Penny Stock DD | Penny Stock Picks & Alerts

Link HTML:

Permalink:

If you like this then please subscribe to the RSS Feed.

By Elisabeth Behrmann

Global demand for rare earths will increase by an average of 9 percent a year to 2014, led by greater use of the materials in magnets and batteries, Lynas Corp. Ltd. said today.

Total demand for the group of elements, used in everything from industrial magnets, breaking systems of Toyota Motor Corp. Prius cars and flat screen TVs, is set to grow to 190,100 metric tons in 2014, from an expected 136,100 tons this year, Sydney- based rare earths developer Lynas said in a presentation.

China, producer of more than 90 percent of the world’s rare earths, reduced its second-half export quota for the minerals by 72 percent in July and is now further restricting exports, according to industry participants.

Gold’s in a Mini-Mania, Not a Bubble

October 25, 2010

Close Bookmark and Share This Page

Link HTML:

Permalink:

If you like this then please subscribe to the RSS Feed.

As gold prices soar, we’re starting to hear rumblings that it’s in a bubble.

That’s not surprising, given its performance. The yellow metal has catapulted from a rock-bottom low of around $250 an ounce back in 1999 to around $1,380 recently. That’s about a 10% annualized return, far better than US stocks yet considerably lagging the best-performing emerging markets.

And there’s much anecdotal evidence of growing enthusiasm. Media coverage is picking up. Central banks, which notoriously sold at the bottom, are buying again. Famed hedge fund managers George Soros, John Paulson, and Paul Tudor Jones have piled into gold exchange traded funds and mining stocks.

But when I look harder at past bubbles—like those in stocks and housing—I don’t think we’re in the full-fledged buying panic that usually marks the end game.

Big US Firms Lifted by Rising Overseas Demand

October 25, 2010

Close Bookmark and Share This Page

Link HTML:

Permalink:

If you like this then please subscribe to the RSS Feed.

By: Ed Crooks, Financial Times

The US economy may be faltering, but many big names in American manufacturing are going from strength to strength.

In the past week, a succession of industrial companies, including Boeing, Honeywell, Caterpillar and Eaton, reported good third-quarter results and gave upbeat views on their prospects.

Over the next two weeks, others, including Emerson Electric, 3M and Cummins are expected to show similar evidence of robust health.

Yet in recent weeks, concerns over the strength of the recovery have been gathering force. Official data showed US industrial production fell in September, for the first time in more than a year.

Top Three Solar Stocks for Earnings Season

October 25, 2010

Close Bookmark and Share This Page

Link HTML:

Permalink:

If you like this then please subscribe to the RSS Feed.

By Jake Lynch

BOSTON (TheStreet) — Solar stocks have heated up, driven by optimism about industry consolidation and an economic recovery. The Guggenheim Solar ETF(TAN _) has risen 5.9% in four weeks. The fund’s top holdings, First Solar(FSLR _), Trina Solar(TSL _), MEMC Electronic Materials(MEMC _), SolarWorld(SWV) and JA Solar(JASO _) have gained as much as 12%. Still, there are preferred plays.

The most appropriate way to invest in green energy is through exchange traded funds, such as the Guggenheim Solar ETF. Other notable options are PowerShares WilderHill Clean Energy Portfolio(PBW _) and the Van Eck Global Alternative Energy ETF(GEX _), which emphasizes large-cap stocks.

Heading into earnings season, the following three stocks receive the highest reviews from analysts. In the following pages, they are ordered by aggregate rating from great to best.

: Stock News, Stock Picks

PRECIOUS-Factors to watch on October 25

October 25, 2010

Close Bookmark and Share This Page

Link HTML:

Permalink:

If you like this then please subscribe to the RSS Feed.

 LONDON, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Gold rallied on Monday as the
dollar suffered another setback following weekend comments made
at the meeting of the Group of 20 finance ministers, and as
investors awaited a speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben
Bernanke. [ID:nSGE69O00Y]

 PRICES
  * Spot gold XAU= was bid at $1,346.50 at 0653 GMT from
$1,326.70 late in New York on Friday.

 * Silver XAG= was at $23.68 from $23.24.

Singapore’s SGX agrees $8.3 billion buy of Australia’s ASX

October 25, 2010

Close Bookmark and Share This Page

Link HTML:

Permalink:

If you like this then please subscribe to the RSS Feed.

By Michael Smith and Saeed Azhar

(Reuters) – Singapore Exchange (SGX) (SGXL.SI) has agreed a $8.3 billion takeover of Australia’s ASX Ltd (ASX.AX) to create Asia’s fourth-largest stock exchange, aiming to cut costs and fight growing competition.

However, the first major consolidation of Asia-Pacific exchanges faces regulatory hurdles, including getting Australia’s parliament to lift a 15 percent ownership cap on the ASX and approval from the country’s Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB).

“There’s quite a few regulatory hurdles for this, which is why the shares are trading below the notional value of the offer,” said Tom Elliott, a managing director at MM&E Capital.

Stocks set to open higher

October 25, 2010

Close Bookmark and Share This Page

Link HTML:

Permalink:

If you like this then please subscribe to the RSS Feed.

By CNNMoney.com staff

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — U.S. stocks were set rise at the open, as investors prepared themselves for a busy week of earnings reports and the midterm elections.

Dow Jones industrial average (INDU), S&P 500 (SPX) and Nasdaq (COMP) futures were all higher ahead of the opening bell. Futures measure current index values against perceived future performance.

Stocks ended mixed Friday, as investors balanced strong U.S. corporate earnings against currency tensions at the G-20 summit.

Economy: In its October industry survey, the National Association of Business Economists (NABE) said Monday that employment conditions improved in the third quarter to the highest level since the start of the 2008-2009 recession.

Wall Street focuses on the ‘three Es.’

October 25, 2010

Close Bookmark and Share This Page

Link HTML:

Permalink:

If you like this then please subscribe to the RSS Feed.

By Julianne Pepitone

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Investors are bracing for an onslaught of news this week: The earnings avalanche continues, midterm elections are approaching and economic data are due in a bunch of sectors.

Those “three Es” are a lot for investors to digest individually, and this week’s triple-whammy could bring volatility to a market that’s been behaving somewhat normally.

Stocks have been rising for several straight sessions, selling off for a day of bad news, then repeating the pattern. The increases are based on two big bets investors are making for the first week of November: that the Federal Reserve will launch a new round of asset purchases and that Republicans will win control of the House after midterm elections.

RadioShack profit, sales top estimates

October 25, 2010

Close Bookmark and Share This Page

Link HTML:

Permalink:

If you like this then please subscribe to the RSS Feed.

(Reuters) – RadioShack Corp (RSH.N) reported a higher-than-expected quarterly profit, helped by strength in its wireless business.

The retailer, which has been exploring strategic options that include a possible sale, has shifted its focus to selling wireless phones and calling plans to offset weak demand for TV converter boxes, videogame systems and batteries.

The Fort Worth, Texas-based chain’s third-quarter net income rose 23 percent to $46 million, or 37 cents a share, from $37.4 million, or 30 cents a share, a year earlier.

Analysts on average were expecting a profit of 35 cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

: Stock News, Stock Picks

Adobe aims to stay independent: report

October 25, 2010

Close Bookmark and Share This Page

Link HTML:

Permalink:

If you like this then please subscribe to the RSS Feed.

(Reuters) – Adobe Systems aims to grow independently, its chief executive told a German newspaper, following speculation the software maker could become a takeover target for Microsoft.

“Adobe’s growth prospects are so great that our focus is on seizing these opportunities as an independent company,” Adobe Chief Executive Shantanu Narayen was quoted as saying by daily Financial Times Deutschland on Monday.

View the full ADBE chart at Wikinvest

Adobe stock skyrocketed on October 7 after a New York Times report stirred speculation it might become an acquisition target for Microsoft. At Friday’s close, it was still almost 10 percent higher than before the New York Times report.

: Stock News, Stock Picks

World stocks up as G-20 vows to avoid currency war

October 25, 2010

Close Bookmark and Share This Page

Link HTML:

Permalink:

If you like this then please subscribe to the RSS Feed.

World stock markets rise, dollar slumps after G-20 finance meeting vows to avoid currency war

Carlo Piovano, AP Business Writer

LONDON (AP) — World stocks rose and the dollar slumped Monday after global finance chiefs vowed to avoid a currency war that could derail the global recovery. With no concrete guidelines to go by, however, investors are wary that this may only prove a temporary truce.

Finance ministers from the Group of 20 developed and emerging countries promised to avoid competitive devaluations — weakening a national currency to help exports and sustain economic recovery — but offered no binding targets for evening out trade imbalances.

Analysts said firmer guidelines may yet be delivered at next month’s meeting of world leaders in South Korea. For the time being, though, the promises were enough to help investors look past immediate threats of a currency war and focus on the main economic event on the horizon — the Federal Reserve’s expected expansion of the U.S. money supply, an attempt to boost growth that markets fear could also weaken the dollar.

Ford May Post Record Third-Quarter Profit on `Virtuous Circle’

October 25, 2010

Close Bookmark and Share This Page

Link HTML:

Permalink:

If you like this then please subscribe to the RSS Feed.

By Keith Naughton – Oct 24, 2010 11:01 PM CT

Ford Motor Co. may report the biggest third-quarter profit in its 107-year history tomorrow as Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally’s overhaul of the model lineup boosts the company’s share of the U.S. auto market.

Net income was $1.37 billion, based on the average projection of five analysts, up from $997 million and adjusted per-share earnings of 26 cents a year earlier. Estimates for adjusted quarterly profit have risen to 38 cents a share, the average of 12 analysts, from about 34 cents a month ago.

The second-largest U.S. automaker won 15.1 percent of U.S. light-vehicle sales in the quarter, versus 13 percent two years earlier, according to Autodata Corp. Buyers are paying more on average for Ford vehicles as the company introduces new models like the Fiesta subcompact and features such as voice-activated phone and stereo controls.