Traders and investors have generally tended to flock to the SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE: GLD) for the gold trade when it comes to an exchange-traded product backed by real gold. That has not kept…
Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ: VECO) and Aixtron AG (NASDAQ: AIXG) are feeling some pain from research downgrades this morning, with Veeco feeling the brunt of it. We are also seeing a large reaction in…
The nation’s small and independent businesses are reporting gains in the economic environment, but the gains are barely discernible. The National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) reported that its confidence index rose to 93.2,…
Tracking European banks, particularly those in the lands of the PIIGS, often requires looking at individual national sovereign debt issues on top of banking-related news. That is the case in Spain today and the…
These are some of this Tuesday’s key analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen in Wall Street research calls. Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) Raised to Overweight at Piper Jaffray. AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) Started as…
American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG) keeps seeing Fairholme Capital Management, L.L.C. and Bruce Berkowitz take a larger stake in the company. AIG shares hit a new 52-week high just last week after the…
As the economic outlook continues to improve, lower Treasury bond prices and higher yields seem to be putting pressure on several of the key high-yield bond funds on the market seen in closed-end funds…
Swift Transportation Co. (NASDAQ: SWFT) is set come public this week, and that should read “come public again.” The trucking giant is coming back as a public company on Wednesday after shares price on…
It appears that the S&P 500 Index is set to finish 2010 at about 1,250, 12% above its reading of 1,115 on December 31, 2009. A survey of 11 strategists for big banks forecasts an…
Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE: S) may be a down and out carrier in the wireless wars against Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) and AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T). What is interesting is that a culmination…
After a couple of failed offers, General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) has finally reached an agreement to acquire Britain’s Wellstream Holdings plc (OTC: WSHOY) for $1.3 billion. The deal is expected to close in…
There have been two standout research calls this morning in two of the darlings of tech and internet investors. Goldman Sachs, in a broader technology group call, put a Conviction Buy List rating on…
Over the weekend the Chinese government revealed that the country’s inflation rate had hit 5.1%, considerably higher than expectations of around 4.7%. An interest rate hike was expected to follow, but it did not.…
Compellent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: CML) may look and feel like the worst tech M&A announcement of the year. Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) and the company have agreed to a Dell buyout of the enterprise-class…
Treasuries are seeing a continued slide as the impact of QE2 and raised economic projections along with higher inflation in China. The 10-Year Treasury hit a yield above 3.39% and that marks the highest…
These are some of this Monday’s key analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen in Wall Street research calls. Apollo Group Inc. (NASDAQ: APOL) Raised to Market Perform at FBR. Exelon Corp. (NYSE: EXC) Raised…
We have a different cast of characters in this weekend’s UNUSUAL SUSPECTS for the week ahead. Many bits of news and rumors are carrying over from last week into the coming week and we…
SIRIUS XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) was already in the news all week after Howard Stern announced that he will be staying on the air in a new five-year pact with the satellite radio…
We are now about as far away from ‘earnings season’ as one can get but that does not mean there are not some market-moving and sector-moving stocks due with earnings. Most earnings will be…
There had been a rumor that General Electric Company (NYSE: GE) was going to hike its dividend again, and that rumor turned out to be true. GE just announced that it has raised its…