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Monthly Archives: January 2010

Signs Of The Apocalypse: Fed Should Raise Rates To 4%

Posted: January 7, 2010 at 1:40 pm

The Fed released the minutes from the latest FOMC meeting held on  December 15th and 16th showed that some tension had developed among the members including the participating presidents of the ...
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Schwab (SCHW) Drop Trading Fees

Posted: January 7, 2010 at 12:51 pm

By Paul Ausick of 24/7 Wall St. Charles Schwab Corporation (NASDAQ:SCHW) has announced that it will drop its online equity trade commissions for retail investors from $12.95/trade to $8.95/trade beginning ...
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Lampert’s Surprise For Sears Holders (SHLD)

Posted: January 7, 2010 at 10:44 am

Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD) has been a significant winner lately even though it has been a very poor retailer for most of its recent history.  But Eddie Lampert's surprises ...
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Lennar Saves Beazer, But Sets High Mark Tone (BZH, LEN, XHB, ITB, KBH)

Posted: January 7, 2010 at 9:52 am

Beazer Homes USA Inc. (NYSE: BZH) was weak earlier because of its proposed secondary offering that will add to dilution of shareholders.  This morning the company's secondary offering of 19,500,000 ...
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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (AET, AA, AIB, BBBY, BAC, BMRN, HUM, MSFT, MMM, VZ, WEN)

Posted: January 7, 2010 at 8:46 am

These are this Thursday's top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research calls early this morning: Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET) Cut to Sell at Collins Stewart. Alcoa, ...
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Today’s Best Market Rumors (1/7/2009) (AMR)(AOL)(GOOG)

Posted: January 7, 2010 at 8:44 am

Updated throughout the day. The New York Fed told AIG (NYSE:AIG) not to disclose swaps deals with companies including Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS). (Bloomberg) Ivanhoe Mines may be for sale (Reuters). AMR (NYSE:AMR) ...
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Jobless Claims Lack Catalyst for Friday’s Unemployment Data

Posted: January 7, 2010 at 8:38 am

The Labor Department posted the weekly jobless claims data this morning.  The figure came to a gain of 1,000 on an adjusted basis to 433,000.  Bloomberg had the consensus estimate ...
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Housing Supports, Jobless Benefits and Unemployment

Posted: January 7, 2010 at 8:04 am

By John Tamny of Forbest   While there are varying views as to what tomorrow's unemployment report will reveal, it's generally assumed that the number will be too high. But ...
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Hershey And Cadbury: Are Private Meetings Private?

Posted: January 7, 2010 at 6:25 am

By Douglas A, McIntyre One way to fight a hostile takeover is to find a "white knight". Cadbury (NYSE:CBY) is doing just that in clandestine meetings with Hershey (NYSE:HSY). The ...
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Costco (COST) Numbers A Sign Of Retail Recovery

Posted: January 7, 2010 at 6:19 am

CostCo's (NASDAQ:COST) December numbers look like a strong sign that retail sales are recovering, at least in the affluent end of the warehould sales business. CostCo reported net sales of $8.26 ...
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FDIC: Bank Fees Should Rise With Risks Banks Take

Posted: January 7, 2010 at 6:12 am

The FDIC wants to increase fees to banks where executives have their pay tied to decisions that may involve high risk of capital. According to The Wall Street Journal, The ...
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Vacancy Rates Rise To 8% As Homeowners Move To Leasing

Posted: January 7, 2010 at 6:00 am

It is a paradox and one that is bad for both the residential and housing real estate markets. Reis, an industry analyst group, says that the vacancy rate in the ...
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Album Sales Collapse As Digital Downloads Top 40% Of Market

Posted: January 7, 2010 at 5:46 am

Digital downloads accounted for 40% of all music sales in 2009, according to Nielsen SoundScan. But, that was not enough to stop an overall drop in sales which reached 13% ...
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The Fed Becomes Indecisive

Posted: January 7, 2010 at 5:12 am

The stock and bond markets would like to be able to easily predict what the Federal Reserve will do for several months after each Federal Open Market Committee Meeting. If ...
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Commercial Real Estate Begins To Mirror Residential Market

Posted: January 7, 2010 at 5:01 am

The residential real estate crisis is over. Home prices are stable. The number of people who are in the market for a home is up. Tax credits and home prices, ...
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