Nortel Patent Probe Picks Up | Thomas and Apple

Nortel Patent Probe Picks Up | Thomas and Apple

WASHINGTON—The Justice Department is intensifying an investigation into whether tech giants including Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Research in Motion Ltd. could use a recently acquired trove of patents to unfairly hobble competing smartphones using Google Inc.'s Android software, according to people familiar with the matter.

A consortium of six companies last month paid $4.5 billion to acquire a portfolio of 6,000 patents auctioned by the bankrupt Canadian telecom equipment maker Nortel Networks Corp., thwarting Google's interest. Read More

Nortel Patent Probe Picks Up | Thomas and Apple

Nortel Patent Probe Picks Up | Thomas and Apple

WASHINGTON—The Justice Department is intensifying an investigation into whether tech giants including Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Research in Motion Ltd. could use a recently acquired trove of patents to unfairly hobble competing smartphones using Google Inc.'s Android software, according to people familiar with the matter.

A consortium of six companies last month paid $4.5 billion to acquire a portfolio of 6,000 patents auctioned by the bankrupt Canadian telecom equipment maker Nortel Networks Corp., thwarting Google's interest. Read More

Stock Market Today: Today’s Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, Nasdaq, S&P 500 Index Trends; Current Stock Market Investing News Today

Stock Market Today: Today’s Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, Nasdaq, S&P 500 Index Trends; Current Stock Market Investing News Today

The inability for the U.S. government to compromise on an agreement relevant to the U.S. debt ceiling over the weekend spelled bad news for the opening session this week in the stock market. If no agreement is reached by the looming deadline, Americans would face weaker purchasing power and rising interest rates.

Stock futures indicated a drop in index trends prior to opening bell this morning and the additional breaking news of BlackBerry maker Research in Motion preparing to cut over 10 percent of its workforce applied additional negative pressure to the marketplace today. Prior to opening bell, stock futures were red across the tracking boards. The Dow Jones was off by more than .67 percent and the Nasdaq was lower by .56 percent. 

As the mid-day point in the trading session approached today, the major indices were still trending in the red. The Dow Jones was lower by .58 percent at 12,607.93. The Nasdaq was lower by .46 percent at 2,846 and the S&P 500 was lower by .53 percent at 1,338. Oil for September delivery is dropping and the dollar was losing strength to the euro and the Japanese yen. Gold futures were benefiting from the uncertainty playing out in the market today and futures pushed to an intraday high today. Shares of RIMM dropped after the announcement that the company would be laying off over a tenth of its workforce. Investor confidence drops as the trading week opens. Read More

Stock Market Today: Today’s Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, Nasdaq, S&P 500 Index Trends; Current Stock Market Investing News Today

Stock Market Today: Today’s Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, Nasdaq, S&P 500 Index Trends; Current Stock Market Investing News Today

The inability for the U.S. government to compromise on an agreement relevant to the U.S. debt ceiling over the weekend spelled bad news for the opening session this week in the stock market. If no agreement is reached by the looming deadline, Americans would face weaker purchasing power and rising interest rates.

Stock futures indicated a drop in index trends prior to opening bell this morning and the additional breaking news of BlackBerry maker Research in Motion preparing to cut over 10 percent of its workforce applied additional negative pressure to the marketplace today. Prior to opening bell, stock futures were red across the tracking boards. The Dow Jones was off by more than .67 percent and the Nasdaq was lower by .56 percent. 

As the mid-day point in the trading session approached today, the major indices were still trending in the red. The Dow Jones was lower by .58 percent at 12,607.93. The Nasdaq was lower by .46 percent at 2,846 and the S&P 500 was lower by .53 percent at 1,338. Oil for September delivery is dropping and the dollar was losing strength to the euro and the Japanese yen. Gold futures were benefiting from the uncertainty playing out in the market today and futures pushed to an intraday high today. Shares of RIMM dropped after the announcement that the company would be laying off over a tenth of its workforce. Investor confidence drops as the trading week opens. Read More

{Stock Market Today, Stock Market, Debt Ceiling, Cnn Money, Dow, Dow Jones}:"Historical Insights From The TARP Bailout Vote Failure And The Market Crash In 2008

{Stock Market Today, Stock Market, Debt Ceiling, Cnn Money, Dow, Dow Jones}:"Historical Insights From The TARP Bailout Vote Failure And The Market Crash In 2008"

Traders of today can learn lessons from historical events where Politics and the Stock Market collided – with negative results.

Current Congressional gridlock is threatening another potential market crash via two separate but related events:

The US Debt Ceiling Negotiations ahead of August 2nd and the “Big Three” Credit Agencies warning that the US may receive a downgrade as a result of failed negotiations or a too small solution.

A full discussion of the current political and economical climate is outside the realm of this post, but I thought it would be helpful to study the most recent situation where Congressional gridlock helped usher in a literal stock market crash:

The initial TARP (Bail-out) Vote Failure and the 30% Decline in US Stocks over the next two weeks:

The chart above shows the stock market peak (Dow Jones) in October 2007 and the slow but steady downturn that resulted ahead of the October 2008 collapse.

Though there were certainly many negative headlines circling about during September and October 2008, I wanted to focus on the two votes for the initial (first) Bail-out Package – called “TARP” – and the aftermath that is currently being cited as a warning for what could happen again should Congress fail to pass a Debt Ceiling increase bill that the President will sign.

After a round of negotiations from then Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and then President George W. Bush, the US House of Representatives voted on a controversial bail-out of financial institutions that was designed to stabilize the metastasizing financial crisis.

Notice that the stock market was in a relatively stable downtrend/decline until early October 2008.

After a contentious debate, the US House of Representatives – in what many thought was a must-pass ‘done deal,’ – rejected the initial TARP bail-out bill by a vote of 205 to 228.

Not only did this shock analysts and pundits, but it shocked the stock market as well, as it was assumed that this was a “must pass” bill that would be accepted. Read More

{Stock Market Today, Stock Market, Debt Ceiling, Cnn Money, Dow, Dow Jones}:"Historical Insights From The TARP Bailout Vote Failure And The Market Crash In 2008

{Stock Market Today, Stock Market, Debt Ceiling, Cnn Money, Dow, Dow Jones}:"Historical Insights From The TARP Bailout Vote Failure And The Market Crash In 2008"

Traders of today can learn lessons from historical events where Politics and the Stock Market collided – with negative results.

Current Congressional gridlock is threatening another potential market crash via two separate but related events:

The US Debt Ceiling Negotiations ahead of August 2nd and the “Big Three” Credit Agencies warning that the US may receive a downgrade as a result of failed negotiations or a too small solution.

A full discussion of the current political and economical climate is outside the realm of this post, but I thought it would be helpful to study the most recent situation where Congressional gridlock helped usher in a literal stock market crash:

The initial TARP (Bail-out) Vote Failure and the 30% Decline in US Stocks over the next two weeks:

The chart above shows the stock market peak (Dow Jones) in October 2007 and the slow but steady downturn that resulted ahead of the October 2008 collapse.

Though there were certainly many negative headlines circling about during September and October 2008, I wanted to focus on the two votes for the initial (first) Bail-out Package – called “TARP” – and the aftermath that is currently being cited as a warning for what could happen again should Congress fail to pass a Debt Ceiling increase bill that the President will sign.

After a round of negotiations from then Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and then President George W. Bush, the US House of Representatives voted on a controversial bail-out of financial institutions that was designed to stabilize the metastasizing financial crisis.

Notice that the stock market was in a relatively stable downtrend/decline until early October 2008.

After a contentious debate, the US House of Representatives – in what many thought was a must-pass ‘done deal,’ – rejected the initial TARP bail-out bill by a vote of 205 to 228.

Not only did this shock analysts and pundits, but it shocked the stock market as well, as it was assumed that this was a “must pass” bill that would be accepted. Read More

Dow Jones Stock Market Gold: Reviewing the Dow-to-Gold and Greek Stocks-to-Gold Ratios

Dow Jones Stock Market Gold: Reviewing the Dow-to-Gold and Greek Stocks-to-Gold Ratios

In this article we will discuss different ratios, including the important Dow Jones-to-Gold ratio and another special ratio as well.

Let’s start with the Dow Jones-to-Gold ratio.

When you see the following chart, you will probably be convinced that the Dow-to-Gold ratio has a long way to go before bottoming. Since 1900, the ratio has often fallen below 3. It even dropped as low as 1 in 1980:

However, when we look at the ratio since 1800 (yes, that is more than 200 years of data!), we see a completely different picture.

We can clearly see that the ratio is in an uptrend over the long term. This means that, over the long term, stocks have outperformed gold, big time. The ratio has now dropped below the green zone (just like it did three times in the mid-1800s), which looks like a long-term trend zone.

When we look at the medium term, we can see that a huge bubble in stocks was created in the late 1990s. However, that bubble burst in 2000-2001, and stocks have underperformed gold ever since. The blue line looks to provide support right now, although the bottom may fall out at anytime. Stock bulls may argue that the ratio now broke out above the red resistance line. Who is right?

Read More

Dow Jones Stock Market Gold: Reviewing the Dow-to-Gold and Greek Stocks-to-Gold Ratios

Dow Jones Stock Market Gold: Reviewing the Dow-to-Gold and Greek Stocks-to-Gold Ratios

In this article we will discuss different ratios, including the important Dow Jones-to-Gold ratio and another special ratio as well.

Let’s start with the Dow Jones-to-Gold ratio.

When you see the following chart, you will probably be convinced that the Dow-to-Gold ratio has a long way to go before bottoming. Since 1900, the ratio has often fallen below 3. It even dropped as low as 1 in 1980:

However, when we look at the ratio since 1800 (yes, that is more than 200 years of data!), we see a completely different picture.

We can clearly see that the ratio is in an uptrend over the long term. This means that, over the long term, stocks have outperformed gold, big time. The ratio has now dropped below the green zone (just like it did three times in the mid-1800s), which looks like a long-term trend zone.

When we look at the medium term, we can see that a huge bubble in stocks was created in the late 1990s. However, that bubble burst in 2000-2001, and stocks have underperformed gold ever since. The blue line looks to provide support right now, although the bottom may fall out at anytime. Stock bulls may argue that the ratio now broke out above the red resistance line. Who is right?

Read More

Stock Market: Wall Street Analysts Like Pandora, Investors Not So Sure

Stock Market: Wall Street Analysts Like Pandora, Investors Not So Sure

Pandora (NYSE: P) shares popped nearly four percent in pre-market trading Monday after several analysts issued bullish research reports on the internet radio company—then settled quickly as soon as the market opened. The stock’s whipsaw action reflects optimism about the booming online radio market, tempered with doubts about the company’s prospects in the face of competition from Apple (NSDQ: AAPL), Google (NSDQ: GOOG), Amazon (NSDQ: AMZN) and upstart Spotfiy.

Pandora went public at $16 per share last month, raising $235 million, but its stock fell sharply after Spotify’s long-awaited U.S. debut. Today’s bullish analysis from Morgan Stanley and others helped send the stock to $18.74 in early action, but investors remained unconvinced, sending the stock down 2.27 percent to $17.62 after the opening bell. Read More

Stock Market: Wall Street Analysts Like Pandora, Investors Not So Sure

Stock Market: Wall Street Analysts Like Pandora, Investors Not So Sure

Pandora (NYSE: P) shares popped nearly four percent in pre-market trading Monday after several analysts issued bullish research reports on the internet radio company—then settled quickly as soon as the market opened. The stock’s whipsaw action reflects optimism about the booming online radio market, tempered with doubts about the company’s prospects in the face of competition from Apple (NSDQ: AAPL), Google (NSDQ: GOOG), Amazon (NSDQ: AMZN) and upstart Spotfiy.

Pandora went public at $16 per share last month, raising $235 million, but its stock fell sharply after Spotify’s long-awaited U.S. debut. Today’s bullish analysis from Morgan Stanley and others helped send the stock to $18.74 in early action, but investors remained unconvinced, sending the stock down 2.27 percent to $17.62 after the opening bell. Read More

Stock Market News Briefs: Autodesk, Advanced Micro Devices, Chubb, General Electric Company, Goldman Sachs Group, Honeywell International, Jefferies Group, Microsoft, Schlumberger N.V., Verizon Communications | Dow Jones, Dow, Bloomberg Ht, III, Paragaranti

Stock Market News Briefs: Autodesk, Advanced Micro Devices, Chubb, General Electric Company, Goldman Sachs Group, Honeywell International, Jefferies Group, Microsoft, Schlumberger N.V., Verizon Communications | Dow Jones, Dow, Bloomberg Ht, III, Paragaranti

• Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NYSE:AMD) reported first quarter earnings per share of $0.09, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a penny
• Microsoft Corporation’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) fourth quarter 2011 earnings per share beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by $0.11, or 19.0%. GAAP EPS and pro forma EPS were same at $0.69 compared with $0.61 in the prior quarter and $0.51 in the year-ago quarter
• Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) reported second-quarter 2011 earnings of $0.87 per share (excluding special items), beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.85
• Verizon Communications Inc.’s (NYSE:VZ) second quarter adjusted earnings of $0.57 per share was ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate by $0.02 and above the year-ago earnings of $0.51. In another development, Verizon appointed Lowell McAdam as its new CEO who will replace current CEO Ivan Seidenberg effective August 1
• Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE:HON) reported second-quarter 2011 earnings per share from continuing operations of $1.02, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.98 and prior-year earnings of $0.73 cents
• General Electric Co. (NYSE:GE) second quarter 2011 earnings per share from continuing operations of $0.34 surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.32 and were up 17% year over year
• Jefferies Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) upgraded Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK) to “Buy” rating from a “Hold” rating
• The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) downgraded The Chubb Corporation (NYSE:CB) to a “Neutral” rating from a “Buy” rating

Read More

Stock Market News Briefs: Autodesk, Advanced Micro Devices, Chubb, General Electric Company, Goldman Sachs Group, Honeywell International, Jefferies Group, Microsoft, Schlumberger N.V., Verizon Communications | Dow Jones, Dow, Bloomberg Ht, III, Paragaranti

Stock Market News Briefs: Autodesk, Advanced Micro Devices, Chubb, General Electric Company, Goldman Sachs Group, Honeywell International, Jefferies Group, Microsoft, Schlumberger N.V., Verizon Communications | Dow Jones, Dow, Bloomberg Ht, III, Paragaranti

• Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NYSE:AMD) reported first quarter earnings per share of $0.09, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a penny
• Microsoft Corporation’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) fourth quarter 2011 earnings per share beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by $0.11, or 19.0%. GAAP EPS and pro forma EPS were same at $0.69 compared with $0.61 in the prior quarter and $0.51 in the year-ago quarter
• Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) reported second-quarter 2011 earnings of $0.87 per share (excluding special items), beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.85
• Verizon Communications Inc.’s (NYSE:VZ) second quarter adjusted earnings of $0.57 per share was ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate by $0.02 and above the year-ago earnings of $0.51. In another development, Verizon appointed Lowell McAdam as its new CEO who will replace current CEO Ivan Seidenberg effective August 1
• Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE:HON) reported second-quarter 2011 earnings per share from continuing operations of $1.02, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.98 and prior-year earnings of $0.73 cents
• General Electric Co. (NYSE:GE) second quarter 2011 earnings per share from continuing operations of $0.34 surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.32 and were up 17% year over year
• Jefferies Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) upgraded Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK) to “Buy” rating from a “Hold” rating
• The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) downgraded The Chubb Corporation (NYSE:CB) to a “Neutral” rating from a “Buy” rating

Read More

Stock Market News for July 25, 2011 | Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) | New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)

Stock Market News for July 25, 2011 | Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) | New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)

Stellar earnings results provided sufficient impetus to markets as they edged modestly higher on Friday, amidst lingering concerns about debt-ceiling negotiations. The week also closed with gains as earnings provided enough cushion for the benchmarks to settle in the green.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) was the only benchmark to end in the red as it dropped 0.3% to finish the day at 12,681.16. The Standard & Poor 500 (S&P 500) gained 1.2% to end the day at 1,345.02. The tech-laden Nasdaq Composite Index closed at 2,858.83, after gaining 0.9%. On the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), consolidated volumes remained low at 3.3 billion shares. The markets’ breadth or the advance decline ratio was roughly even.

With the likes of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Analyst Report), International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM - Analyst Report) and The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO - Analyst Report) posting strong earnings results throughout the week, the markets happily settled in positive territory. Despite the fall in the Dow on the closing day of the week, the blue-chip index was up 1.6% for the week. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq gained 2.2% and 2.5% respectively for the week.

On Friday, no significant economic reports were scheduled which could provide the market with direction, and it was left to corporate results to guide the benchmarks. However, the blue-chip index finished lower amidst encouraging results after a significant component, namely Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Analyst Report) plunged 5.8% after its results fell shy of estimates. Caterpillar’s results are of special significance as its business of selling construction and mining machinery spans the entire globe.

Corporate results did much to lift investor sentiment on Friday. Boosted by robust results from tech-heavyweights Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NYSE:AMD - Analyst Report) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Analyst Report) the broader markets enjoyed a rally negating disappointing results from Caterpillar. The two tech stocks were up 19.2% and 1.6%, respectively. Read More

Stock Market News for July 25, 2011 | Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) | New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)

Stock Market News for July 25, 2011 | Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) | New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)

Stellar earnings results provided sufficient impetus to markets as they edged modestly higher on Friday, amidst lingering concerns about debt-ceiling negotiations. The week also closed with gains as earnings provided enough cushion for the benchmarks to settle in the green.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) was the only benchmark to end in the red as it dropped 0.3% to finish the day at 12,681.16. The Standard & Poor 500 (S&P 500) gained 1.2% to end the day at 1,345.02. The tech-laden Nasdaq Composite Index closed at 2,858.83, after gaining 0.9%. On the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), consolidated volumes remained low at 3.3 billion shares. The markets’ breadth or the advance decline ratio was roughly even.

With the likes of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Analyst Report), International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM - Analyst Report) and The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO - Analyst Report) posting strong earnings results throughout the week, the markets happily settled in positive territory. Despite the fall in the Dow on the closing day of the week, the blue-chip index was up 1.6% for the week. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq gained 2.2% and 2.5% respectively for the week.

On Friday, no significant economic reports were scheduled which could provide the market with direction, and it was left to corporate results to guide the benchmarks. However, the blue-chip index finished lower amidst encouraging results after a significant component, namely Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Analyst Report) plunged 5.8% after its results fell shy of estimates. Caterpillar’s results are of special significance as its business of selling construction and mining machinery spans the entire globe.

Corporate results did much to lift investor sentiment on Friday. Boosted by robust results from tech-heavyweights Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NYSE:AMD - Analyst Report) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Analyst Report) the broader markets enjoyed a rally negating disappointing results from Caterpillar. The two tech stocks were up 19.2% and 1.6%, respectively. Read More

What US Debt Default Talk Means for the Stock Market - Mike Swanson (07/25/11) | Stock Market, Dow Jones, Dow, Bloomberg HT, III, Paragaranti

What US Debt Default Talk Means for the Stock Market - Mike Swanson (07/25/11) | Stock Market, Dow Jones, Dow, Bloomberg HT, III, Paragaranti

All the talk this weekend is about deft default. The US Treasury is going to run out of money come August unless Congress agrees to allow it to raise its debt limit. So far President Obama and the Congress have not been able to come to an agreement on raising it. Obama wants to raise taxes on "the rich" while Republicans don't want to do this and want some deeper spending cuts. I've gotten emails from people asking what will happen if they can't come to an agreement.

Well I'm not too worried about that. There probably will not be some complete agreement that solves this situation forever, but I fully expect some sort of temporary agreement to be announced before the end of next weekend that passes the buck down the road. To me this looks like a lot of political posturing and theater.

This is something that has been all in the news and the political talk shows this past week and so has grabbed the attention of the masses, but one thing is for sure - the financial markets don't care about it. If they did then the stock market would be collapsing and the interest on US treasury bonds would be rising to the moon already, but neither one of these things are happening. Instead the stock market has bounced over the past month and held on to most of its gains. We may see some nervous nellies do some selling about the debt over the next few days, but I expect the issue to be resolved soon.

If you are a political junkie this may be an issue that has captured your imagination, but it is a story that should not be factoring into your decision making as an investor.

All that matters there is the trend.

And right now we are in a cyclical bull market that started in March of 2009 and is now three years old. That means that it is in the latter stages. There may be about another 15% upside to the broad market averages over the next year, but right now the broad market averages are going through a sideways phase and we are in the third week of earnings seasons.

So far most of the big name stocks that have had earnings releases, such as GOOG and IBM, and are beating estimates are seeing there stocks gap up and are holding their gains. That is a good sign for the market. Read More

What US Debt Default Talk Means for the Stock Market - Mike Swanson (07/25/11) | Stock Market, Dow Jones, Dow, Bloomberg HT, III, Paragaranti

What US Debt Default Talk Means for the Stock Market - Mike Swanson (07/25/11) | Stock Market, Dow Jones, Dow, Bloomberg HT, III, Paragaranti

All the talk this weekend is about deft default. The US Treasury is going to run out of money come August unless Congress agrees to allow it to raise its debt limit. So far President Obama and the Congress have not been able to come to an agreement on raising it. Obama wants to raise taxes on "the rich" while Republicans don't want to do this and want some deeper spending cuts. I've gotten emails from people asking what will happen if they can't come to an agreement.

Well I'm not too worried about that. There probably will not be some complete agreement that solves this situation forever, but I fully expect some sort of temporary agreement to be announced before the end of next weekend that passes the buck down the road. To me this looks like a lot of political posturing and theater.

This is something that has been all in the news and the political talk shows this past week and so has grabbed the attention of the masses, but one thing is for sure - the financial markets don't care about it. If they did then the stock market would be collapsing and the interest on US treasury bonds would be rising to the moon already, but neither one of these things are happening. Instead the stock market has bounced over the past month and held on to most of its gains. We may see some nervous nellies do some selling about the debt over the next few days, but I expect the issue to be resolved soon.

If you are a political junkie this may be an issue that has captured your imagination, but it is a story that should not be factoring into your decision making as an investor.

All that matters there is the trend.

And right now we are in a cyclical bull market that started in March of 2009 and is now three years old. That means that it is in the latter stages. There may be about another 15% upside to the broad market averages over the next year, but right now the broad market averages are going through a sideways phase and we are in the third week of earnings seasons.

So far most of the big name stocks that have had earnings releases, such as GOOG and IBM, and are beating estimates are seeing there stocks gap up and are holding their gains. That is a good sign for the market. Read More

(Stock Market, Dow Jones, Dow, Bloomberg HT, III, Paragaranti):"Stock Market: Gold, Swiss Franc Rise on Debt Deal Uncertainty"

(Stock Market, Dow Jones, Dow, Bloomberg HT, III, Paragaranti):"Stock Market: Gold, Swiss Franc Rise on Debt Deal Uncertainty"

Gold and the Swiss franc appeared the only winners Monday, as Washington's ongoing impasse over the U.S. debt ceiling continued to depress markets.

At midday, stock markets in the U.S., Asia and Europe were all down -- the S&P 500 by 0.47 percent, the Nikkei by 0.81 percent. Gold, however, rose 0.81 percent, and futures for the precious metal hit a new record of $1,624.30 an ounce. And the Swiss franc gained 2.1 percent against the dollar.

U.S. Treasuries showed surprising resiliency, with the yield on 10-year Treasuries rising to 2.98 percent. Some observers took that as a sign that fears of financial catastrophe had been exaggerated. Guy Lebas, a fixed income strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott in Philadelphia, told Bloomberg he'd expect to see a bigger move if something "truly catastrophic" was on the horizon.

Meantime, a gridlocked U.S. capitol entered its last full week of negotiations before the Aug. 2 deadline for raising the nation's debt ceiling. Earlier in the day, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in Hong Kong, sought to reassure Asian nations of the U.S. economy's health, reminding them that the country has recovered from such instability in the past. Clinton predicted that a debt ceiling deal would be reached before the Aug. 2 deadline to avoid an unprecedented default. Read More

(Stock Market, Dow Jones, Dow, Bloomberg HT, III, Paragaranti):"Stock Market: Gold, Swiss Franc Rise on Debt Deal Uncertainty"

(Stock Market, Dow Jones, Dow, Bloomberg HT, III, Paragaranti):"Stock Market: Gold, Swiss Franc Rise on Debt Deal Uncertainty"

Gold and the Swiss franc appeared the only winners Monday, as Washington's ongoing impasse over the U.S. debt ceiling continued to depress markets.

At midday, stock markets in the U.S., Asia and Europe were all down -- the S&P 500 by 0.47 percent, the Nikkei by 0.81 percent. Gold, however, rose 0.81 percent, and futures for the precious metal hit a new record of $1,624.30 an ounce. And the Swiss franc gained 2.1 percent against the dollar.

U.S. Treasuries showed surprising resiliency, with the yield on 10-year Treasuries rising to 2.98 percent. Some observers took that as a sign that fears of financial catastrophe had been exaggerated. Guy Lebas, a fixed income strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott in Philadelphia, told Bloomberg he'd expect to see a bigger move if something "truly catastrophic" was on the horizon.

Meantime, a gridlocked U.S. capitol entered its last full week of negotiations before the Aug. 2 deadline for raising the nation's debt ceiling. Earlier in the day, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in Hong Kong, sought to reassure Asian nations of the U.S. economy's health, reminding them that the country has recovered from such instability in the past. Clinton predicted that a debt ceiling deal would be reached before the Aug. 2 deadline to avoid an unprecedented default. Read More

UOB gold price, gold chart, goldtrader, kitco gold chart:"Zijin (HKG:2899), Zhaojin (HKG:1818) Up; More Upside For Gold Price-UOB"

UOB gold price, gold chart, goldtrader, kitco gold chart:"Zijin (HKG:2899), Zhaojin (HKG:1818) Up; More Upside For Gold Price-UOB"

HK gold miners outperform (HSI down 1.9%), with spot gold solidly above $950/oz. Choy Peng Foo at UOB Kay Hian tips gold price to average $1,000/oz for FY09; says weakening USD and inflation chance (amid hoped-for global economic recovery) likely to provide more support for gold ahead. Rates Zijin (SSE:601899, HKG:2899) at Buy with HK$7.15 target, as company has biggest output in China; while house doesn't officially cover Zhaojin (HKG:1818), she suggests investors buy this stock, as it's more leveraged to gold price, with over 80% of sales coming from gold operations. Zijin (HKG:2899) +0.2% at HK$6.65, Zhaojin (HKG:1818) +0.7% at HK$11.64; duo up 5.6%-8.2% yesterday. Read More

UOB gold price, gold chart, goldtrader, kitco gold chart:"Zijin (HKG:2899), Zhaojin (HKG:1818) Up; More Upside For Gold Price-UOB"

UOB gold price, gold chart, goldtrader, kitco gold chart:"Zijin (HKG:2899), Zhaojin (HKG:1818) Up; More Upside For Gold Price-UOB"

HK gold miners outperform (HSI down 1.9%), with spot gold solidly above $950/oz. Choy Peng Foo at UOB Kay Hian tips gold price to average $1,000/oz for FY09; says weakening USD and inflation chance (amid hoped-for global economic recovery) likely to provide more support for gold ahead. Rates Zijin (SSE:601899, HKG:2899) at Buy with HK$7.15 target, as company has biggest output in China; while house doesn't officially cover Zhaojin (HKG:1818), she suggests investors buy this stock, as it's more leveraged to gold price, with over 80% of sales coming from gold operations. Zijin (HKG:2899) +0.2% at HK$6.65, Zhaojin (HKG:1818) +0.7% at HK$11.64; duo up 5.6%-8.2% yesterday. Read More