MAIL MAN

[righty]

Jump in Retail Sales Pushes Stocks Higher
Fri, December 11, 2009 4:13:39 PMFrom: InvestorGuide Daily <[e-mail]>Add to Contacts


Daily Newsletter — 12/11/2009
Recommend this newsletter to friends!


Sponsored by: ACM

Market Analysis Earnings Upgrades/Downgrades



Featured Sponsor
Today's issue is sponsored by ACM:

Join the thousands of investors who have discovered the Forex Market!
ACM is a Swiss online Forex Trading Company offering spreads as low
as 0.5 pip, real-time one-click execution and full price transparency.

ACM is the most competitive online fx broker in the world offering
the lowest forex spreads on the market, commission-free, tax-free, guaranteed
fills, a free fluid real-time trading price feed, graphs, analysis and news.

Click Here to Start Trading Today!



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

InvestorGuide's New Broker Comparison Guide:


Thinking about investing and need some help getting started? Or perhaps you are looking for a new brokerage firm that's more suitable to your investment style? We hope this guide will help you compare online brokers and find the broker that's right for you.


Check out InvestorGuide.com's Broker Comparison Guide today!


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you want to know what was dominating the markets today, read on:

Stocks mostly rose on Friday as better-than-expected reports on retail sales and consumer sentiment lifted the session. All three major stock indices bumped up against multi-month highs during trading today. Big consumer stocks Coca-Cola (KO), McDonald's (MCD) and Walt Disney (DIS) were among the Dow's gainers. Some additional positive economic news capped off the trading week. The Commerce Department said retail sales rose 1.3 percent in November and reported that consumer confidence also increased. Investors took this news as a signal that spending might continue to rise and further assist the economic turnaround. Overseas markets gained. Chinese exports posted their smallest drop in exports in a year last month, just 1.2 percent. U.S. light crude oil for January delivery fell 67 cents to settle at $69.87 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The dollar gained versus the euro and yen, continuing its recent recovery. Treasury prices mostly fell following the encouraging economic data, pushing yields higher.

Word on the Street

The man that Wall Street's major players fear has spoken again. The Obama administration's pay czar, Ken Feinberg announced a new set of pay restrictions for top executives at six big firms, including Citi, AIG, Chrysler Financial and GMAC.

Signs of a strengthening global recovery emerged in the form of improving retail sales today. The holidays, bargains and pent-up demand helped pushed November sales incrementally higher. US retail sales rose an encouraging 1.3%, marking the third increase in the past four months.

BofA Is Back in CEO Talks with Kelly - Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (BK) chief executive Bob Kelly is talking to Bank of America Corp. (BAC) about replacing departing chief executive Ken Lewis.

Why bofa Wants bony's Kelly

Food maker Sara Lee (SLE) says consumer products giant Procter & Gamble (PG) is buying its air care business , Ambi Pur, for $470M. P&G expects the deal to boost consumer products sales in Europe and complement its Febreze line of deodorizers.

Sweeping bank reform bill clears House - The House has passed a sweeping overhaul of financial regulations that scales back state power over national banks and tightens rules for derivatives. It also imposes more oversight and stronger capital cushions for the largest banks and Wall Street firms.

The Treasury Department has received $936.1 million in the sale of warrants it had received from JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) as part of the support it provided the bank during last year's financial crisis. It sold more than 88.4 million warrants in an auction Thursday at a price of $10.75 each.

Consumers cheer up in early December - Consumer sentiment unexpectedly soared in December, as the job market showed signs of improvement and retailers offered steep discounts to pump up holiday sales.

The founder of hedge fund firm Westgate Capital pleaded guilty to defrauding investors of about $133 million. James Nicholson admitted that he lied to investors about individual stock trades, the returns on his investments and the amount he had under management.



Other Juicy Tidbits

How To Use Compensation To Manage Risk - It's a matter of putting the right controls on the incentive pay executives get.

Goldman's Bogus Bonus Ploy Outsmarts Feds

Investing in a complicated world - Pimco CEO Mohamed El-Erian talks about the post-Lehman, globalizing economy and how investors must adapt.

Are Americans Really Ready For a National Sales Tax?

Who Cares What The Dow Did Last Week? - Since no one really knows where the stock market is going week to week, here's a saner approach .

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Join the conversation about this article

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Featured Article from the InvestorGuide University
Mortgages
Learn how to find a mortgage. Learn how to choose between fixed-rate and variable rate mortgages. Understand what points are, and what term or duration is best for you. Learn about pre-qualification, credit history, down payments, refinancing, reverse mortgages, and related topics.

Read the Full Article | Browse the InvestorGuide University

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Our Sites
InvestorGuide
InvestorWords
BusinessDictionary


Market Overview
DJIA 10,471.50 +65.67
S&P 1,106.41 +4.06
NASDAQ 2,190.31 -0.55
10Yr 3.54% +0.058
More market statistics


Stock Research
Search for a Ticker
Most Viewed: GM, WMT, XOM,
NKE, GOOG

Stock Research Tool



On This Date
December 11, 1914: The New York Stock Exchange reopens after being closed for 4 months, due to World War I.




Special Offers
FX Solutions
Trade Forex with the most advanced charting and platform. Register now for a FREE $10K practice account!
Click Here to View This Offer . . .
OIC
Make the most of Volatility. Stream a free Webcast from The Options Industry Council.
Click Here to View This Offer . . .
ACM Forex
Trading Currencies Online Can Be Easy As 1,2,3. Try a Free Practice Account Today.
Click Here to View This Offer . . .
Investools
Learn to spot opportunities in any market with a Risk-Free* 30-day trial from Investools.
Click Here to View This Offer . . .






Place your ad here!





Notable Quotable
Speculation is only a word covering the making of money out of the manipulation of prices, instead of supplying goods and services. - Henry Ford




Previous Newsletters
Daily Market Commentary
Stock of the Day
Weekly Market Recap



Today's Reported Earnings
No major earnings reported.
View more earnings releases by date or by company here

Tomorrow's Expected Earnings
No major earnings expected tomorrow.


Top Analyst Upgrades
Company Analyst Rating
SJW Corp. Brean Murray Buy
Synaptics, Inc. Broadpoint.AmTech Buy
Energizer Holdings RBC Outperform
shares of Under Armour An analyst at Longbow Research has Neutral this morning
Micros Systems Wedbush Outperform
El Paso BMO Capital Outperform
to Superior Energy Services Capital One Southcoast Add
Edwards Lifesciences Citi Buy
Sonic Automotive UBS Buy
Nokia Societe Generale Hold
NCR J.P. Morgan Overweight
Clearwire Corp Soleil Securities Buy
BWAY Corporation Deutsche Bank Buy
Yahoo! Kaufman Bros. Buy
Top Analyst Downgrades
Company Analyst Rating
Eli Lilly Caris & Co. Average
Molecular Insight Jefferies & Co Hold
STERIS Corporation Stephens & Co Equalweight
Health Net Stifel Nicolaus Hold
Sanderson Farms Argus Hold
Ferrellgas Partners UBS Neutral
Burlington Northern Santa Fe Baird Neutral
Gildan Activewear TD Newcrest Hold
F5 Networks William Blair Market Perform
Companhia Energetica de Minas Gerais J.P. Morgan Neutral
Brown & Brown J.P. Morgan Underweight


We encourage you to forward this FREE newsletter to your friends!
Did someone forward this to you? Subscribe by clicking here or sending an email to [e-mail] !
If you have any comments/feedback about this newsletter, click here.



More links to important investing resources














To unsubscribe from InvestorGuide Daily or change your subscription preferences click here.
Or send a message to [e-mail]
To unsubscribe from all InvestorGuide and InvestorWords mailings, send a message to: [e-mail]
For the complete disclaimer please click here.
pmguid:u.f8li.1jcky