Companies featured in this edition of the newsletter: ACTC, CHIP, CVM, DKAM, ENZ, IWEB, MBCI, MFGD, PHC

Markets rebounded last week, on the strength of upbeat productivity and manufacturing reports that led to solid gains in all of the major indices. Despite news that the unemployment rate had hit its highest levels in 25 years, the Dow managed to end the week up 310 points, gaining 3.2% on the week to close at 10,023, up 14.2% on the year. The Nasdaq posted a gain of 3.3%, closing at 2112 and extending its yearly gains to 34%, while the S&P 500 and Russell 2000 advanced 3.2% and 3.1% respectively on the week to bring their YTD performance to 18.4% and 16.2%.

Several better than expected economic reports provided buying incentive throughout much of the week, as investors managed to shake off the previous week’s negative bias to send indices into positive territory

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On Aug 31, 2009, Walt Disney Company (DIS) announced a strategic deal to acquire Marvel Entertainment Inc. (MVL) in a cash and stock deal for approximately $4 billion. Marvel shareholders would receive in aggregate $30 per share in cash and approximately 0.745 Disney stock for each Marvel stock they own.

The purchase of Marvel Entertainment is set to be Disney's largest acquisition since 2006, when it had purchased Pixar Animation Studios for $7.4 billion. The deal is expected to close by the end of the year.

The deal entitles Walt Disney to Marvel's strong global brand and world-renowned library of more than 5,000 characters, which include Iron Man, Spider-Man, X-Men, The Incredible Hulk, The First Avenger: Captain America, Fantastic Four and Thor. The deal also provides Disney exclusive control over Marvel's licensing, publishing and film production divisions.

On Sep 8, 2009, Disney announced another acquisition in the video game business.

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Another Monday… Another “Game-Changing” Deal

by Martin Denholm, Senior Editor

Monday is Merge Day.

A few weeks ago, the market saw the busiest day of deal-making in three months, as the news-wires lit up with news of several big takeover announcements, including Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) buying Marvel (NYSE: MVL).

It happened again the following week. In fact, over a 10-day period, more than $40 billion worth of deals were announced.

And even as the third quarter winds down, the pace is still frenetic in the M&A market.

Today saw technology equipment firm Xerox (NYSE: XRX) announce a $6.4 billion deal to buy Affiliated Computer Services (NYSE: ACS) – its biggest acquisition on record.

Xerox investors greeted the news with a collective “ugh,” as shares of the photocopying and business supplies giant spiraled down by 17%. While perhaps

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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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Just reading the newspapers gives me a daily diet of economic gloom. For example, my pessimism for today (Aug. 26) started with the headline of my local newspaper this morning. The Pittsburgh Tribune Review delivered a banner message, “Record Red Forecast at $1.58 Trillion.” (I think they printed the newspaper before the word came out that Sen. Ted Kennedy died.)

Then for a national perspective, I looked at The Wall Street Journal, which published a slightly different alliteration, “Decade of Debt: $9 Trillion.” And finally, for an international view, The Financial Times summed it all up in characteristic British understatement, with, “US Says Debt Outlook Worsening.” Oh, you don’t say.

The big problem – obviously, the headline issue – with the US economy is too much debt. (That’s the BIG problem. There’s a long list of other problems after that.) And the debt problem is getting worse, not better.

Debt is ubiquitous across

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Medvedev told Chancellor Angela Merkel at their meeting in Sochi that stronger ties could 'help our economies and people overcome the consequences of this heavy crisis and come out of it even stronger'.  Merkel announced that she would welcome Russian investments in Opel, as well as in chipmakers Infineon and Qimonda and the Wadan shipyard.  The insolvent shipbuilder is reportedly close to being bought by Russian investor Igor Yusufov.  Services conglomerate Sistema has denied media reports that it is negotiating with German chipmaker Infineon about taking an equity stake in the company.  Vladimir Putin has instructed politicians that the budget deficit must be less than 7.5% next year.  He has also put a price tag on regional housing ( a maximum of $950 per square meter.)  Canadian engineering group SNC-Lavalin has announced its purchase of ...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – July 27, 2009 – Zacks.com releases the list of companies likely to issue earnings surprises. This week’s list includes Exxon Mobil (XOM), Chevron (CVX), Travelers Companies (TRV), Verizon (VZ), Walt Disney (DIS), Apache (APA), Corning (GLW), Life Technologies (LIFE) and Western Digital (WDC). 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

Nearly 750 companies will report, of which 144 are in the S&P 500. Dow components include Exxon Mobil (XOM), Chevron (CVX), Travelers Companies (TRV), Verizon (VZ) and Walt Disney (DIS).

The energy sector will be prominent with 57 oil and gas firms releasing

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Fundamental Forecast for Japanese Yen: Neutral

Direction from the Japanese yen is often the product of risk appetite; and the fundamental outlook for next week doesn’t suggest this essential correlation will break any time soon. However, this connection may actually complicate the future for speculators rather than make it more straightforward. The primary source of what has essentially been a market-wide advance in risk appetite these past two weeks seems to have petered out. Earnings releases are in decline and there are very few individual releases on the docket that can initiate a global shift in sentiment on its own. Among other potential catalysts – like growth speculation – there are many contingencies and shades of gray that could make the yen a very difficult currency to trade going forward.

First and foremost, the market will have to reconcile its predilection for earnings data. Ever since Goldman Sachs

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TiVo (TIVO) shares on Monday, June 29, 2009, lost 4.08% and fell $0.45 to close at $10.58. The slide in the price followed the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to permit Cablevision (CVC) and other cable operators to offer network DVR (Digital Video Recorder) service.

The new service will allow subscribers to record programs on centralized servers, instead of requiring separate set-top boxes with in-built hard drives. The standard TiVo DVR records and stores TV shows on a hard drive in the set-top box, allowing consumers to playback programming and skip past ads. The new remote-storage DVR system converts every digital set-top box into a DVR, and allows users to record shows.

A number of film studios and television networks including Time Warner (TWX), News Corporation (NWSA), CBS Corporation (CBS) and Walt Disney (DIS) squabbled that Cablevision's new remote-storage DVR violated federal copyright

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Headquartered in New York, New York, Cephas Holdings Inc. engages in the development and marketing of mobile phone products in the United States. Their products include faceplates, phone accessories, short message service (SMS), and mobile data applications. The company also develops and markets filmed entertainment products related to mixed martial arts and combat sports.

In addition, Cephas develops iPhone applications including games, entertainment products, and information services. The company and their subsidiaries have a record of accomplishment of developing innovative digital products. They have worked with several leading technology enterprises. These include Palm, Motorola, Cingular (now AT&T), and Hewlett Packard. They have also developed products in association with Walt Disney and Visa.

In late March of this year, Cephas announced that they recently received acceptance into Apple Computer’s iPhone developer program. The Company is now able to sell applications subject to review and approval on the iTunes App Store directly to

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