Raytheon Missile Systems, an operating unit of Raytheon Company (RTN), received a $93.9 million contract from the Naval Sea Systems Command, authorizing the start of production of Standard Missile-6 (SM-6). The anti-air warfare missile completed tests in August 2009, validating the go-ahead to initiate production. Work on the contract – expected to be completed by March 2012 – will be executed in Tucson, AZ, Camden, AR, Boston, MA and elsewhere. Raytheon Missile Systems’ contractual backlog of late has witnessed a slide from $9.9 billion after the end of the fiscal 2008 to $7.6 billion after the end of the first-half of fiscal 2009. This was mainly due to the cancellation of the $2.4 billion KEI program. The initiation of production of the SM-6 missile generated another steady stream of orders for the company. Raytheon is the one of the largest aerospace and defense companies in ...

Today, USCorp announced that it has selected Boart Longyear (“Boart”) to execute the final Phase 3 drilling program at its Twin Peaks project in Yavapai County, Ariz. Boart is the world’s leading integrated drilling services provider and products manufacturer for the minerals industry. The company also has a substantial presence in the environmental energy and infrastructure energy industries.

Robert Dultz, Chairman and CEO of USCorp stated, “We chose Boart because of their expertise, extensive equipment, and excellent international reputation in hard-to-reach drilling. We have already mapped out our locations and where we will drill; all approvals are in place so we are looking forward to completing the final phase of our exploration drilling program on this property.”

Dultz also noted that the Phase 3 drilling program for the Twin Peaks Project requires getting equipment into difficult locations and to depths that were not reached in Phases 1 and 2 using

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Rice rationing redux?  Chris Mayer on the return of rising food prices… Dan Amoss on what the Fed says versus what the Fed does… Russia sings dollar’s praises, dollar bulls stampede… Chuck Butler looks past the rhetoric… China’s latest resource grab… Iraqi oil… America’s best-selling car… with an MSRP of $60…

We begin a new week pondering the question that bedevils the conscientious market observer every day.Inflation? Deflation? Or as Agora founder Bill Bonner is wont to suggest, both?

“Inflation – rising prices, or a drop in the purchasing power of the dollar – will soon rise to the very top of economic concerns,” writes Chris Mayer. “I can’t understand why there are pundits who insist we can’t have inflation while the economy is weak. There are plenty of examples of weak economies with high inflation. After all, I don’t think they are hitting on

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Today before the opening bell, Hunt Gold Corp. announced assay results from the first five drill holes of its first recently completed drill campaign at the “Mockingbird” Gold Project in Arizona. The assay work was done by Jacobs Assay of Tucson, Arizona.

The company reported the following:

- All of the first five drill holes encountered Gold Mineralization.

- Management considers these Assay initial results to be solid and positive but is of the opinion that the Assay Results from the remaining three drill holes to be of a far higher grade and Jacobs Assay has elected to place the assays for the other 3 drill holes in “EXCEPT” meaning that 3 or 4 intervals in the “ore zone” are listed as “pending.” Management is of the opinion that Jacobs Assays has higher gold values for these intervals, and to that end, they are re-running

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Less than two hours ago, Hunt Gold Corp. provided shareholders with a comprehensive update covering a variety of issues.

Regarding its continued drilling at the “Mockingbird” Dandy Mine, the company currently has two holes planned and will update shareholders as additional drilling and exploration plans are finalized. Drilling operations will resume by TonaTec no later than January 10.

The company reported that a substantial amount of core from the first 6 drill holes at the Great West and the Pocahontas Gold Mines has been split. The core has been shipped to an independent assay laboratory located in Tucson, Arizona. The remainder of the core will be split and shipped this week. The independent assay laboratory has designated the Company’s core samples as a priority project, with the first assay results anticipated before the end of the month.

Although Hunt Gold recently increased its Authorized Share Capital to facilitate any possible deals and

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Today a few minutes before the opening bell, Hunt Gold Corp. updated the investment community regarding the progress of the ongoing drilling at its Mockingbird Gold project in Arizona.

According to the press release, a significant amount of core from the first 6 drill holes at the Great West and the Pocahontas Gold Mines has been split. The core has been shipped to an independent assay laboratory located in Tucson, Arizona. Jacobs Assay, the independent assay laboratory, has designated the Company’s core samples as a priority project and anticipates the first assay results before the end of this month.

Drilling at the Mockingbird’s Dandy Mine will recommence before early next week. Two holes are planned at this location, which will conclude the initial and current drill operation. The Company’s geologists are currently planning the position of other drill sites for the Company’s second drilling phase.

Hunt Gold Corporation’s CEO Mike Saner

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It's been a bumpy ride for solar stocks recently.

The industry received a boost when clean energy tax credits were added to the $700 bailout bill to help its passage from Congress. But fears of falling demand and oversupply have weighed on solar stocks. The Claymore/MAC Global Solar Index ETF (NYSE:TAN) fell 35% in the first eight trading days of October.

William Patalon III, however, says new mapping technology and advances that have made solar power more eco-friendly will boost solar stocks in the long run.