its customers. Pleiad’s investment will provide it with the products and services to manage two upcoming studies investigating the use of ophthalmic medical devices. This partnership is expected to generate more than $1 million to OmniComm over the next few years. Pleiad has worked with the TrialMaster EDC tool since April 2008 under

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – August 25, 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: News Corp. (NWS), McGraw-Hill (MHP), NYSE Euronext (NYX), Thomson Reuters (TRIN) and Novartis (NVS).

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 Monday’s Analyst Blog:

Dow Jones to Change Hands

Dow Jones & Co., owned by News Corp. (NWS), has started seeking potential buyers for its stock market index business, including the renowned benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Goldman Sachs has been appointed to explore strategic options for the business. News Corp. bought

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Dow Jones & Co., owned by News Corp. (NWS), has started seeking potential buyers for its stock market index business, including the renowned benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Goldman Sachs has been appointed to explore strategic options for the business. News Corp. bought Dow Jones & Co. in 2007 for $5.7 billion, and has never released any financials for the unit since its acquisition. As an independent company, Dow Jones last reported results for the first nine months of 2007, when its revenue increased 18% year over year to $101.3 million.

Market analysts believe that competitors, like McGraw-Hill’s (MHP) Standard & Poor’s, FTSE, a joint venture between the Financial Times and the London Stock Exchange, MSCI Barra, Russell Indexes, NYSE Euronext (NYX), Bloomberg and Thomson Reuters (TRIN), will be interested in Dow’s index business.

The company’s stock market index business consists of 130,000 equity indices

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PennyOmega.com Short Highlights Before the Bell!

PennyOmega.com Short Highlights Before The Bell!

PennyOmega.com Stocks Upgraded, Downgraded and Short Highlights Before the Bell Monday August 17, 2009

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CHDT Corp. (OTCBB: CHDO), a Florida corporation with operating subsidiaries focused on designing and manufacturing consumer products for the North American retail market, reported 2nd Quarter gross revenue of $845,448 an increase of 22% over the $694,596 reported for the prior year’s second quarter 2008. CHDT finished the first half of 2009 with gross revenues of $2,543,375, an increase of $1,274,699 or 100% versus the same period in 2008. The company reported a $3,050,000 order backlog to date, to be shipped in the third and fourth quarters

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