Time to Invest in Platinum ETFs? - Zacks.com

Time to Invest in Platinum ETFs? - Zacks.com

Nasdaq 100 rebalancing

Apple is down 1% before market open 4/5/2011 (Tues.), after Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. (NDAQ), the Nasdaq exchange operator, said Tuesday it would rebalance the Nasdaq 100 effective May 2.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the rebalancing was driven partly by the
rise in Apple shares, which have more than quadrupled in two years. The rebalancing will reduce the tech giant's weighting in the index, which is currently more than 20% to 12%.
Other adjustments:
Oracle +3.4
Microsoft +5
Intel +2.4
Google +1.6

Motely fool Travel Zoo comments

Motley Fool, 12 Mar 2011: "Travelzoo: Better than Priceline."

Motley Fool, 18 Mar 2011: "Travelzoo: The Most Perfect Stock."

Motley Fool, 01 Apr 2011: "Travelzoo is a Priceline Wannabee that ain't no Priceline. Sell [TZOO] Stock..."

Travel zoo

Travelzoo sure has come a long, long way; when the company started operations in the bubble years it literally gave away 700,000 shares for nothing as a promotional stunt. Now the stock trades for a lofty 50x Bagga’s new EPS target for 2011.

Agricultural crops report 2011

The USDA released its planting intentions report this morning, which shows corn acres planted for the 2011/12 crop season expected to be up 4.5% YoY at 92.178 mln acres, slightly above the initial USDA projection of 92 mln. Soybean plantings are expected to be 76.609 mln, down 1 YoY%, vs. 78 consensus. Wheat plantings are expected to be up 8.2% at 58.021 mln acres vs. 55.5 mln consensus.

Applie is up how much versus the S & P as of 3/2/11? See the %

Apple’s up 8.2%, year-to-date, versus 3.2% for the S&P 500.

Apple price projections by the analysis

The following is a list of Analyst Targets for AAPL reported in 2011. The average is $442 ($451 for those released on 1/19 or after). There are many analysts who have not updated since earnings...many more upgrades to come.
Zacks 2/9/2011 $422
Canaccord Genuity 2/8/2011 $460
Susquehanna 2/7/2011 $465
Needham 2/7/2011 $450
Piper Jaffray 1/22/2011 $483
UBS 1/20/2011 $465
Barclays Capital 1/19/2011 $450
Deutsche Bank 1/19/2011 $440
Goldman Sachs 1/19/2011 $450
JP Morgan 1/19/2011 $450
Kaufman Bros 1/19/2011 $438
Oppenheimer 1/19/2011 $425
RBC Capital Mkts 1/19/2011 $425
Stifel Nicolaus 1/19/2011 $420
Ticonderoga 1/19/2011 $550
Wedbush 1/19/2011 $430
JMP Securities 1/10/2011 $400
Brigantine 1/4/2011 $400
Bank of America 1/2/2011 $420
ISI Group 1/2/2011 $400

Macau's updates

Following is a summary of Macau’s December hotel occupancy rates released by the Macau Statistics and Census Service.

================================================================================
                     Dec.     Nov.     Oct.    Sept.     Aug.     July   Year-to
                     2010     2010     2010     2010     2010     2010      Date
================================================================================
Occupancy Rate      87.7%    82.8%    78.4%    74.1%    82.4%    79.9%     79.8%
 Hotel              88.5%    83.5%    79.0%    74.7%    83.0%    80.6%     80.5%
  5-star hotels     86.6%    80.6%    78.7%    75.3%    82.3%    79.8%     79.2%
  4-star hotels     94.4%    91.0%    80.5%    73.2%    85.0%    82.2%     83.8%
  3-star hotels     88.9%    84.1%    80.1%    78.1%    84.5%    81.8%     82.5%
  2-star hotels     83.4%    83.4%    72.2%    63.9%    79.0%    78.5%     76.7%
 Guest Houses       60.2%    58.6%    58.9%    55.0%    59.9%    57.1%     56.6%
                   --------- Percentage Point Change from Year Earlier ---------
Occupancy Rate        5.5      4.5      4.6      2.0      2.2     12.2       n/a
 Hotel                5.4      4.4      4.5      1.7      1.9     12.2       n/a
  5-star hotels       5.4      6.0      4.4      1.6      1.8     10.8       n/a
  4-star hotels       6.1      2.8      4.7     -1.8     -2.0     11.5       n/a
================================================================================
                     Dec.     Nov.     Oct.    Sept.     Aug.     July   Year-to
                     2010     2010     2010     2010     2010     2010      Date
================================================================================
                   --------- Percentage Point Change from Year Earlier ---------
  3-star hotels       2.3     -2.2      1.4      3.0      3.1     10.1       n/a
  2-star hotels      11.7     14.0     13.8     15.6     20.2     38.6       n/a
 Guest Houses         5.9      5.7      6.0      9.0      9.3     11.4       n/a
================================================================================
Note: Prior months’ figures are taken from previous releases and
may be revised. 

Oil plays in the US

The Bakken shale region of North Dakota and Montana, recent estimates of this region has reserves of 24 billion barrels of oil. Bakken is with Hess (HES) which owns some 900,000 acres in the Bakken region and is investing $1.8B in 2011 alone to develop them. Other Bakken plays: EOG Resources (EOG), Whiting Petroleum (WLL), Brigham Exploration (BEXP), Oasis Petroleum (OAS) and Northern Oil and Gas (NOG). But Halliburton (HAL) is having more demand for its services than ever before

Apples falling

The apple doesn't grow on the tree forever

Apples drop when they are ripe
The time is now
Apple puts
What do you think?

Where is the market headed? Where is your ego?

Financials up ......
Financials down........
The market seems to be moving all over the place.

Pick an equity, pick a direction and be convicted of your choice. However don't let your ego get in the way of your trade.The way to combat that is to have a stop loss in mind.
Your not wrong you just have to know the direction of your pick.

Step in and step out but have firm footing and don't let your emotions take hold of you. The market is a mind psych so stay grounded and you will land working your way to accumulating your profits.

Lucky penny toss

Copper is used in the following:
Coinage
Building and construction
Heating and cooling systems
Telecommuncations links
Component in motors, wiring, radiators, connectors, brakes and bearings used in cars and trucks.
An average car uses 0.9 miles of copper wire, and 44 lbs in small cars.
Even some coinage................

Thinking of the future won't copper still be needed?
Your penny is being tossed where? Invest wisely

You can't control the news or life but you can make a good choice ....what to do with Apple

Will the stock investor react badly when there main man Steve Jobs has stepped away from his baby time frame unknown. Hey but what about all the other employees involved in Apple's creative process is it still really all Steve?
I have a brother named Steve so anyone with that name is typically a great guy.
But do all good things come to an end?
Processing all of this means we have to bite into the Apple  swallow and digest the outcome with this.
It also feels funny that the day before earnings are announced Steve would step aside. 
My Rich Uncle says's let's go dunk for apples but which one will you bite into a put or a call?

AIG condition of warrant sales

http://ir.aigcorporate.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=76115&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1515674&highlight=

LVS Las Vegas Sands

12/15/2010

Macau Government says no more direct land grants to casinos

 There will be no more land plots granted for casino projects without a 
public
 tender once the new Land Law comes into effect, the Land,

Panasonic new electronic lenses

PixelOptics announced that Panasonic Healthcare Co., Ltd. of Ehime, Japan, will manufacture electronic lenses for PixelOptics' electronic eyeglasses. The emPower! eyeglasses focus faster than the blink of an eye, have no moving parts. 

LuLu soars

Dec 9

Lululemon Athletica Inc <LLL.TO> <LULU.O>, a Canadian yoga-wear retailer that has caught the eye of U.S. television host Oprah Winfrey, nearly doubled in the third quarter.

The company said it sees more growth ahead.

Lululemon's shares soared as much as 20 percent after the release of the results Thursday afternoon. On Nasdaq, the stock was up 17.50 percent, or $9.75, at C$65.45. It was a top net gainer on both markets.

The company, whose $98 relaxed-fit pants were featured on Winfrey's annual "Favorite Things" program last month, has seen its shares rocket nearly 110 percent this year.

Takeover chatter Dec. 7,2010

Market speculation today includes takeover possibilities for each of  the following companies: MEMC Electronic Materials (WFR),  Titanium Metals (TIE),  Mosaic (MOS),  SLM Corp. (SLM),  and Compellent Technologies (CML)

BYDDY stock split

BYDDY - BYD Company Ltd Unsponsored ADR representing H Shares (China)
Declaration Date:--	Ex Date:12/2/2010	Record Date:11/30/2010	Payment Date:12/1/2010
Dividend Type:Stock Dividend or Split		Dividend Amount:400% stk
Notes:stk dividend concurrent with a ratio change from 1:10 to 1:2; Due Bill Redeemable Date: 12/06/2010

ELECTRIC CARS IN CHINA A GO !!!!!

the end of 2012. The city will also build 100 recharging stations.

 pilot plan by the city of Beijing to provide subsidies of up to $9,000 to buyers of electric vehicles and up to $7500 to each buyer of hybrid cars was approved by an "experts' panel" , according to China Daily, which cited a report by People's Daily. The city hopes that 23,000 of its residents will drive electric cars by the end of 2012. The city will also build 100 recharging stations.