Bill Bonner, editor of The Daily Reckoning

Former TFN publisher J. Christoph Amberger is reaping rave reviews for his conspiracy thriller, The Lazarus Smile!

By TFN staff

Baltimore, MD: Praise from high places. Agora Inc.’s president and editor of The Daily Reckoning has reviewed J. Christoph Amberger’s The Lazarus Smile. Here’s what he had to say:

“The Lazarus Smile is engaging, fast-paced and intriguing. It cut into my sleeping time as I tried to figure out how Epaphroditus — Nero’s right hand man and executioner — figured into the storyline. Bravo! I don’t read fiction, but I enjoyed reading Christoph Amberger’s thriller.” — William Bonner, author of Financial Reckoning Day: Surviving the Soft Depression of the 21st Century, editor of The Daily Reckoning

By now, you know where to get it!Similar Posts:

• Financial Publisher turns Thriller Author – December 30, 2009
• TFN eNews 01/04/2010: A cyclical anomaly – January 5, 2010
• Best Books to Fight H1N1: 5 Great Reads to Beat the Swine Flu – November 4, 2009
• Where is the End for Gold? – November 17, 2009
• Major breakthrough in the Commodity Carry Trade – September 21, 2009

Article first published on Today's Financial News

“Engaging, fast-paced and intriguing. Bravo!”: Bill Bonner on The Lazarus Smile

Cyberlux Corporation (OTC:CYBL) soars on Winning Evaluation from Sandia National Laboratories

by J. Christoph Amberger

Baltimore, MD TFN: “We can’t recommend stocks like this to a larger — or sane! — readership!!”

This is what every editor of a financial newsletter should be saying when looking at a company like Cyberlux Corporation (OTC:CYBL). Two day ago, the company was trading for $0.0003 right now. Their CEO made headlines for bouncing company checks. Repeatedly. A worthless piece of junk, in other words.

But at this price, penny stocks like this have substantial speculative upside:

In CYBL’s case, that upside consists mainly of its order backlog is over $200k. And the hope to be bought out.

It could double, or even triple. But the potential downside is 100%.

Today, the company’s PR department helped the share price by releasing a news statement that CYBL and Sacred Power received “Winning Evaluation from Sandia National Laboratories for Innovative, Proprietary Solar-Powered Lighting System”. It’s not the Country Music Awards… but let’s be honest: What is?

The share price soared 66% to $0.0005.

We recommend traders who bought when we initiated coverage in our high-risk VIP service Penny Stock Confidential take gains at $0.0006… and don’t add to their holdings.

Few traders know how to deal with risk like this. We’ve created Penny Stock Confidential just for them: http://www.todaysfinancialnews.com/PSC/LAUNCH/WPSCKB11.html

Article first published on Today's Financial News

Penny Stock Magic: Cyberlux Corporation (CYBL) illuminates the power of PR

The Obama Administration canceled the Eastern European missile defense system on a peculiar anniversary. A portent of other betrayals yet to come?

by J. Christoph Amberger

Baltimore, MD — TFN: When Hillary Clinton handed her Russian colleagues a “reset” button earlier this year, the thought popping into my mind was just how far the Obama Administration wanted to reset Russian-American relationships.

Because in my memory, those hadn’t been all that great over the past half-century.

Today we got the answer. Apparently, the target time is either 1939… or 1944.

On the 70th anniversary of the 1939 Soviet invasion of Poland — which occurred sixteen days after the beginning of Hitler’s attack on Poland — the Obama Administration announced it planned to scrap the missile defense system that was to be set up in the Czech Republic and in Poland.

Ostensibly, this shield was aimed at screening Europe against long-range missiles from rogue states like Iran. In reality, they were a symbolic commitment of the United States to the independence and sovereignty of Poland and other eastern European states — who are distrustful against the increasingly aggressive posturing of neighboring Russia.

Eastern Europeans have been sold out to the Russians by U.S. Democrats before — when FDR deemed it advantageous to cede them to the tender mercies of his ally Josef Stalin, costing millions of lives over the subsequent half-century.

Of course, you will argue that modern Russia isn’t the Soviet Union and Putin isn’t Stalin.

But I find the timing of the release too symbolic to be purely coincidental.

What’s next, I wonder: Maybe Obama will cut off Israel from U.S. military support… on the anniversary of Kristallnacht!

Similar Posts:

• TFN in the News – September 25, 2009
• TFN eNews 01/04/2010: A cyclical anomaly – January 5, 2010
• Will Q4 earnings boost Tianyin Pharmaceutical, Inc., (NYSE:TPI) – September 23, 2009
• TFN eNews 10/13/2009: This creates fantastic opportunities! – October 13, 2009
• TFN eNews 10/27/2009: Commodities shocker — 3 ways to gain as this energy resource collapses! – October 27, 2009

Article first published on Today's Financial News

Obama cancels missile shield: Curious timing?

ACLU, advocate for the rights of illiegal immigrants, defers taking a stand on Obamacare restrictions

by J. Christoph Amberger

Baltimore, MD — TFN: Much has been made of Rep. Joe Wilson’s spontaneous outburst of “You lie!” when President Obama stated he had never proposed providing coverage to the 7 to 10 million illegal immigrants.

(In his speech to Congress on Wednesday September 9, Obama assured Congress that proposed changes to health care “would not apply to those who are here illegally.”)

Indeed, according to AP’s Erica Werner, the “House version of the health care bill explicitly prohibits spending any federal money to help illegal immigrants get healthcare coverage. Illegal immigrants could buy private health insurance, as many do now, and they could also buy into a new government-run insurance plan if Congress creates one. But unlike legal residents, they wouldn’t get federal subsidies to help them. The bill’s exact language: ‘Nothing in this subtitle shall allow federal payments for affordability credits on behalf of individuals who are not lawfully in the United States.’ Healthcare legislation in the Senate is also being crafted to exclude illegal immigrants from coverage.”

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said on Friday, September 11: “Illegal immigrants would not be allowed to access the [health insurance puchasing] exchange that is set up.” Verification requirements are “something we’d work out with Congress,” he said.

Of course, Obama himself, despite repeatedly “making himself absolutely clear” has muddied the waters by stating unequivocally that a “basic standard of decency” would allow illegal immigrants to receive emergency care. This, of course, is already the case and would not constitute change, let alone reform in the health care for illegal immigrants. (Obama avoided mentioning who would be paying for this kind of emergency care provided.)

The other indication that illegal immigrants would have to be included in any government-sponsored scheme is the fact that Congressional Democrats and White House insist on pegging the number of the uninsured at 43 to 46 million. This, depending on what numbers you believe, includes 7 to 10 million illegal immigrants.

Since the objective of Obama-proposed health care reform is to reduce cost, especially the cost created by emergency-room visits, both arithmetic and implication would argue for coverage of illegals.

Despite Administration assurances, there are no provisions in place for how any prohibition would be enforced. Nor are there requirements to prove citizenship or legal residency status before obtaining health care benefits. An oversight?

Hardly! Just a day before the famous “You lie!” incident, Democrats on the Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means committees had made sure that such control functions would not be included: They had voted down Republican amendments requiring applicants to verify their legal status before getting care. According to Democrats, such requirements would be “unnecessarily burdensome for people legally entitled to coverage”.

Intentionally or unintentionally, the express elimination of verification processes creates a legal loophole for illegal aliens — and, contrary to Presidential assurance, constitute change in the health care system that would indeed “apply to those who are here illegally.”

Change also applies in an other aspect: For illegal immigrants (or undocumented aliens, as the politically correct euphemism goes), new government mandates would create a curious dilemma: They could be mandated to have health insurance under the proposed health care reform bill. (And get fined for not carrying any.) But they would be ineligible to receive subsidies to afford such coverage, according to the Congressional Research Service.

I was surprised that the one organization usually chiming in on behalf of illegal immigrants has so far been silent on the matter: The American Civil Libertties Union (ACLU).

On its web presence, the ACLU takes the position that “ALL people in this country — no matter what their status — have certain Constitutional and human rights. In fact, decisions spanning more than a century, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the Constitution’s guarantees apply to every person within U.S. borders, including ‘aliens whose presence in this country is unlawful’. It’s worth noting that the Bill of Rights NEVER uses the word citizen — it uses the word ‘person.’ This wasn’t an accident. (The word ‘citizen’ is used in other parts of the Constitution.).”

The ACLU states that “the federal government can find, arrest, and deport people who are here in violation of the federal immigration laws, provided they do so in a way that comports with the Constitution — for example the Fourth Amendment’s prohibitions on searches and seizures and the Fifth Amendment’s guarantee of due process — and other federal laws. Similarly, the federal government can make, and has made, many lawful immigrants, as well as undocumented people, ineligible for certain welfare programs. However, there are legal and policy limits even in this area; we provide elementary education, emergency medical care, and other services to all persons regardless of status.”

Discontent with the lack of official input from this side, I called up the ACLU’s Washington, D.C., media-relations office for a clarification of their position on this matter.

Surprisingly, they had nothing to say.

After a two-day wait, I called back and was told that the ACLU media office had decided not to take a stand on health care reform as it relates to undocumented aliens. A curiously non-proactive position for an organization with such well-defined legal opinions on the legality of prayer in public schools and the civil rights of apprehended terrorists.

Cynics might say that not taking a position on access of illegals to proposed government-sponsored and -enabled health care schemes is saying enough: At a minimum, it opens the question if the organization is actually taking a partisan position favoring proponents of government-sponsored health care — deferring their programmatic advocacy for the rights of illegal immigrants until reform is an accomplished fact.

Article first published on Today's Financial News

Healthcare debate: The ACLU’s sound of silence

Vical (NASDAQ:VICL), Curis (NASDAQ:CRIS), and Tianyin Pharmaceutical Co. Inc. (AMEX:TPI) are making big moves today, lining our HSC members’ pockets with cold, hard cash

by J. Christoph Amberger

Baltimore, MD — TFN: We had a spontaneous outburst of exuberance this morning. TFN’s Laura Cadden was celebrating the stellar jump of her two Hot Stock Confidential picks Vical (NASDAQ:VICL) and Curis (NASDAQ:CRIS).

TFN

VICL hit new record highs when it announced it had received a new U.S. patent covering its Vaxfectin-formulated DNA vaccines for seasonal and pandemic influenza. (They’re currently developing Vaxfectin-formulated DNA vaccines for both H5N1 (avian) and H1N1 (swine) flu.

Her pick of CRIS moved up 20% after the company announced that GDC-0449, an experimental cancer medicine developed by Genentech and Curis, actually works in shrinking tumors by targeting the gene-associated “hedgehog” pathway.

It was a relief: “I thought I’d die yesterday when the stocks went down,” Laura said.

The reason for her mental unease: We had actively decided not to implement a stop loss when shares went past the 30% gain we had expected. Last week, when we were itching to take what now looks like “modest” profits on these stocks, we decided to throw caution to the wind and told you to “Cool your heels on Vical“.

It paid off nicely. HSC Member Michael M. emailed us: “Continuing the subject of volatile stock prices ( VICL in particular ), I would like to suggest a more descriptive term than ’stop loss’.  I will now call it the ‘Threshold of Pain’. Congratulations first to you for your selection of this stock and to all of us who endured the pain for the 40% + gain!!!!! On to the next one and  THANK YOU!!”

Of course, we now faced the same problem, just at a higher price: Sell now? Or establish a stop loss? Or hold on for more gains, without safety net?

“If you put a stop loss in, it’ll hit it,” said Andy Snyder.

It’s a good quandary to have: To sell and bank gains over 40%… or hold on for more.

And it isn’t just VICL we’re contemplating!

We’ve decided that in this situation, the best option is to have our cake and eat it, too: Bank the gains on half of each position in question and letting the rest ride:

Laura sent out an email alert to our HSC friends instructing to:

“* Sell half your shares of Curis Inc. (NASDAQ:CRIS) for around 50% gains

“* Sell half your shares of Tianyin Pharmaceutical Co. Inc. (AMEX:TPI) for around 53% gains

“* Sell half your shares of Vical Inc. (NASDAQ:VICL) for around 50% gains

“And hold onto the other half for what we hope will be even greater gains!”

Here’s what another HSC Member, Matthew W., had to say about that: It’s great to be back. I signed for the year, the info you lot provide is worth a heap, and that is not including the picks.”

But Laura isn’t one to leave good enough alone. For today’s HSC alert, she has analyzed 5 stocks suggested by our members. The competiton is on: Our members are a sharp bunch… what if they do better than our editors?

(By the way, TPI was one of our “Proxy Stocks”… check out if you agree with our line of argument.Similar Posts:

• HSC takes 24.7% gains on Tianyin Pharmaceutical (AMEX:TPI) – November 17, 2009
• Q4 Update: TFN Complete Guide to Stem Cell Stocks under $10 – September 25, 2009
• Interesting jump for Sinobiopharma (SNBP) – January 18, 2010
• What to do about SpongeTech (SPNG)? – October 20, 2009
• HSC double-digit gainer #70: 32% on Silvercorp. (SVM) – November 18, 2009

Article first published on Today's Financial News

Thanks for waiting: Vical (VICL) and Curis (CRIS) soar on good news

Retractable Technologies, Inc. (AMEX:RVP) soars on swine flu vaccine orders

by J. Christoph Amberger

Baltimore, MD — TFN: This wasn’t one of the stocks we recommended in our TFN Special Report: The Top Swine Flu Vaccine Stocks under $20.

But it should’ve been!

Retractable Technologies, Inc. (AMEX:RVP) at times was trading at more than twice yesterday’s closing price when the company announced it had been awarded a contract by the Department of Health and Human Services to supply a portion of the safety-engineered specialty syringes used in the coming H1N1 swine flu mass vaccinations.

The program is expected to run through March 2010 and inoculate 195 million Americans. The effect on the company’s bottom line is not known yet. But it could be substantial.

We’ve taken (and are still nursing) some substantial gains on our swine flu vaccine-related recommendations).

We’ve picked up wildly diverging rumors on the swine flu vaccination trends. There will, of course, be the political and mass media-pushed hype driving stock price movements. And there will be the inevitable blowback and apathy. In fact, there are respected medical professionals who say that a naturally acquired immunity against the virus — by letting the disease run its course — for most healthy adults may be preferable over the vaccine. And that washing your hands would beat ioculation any old day…

We’re not in the business of making public health judgment calls. But given hype and blowback patterns, I believe RVP may become one of the fastest-moving up-and-down swine flu speculations in the market. The full financial effect of the actual orders won’t be tallied until flu season is over in April. By then, there’s more than one chance to double your money on this stock… and lose half of its value.

Play this with a level head… and circumspection.

Article first published on Today's Financial News

Tribute to the power of pig: Retractable Technologies (RVP) soars on swine flu vaccine news

Geico has dropped advertising support for Fox News’ Glenn Beck. I asked them why…

by J. Christoph Amberger

Baltimore, MD — TFN: Thanks to what has been called an “orchestrated” campaign by the radical, left-wing, Obama-near political organization Color of Change, Fox News host Glenn Beck’s highly rated cable news show is being abandoned by several large advertisers.

Among those caving in to the pressure of special interest groups is automotive insurer Geico — also known as the Government Employees Insurance Company. The privately held company, with its omnipresent Aussie-accented gecko and the googly-eyed stack of cash, has spent more than a quarter-billion dollars on television ads in the first half of 2009.

(Of course, not all on Glenn Beck.)

I found myself mildly amused by this last night. And with time on my hands, I composed a brief e-mail to them:

Dear sirs,
I just read to my amazement that GEICO, among other companies, has decided to withdraw from advertising on Glenn Beck’s program on Fox as a result of pressure being applied by an ultra-liberal interest group.

It is not my place to tell private corporations how to spend their advertising dollars.

However, I cannot reconcile a corporation who goes to great expense to project the image of steadfast reliability allowing itself to be manipulated by political interest groups based on such supercilious reasoning.

I will be considering this as I ponder whom to spend my insurance dollars with in the future.

Cordially yours,
J. Christoph Amberger

They may not yet have saved me a bundle as yet, but they sure respond fast. I had a reply in my email box by 8 AM!

Dear J. Christoph Amberger:
If the inflammatory nature of the comments on a program overshadows our message and causes GEICO to be drawn into a national debate, we are likely to reconsider where we place our marketing messages, which is what we did.

GEICO delivers very important messages through its major marketing campaigns: we’re saving customers’ dollars, we’re easy to do business with, we’re looking out for our policyholders. That’s what we hope the public hears and sees and focuses on.

As a company, we do not take positions on controversial issues.

As an advertiser, while a national debate on issues can be healthy and appropriate, we don’t see ourselves in the role of taking part in those debates.

Our business is auto insurance. We want to bring people value and we attempt to reach large audiences with that message.

It is of little benefit to us if a program gets so much attention that our message is drowned out.
GEICO Corporate Communications

A perfectly reasonable reply, wouldn’t you agree. But you know me… I just can’t leave good enough alone:

Dear GEICO Corporate Communications,

of course, a company concerned about controversial issues would certainly not be advertising on programs with a political bend in the first place.

By withdrawing advertising support as a result of activist manipulation, you ARE indeed abandoning your “non-political” position.

Thank you for your reply.

It clarified your position, even if it did little to improve the impression your company left on me by its action.

Cordially yours,
J. Christoph Amberger

And again, the response was lightning fast:

Thank you for sharing your concerns with us.  Let me assure you we value your opinion and your business. Your comments have been forwarded to our Marketing Department for review.

GEICO has long been, and continues to be, an insurer for everyone. As with any large national insurance company, our customer base is comprised of individuals who represent virtually every position on every issue. We support the First Amendment rights of our policyholders and we strive to provide them with exceptional  customer service, without regard to their views and beliefs.

Please let me know if I can be of any further assistance.

Excellent customer service indeed.

But I don’t think I’m ready to switch to Geico and save a bundle.

You see, there are a number of bumper stickers on my cars that could be deemed controversial. I’m afraid that if I report that I was rear-ended with photographic documentation, it would trigger in the Gecko the urge not to take sides… and walk away from my claim whistling “Waltzing Obama”.

(I’m doing my civic duty and give you the opportunity to report this “fishy” article to the White House at flag [at] whitehouse [dot] gov.)Similar Posts:

• My first prediction for 2010 came true in 2009 – December 8, 2009
• Will Q4 earnings boost Tianyin Pharmaceutical, Inc., (NYSE:TPI) – September 23, 2009
• TFN in the News – September 25, 2009
• Is the silver run over? Coeur d’Alene Mines (CDE), Silver Wheaton (SLW), Alto Group (ALTO), Hecla Mining (HL), Endeavour Silver (EXK) close down – January 21, 2010
• TFN eNews 10/08/2009: How much gains on this silver miner? – October 8, 2009

Article first published on Today's Financial News

Geico drops Fox’s Glenn Beck: Amberger follows up

In today’s TFN eNews:

* 20.5% gains in the bag for this refiner!

* TFN readers suggest this copper mining penny stock

* News on MedLink

Dear TFN Reader,

She did it again. TFN’s Diva of Dollars Laura Cadden took a look at rising oil prices, stagnating gasoline demand, and recent revenues numbers and decided that it was time to take action:

“On July 8, I recommended you take advantage of a dip in the share price for the refiner-plus Sunoco, Inc. (NYSE:SUN). I felt sure we’d make 20% gains within 3 months. If you got in under $22, you’re up over 20% in just over a month.

“If the price of crude continues to rise, that could mean hard times for Sunoco so let’s lock in these gains. Set a 20% wealth protection stop-loss for SUN at $26.05.”

A little later, our stop loss was triggered. Sunoco rang up 20.5% gains in just 26 days for readers of Hot Stock Confidential. That’s double-digit gainer number 44 so far this year… and only 2 of these winning plays brought us less than 20%.

I’ve been trying to shake down my publisher colleagues here in Baltimore to find out how their portfolios are doing. Just for some perspective. But they’ve become strangely evasive — “have to check on that” — when I ask how their stick picks are doing for their readers.

I never hear back for them… except indirectly, when their marketing guys tell us we can’t run advertisements for Hot Stock Confidential to their customers.

But those 20% are nothing compared to what I expect to generate for HSC readers on our three dirt-cheap Chinese pharma stocks over the next couple of months: We only recommended them, what, less than 3 weeks ago, and three of them are up 40%, 21%, and 37%, respectively. (And they’re still well in our buying range! Find out what to buy right here!)

And of top of them, there’s another 6 HSC stock picks with gains between 12-19%.

*** Brace yourself for some really great news.

According to Bloomberg.com, the euro-region economy “barely contracted in the second quarter”.

European GDP fell by “only” 0.1%. Germany and France “unexpectedly returned to growth, suggesting Europe’s worst recession since World War II is coming to an end.”

I don’t know what growth of 0.3% suggests. I’ve seen margins of error that were more impressive than that. But technically, I guess you can say that any positive growth in a quarter ends a recession. Technically speaking.

What it doesn’t do is create real growth. You see, Germany is no stranger to GDP growth of 0.3-0.8%. In fact, that’s what passed for economic success back in the 1990s. When the redistribution-happy junta around former crypto-Communist and today Gazprom pipeline chairman Gerhard Schröder considered their policies successful when unemployment dipped below 13%.

If you think this is the beginning of a recovery — in the sense that lost ground will actually be recovered — don’t count on it yet. We could be in for a protracted period of near-zero growth. Not just in Europe… but especially in the United States, where the influx of deficit spending will work its own numbers magic on the GDP numbers before long.

***What are the best copper mining and timber penny stocks you can think off — and, for simplicity’s sake, let’s stay on the North American markets! Let us know at support [at] todaysfinancialnews [dot] com.

*** Speaking of penny shares: Our TFN Grapevine tipster Charles D. thought that he’d send us a quick update on MedLink International Inc. (OTC:MLKNA) as it sold off late in yesterday’s session:

“I spoke to the company and all is just fine. In fact, the attitude there was that things are more than fine. I got the impression that they wish they could have put out News today to reassure investors but could not do so. As I have said in the past, my feeling is that they are going through a news-release-process with the organization(s) they are working with and that news will soon come.

“However, they were quite specific in that there is nothing going on at the company that would suggest any reason for selling. It is my opinion that someone just wanted out, needed the money for something, and sold their shares. In my opinion, they will be sorry because I truly believe this one is going to $10+ over this next year. Frankly, I am dismayed that we have not seen any news out of MedLink already. (I expected it in July.)

“But that’s the way it goes… after all, you build a business one brick at a time. I personally am very confident in MLKNA and its future.”

*** “Coal may be a dirty, four-letter word in Washington, but outside the Beltway, the fossil fuel is one of the most important energy sources on the planet. Billions of dollars are at stake as coal’s popularity and demand waxes and wanes with a volatile global economy.

“But no matter what the short-term macroeconomic situation, there’s no denying the world’s utter addiction to coal. China especially knows that this tangible asset is much more important to its future than any fiat currency. A currency’s demand can vanish with just one vote or swing of a leader’s pen. But a fuel source that powers continents is going to be around for decades.

“This planet will be burning coal until we scraped the very last ounce of the stuff from the earth’s crust, whether the Prius drivers like it or not.

“With that notion in mind, it’s not surprising China has made some bold moves in the past few weeks: After a troubled bid with Rio Tinto (NYSE:RTP), Beijing officially arrested four of the Australian company’s employees earlier this week, accusing them of stealing state secrets. It is proof that China is not taking its imported coal dependence lightly…”

What does Andy recommend? Find out in his article…

Quote of the Day:

“There was no such hand-wringing over the decline of civil debate, during, say, election 2004, when cadres of organized demonstrators carrying swastika-adorned pictures of George W. Bush routinely swarmed about, and packed rallies. There was also that other ‘breakdown of our media culture,’ that will dwarf all else as a cause for embarrassment, the town-hall coverage included, for the foreseeable future. That would be, of course, the undisguised worshipful reporting of the candidacy of Barack Obama.”

– Dorothy Rabinowitz, WSJ.com

*** We just took the 44th double-digit gainer for HSC members this year.

Let me ask you: How’s that other newsletter of yours treating you?

“I’m a small-time investor, but you guys are giving me big-time smile. Keep up the good work, and thanks.” — HSC Member Ramon V.

Recommended Reading:

Commodity fever: The buying spree continues

New Special Report: 4 Top Energy Stocks You Need to Own

The TFN Complete Guide to Biotech Penny Stocks

The TFN Complete Guide to Natural Gas Stocks

Today’s Top 3 Financial News Stories:

Bloomberg.com – Euro-Area Economy Contracted 0.1% in Second Quarter “Gross domestic product fell 0.1 percent from the first quarter, when it plunged 2.5 percent, the most since the euro- area data were first compiled in 1995, the European Union’s statistics office in Luxembourg said today. Economists had estimated GDP declined 0.5 percent in the three months through June, the median of 32 forecasts in a Bloomberg survey showed.”

Kansas.com — Cash for Clunkers has mixed effect on local used-car sales “The biggest issues, used-car dealers said, are not directly tied to the economy. Their concerns are with the ‘unintended consequences’ of the Car Allowance Rebate System, or CARS — commonly known as Cash for Clunkers — and an increase in the prices they are paying for used cars at auction.”

WSJ.com — Cap-and-Trade’s Unlikely Critics: Its Creators “Europe has embraced cap-and-trade rules. Emissions initially rose there because industries were given more permits than they needed, and regulators have since tightened the caps. Meanwhile China, India and other developing markets are reluctant to go along, fearing limits would curb their growth. If they don’t participate, there is little assurance that global carbon emissions will slow much even if the U.S. goes forward with its own plan. And even if everyone signs up, Mr. Crocker says, it isn’t clear the limits will be properly enforced across nations and industries.”

Cordially yours,

J. Christoph Amberger

Executive Publisher, TodaysFinancialNews.comSimilar Posts:

• Peabody Energy: Playing China’s red-hot coal Industry – October 20, 2009
• TFN eNews 10/20/2009: The best stock to buy now! – October 20, 2009
• Sinobiopharma, Inc. (SNBP) soars on — what exactly? – January 21, 2010
• Profits on ZAP (ZAAP), Keryx Biopharmaceuticals (KERX), and Emtec (ETEC) – December 23, 2009
• TFN eNews 12/23/2009: Last-minute gains before the holidays! – December 23, 2009

Article first published on Today's Financial News

TFN eNews: Brace yourself for some really great news!

In today’s TFN eNews:

* 20.5% gains in the bag for this refiner!

* TFN readers suggest this copper mining penny stock

* News on MedLink

Dear TFN Reader,

She did it again. TFN’s Diva of Dollars Laura Cadden took a look at rising oil prices, stagnating gasoline demand, and recent revenues numbers and decided that it was time to take action:

“On July 8, I recommended you take advantage of a dip in the share price for the refiner-plus Sunoco, Inc. (NYSE:SUN). I felt sure we’d make 20% gains within 3 months. If you got in under $22, you’re up over 20% in just over a month.

“If the price of crude continues to rise, that could mean hard times for Sunoco so let’s lock in these gains. Set a 20% wealth protection stop-loss for SUN at $26.05.”

A little later, our stop loss was triggered. Sunoco rang up 20.5% gains in just 26 days for readers of Hot Stock Confidential. That’s double-digit gainer number 44 so far this year… and only 2 of these winning plays brought us less than 20%.

I’ve been trying to shake down my publisher colleagues here in Baltimore to find out how their portfolios are doing. Just for some perspective. But they’ve become strangely evasive — “have to check on that” — when I ask how their stick picks are doing for their readers.

I never hear back for them… except indirectly, when their marketing guys tell us we can’t run advertisements for Hot Stock Confidential to their customers.

But those 20% are nothing compared to what I expect to generate for HSC readers on our three dirt-cheap Chinese pharma stocks over the next couple of months: We only recommended them, what, less than 3 weeks ago, and three of them are up 40%, 21%, and 37%, respectively. (And they’re still well in our buying range! Find out what to buy right here!)

And of top of them, there’s another 6 HSC stock picks with gains between 12-19%.

*** Brace yourself for some really great news.

According to Bloomberg.com, the euro-region economy “barely contracted in the second quarter”.

European GDP fell by “only” 0.1%. Germany and France “unexpectedly returned to growth, suggesting Europe’s worst recession since World War II is coming to an end.”

I don’t know what growth of 0.3% suggests. I’ve seen margins of error that were more impressive than that. But technically, I guess you can say that any positive growth in a quarter ends a recession. Technically speaking.

What it doesn’t do is create real growth. You see, Germany is no stranger to GDP growth of 0.3-0.8%. In fact, that’s what passed for economic success back in the 1990s. When the redistribution-happy junta around former crypto-Communist and today Gazprom pipeline chairman Gerhard Schröder considered their policies successful when unemployment dipped below 13%.

If you think this is the beginning of a recovery — in the sense that lost ground will actually be recovered — don’t count on it yet. We could be in for a protracted period of near-zero growth. Not just in Europe… but especially in the United States, where the influx of deficit spending will work its own numbers magic on the GDP numbers before long.

***What are the best copper mining and timber penny stocks you can think off — and, for simplicity’s sake, let’s stay on the North American markets! Let us know at support [at] todaysfinancialnews [dot] com.

*** Speaking of penny shares: Our TFN Grapevine tipster Charles D. thought that he’d send us a quick update on MedLink International Inc. (OTC:MLKNA) as it sold off late in yesterday’s session:

“I spoke to the company and all is just fine. In fact, the attitude there was that things are more than fine. I got the impression that they wish they could have put out News today to reassure investors but could not do so. As I have said in the past, my feeling is that they are going through a news-release-process with the organization(s) they are working with and that news will soon come.

“However, they were quite specific in that there is nothing going on at the company that would suggest any reason for selling. It is my opinion that someone just wanted out, needed the money for something, and sold their shares. In my opinion, they will be sorry because I truly believe this one is going to $10+ over this next year. Frankly, I am dismayed that we have not seen any news out of MedLink already. (I expected it in July.)

“But that’s the way it goes… after all, you build a business one brick at a time. I personally am very confident in MLKNA and its future.”

*** “Coal may be a dirty, four-letter word in Washington, but outside the Beltway, the fossil fuel is one of the most important energy sources on the planet. Billions of dollars are at stake as coal’s popularity and demand waxes and wanes with a volatile global economy.

“But no matter what the short-term macroeconomic situation, there’s no denying the world’s utter addiction to coal. China especially knows that this tangible asset is much more important to its future than any fiat currency. A currency’s demand can vanish with just one vote or swing of a leader’s pen. But a fuel source that powers continents is going to be around for decades.

“This planet will be burning coal until we scraped the very last ounce of the stuff from the earth’s crust, whether the Prius drivers like it or not.

“With that notion in mind, it’s not surprising China has made some bold moves in the past few weeks: After a troubled bid with Rio Tinto (NYSE:RTP), Beijing officially arrested four of the Australian company’s employees earlier this week, accusing them of stealing state secrets. It is proof that China is not taking its imported coal dependence lightly…”

What does Andy recommend? Find out in his article…

Quote of the Day:

“There was no such hand-wringing over the decline of civil debate, during, say, election 2004, when cadres of organized demonstrators carrying swastika-adorned pictures of George W. Bush routinely swarmed about, and packed rallies. There was also that other ‘breakdown of our media culture,’ that will dwarf all else as a cause for embarrassment, the town-hall coverage included, for the foreseeable future. That would be, of course, the undisguised worshipful reporting of the candidacy of Barack Obama.”

– Dorothy Rabinowitz, WSJ.com

*** We just took the 44th double-digit gainer for HSC members this year.

Let me ask you: How’s that other newsletter of yours treating you?

“I’m a small-time investor, but you guys are giving me big-time smile. Keep up the good work, and thanks.” — HSC Member Ramon V.

Recommended Reading:

Commodity fever: The buying spree continues

New Special Report: 4 Top Energy Stocks You Need to Own

The TFN Complete Guide to Biotech Penny Stocks

The TFN Complete Guide to Natural Gas Stocks

Today’s Top 3 Financial News Stories:

Bloomberg.com – Euro-Area Economy Contracted 0.1% in Second Quarter “Gross domestic product fell 0.1 percent from the first quarter, when it plunged 2.5 percent, the most since the euro- area data were first compiled in 1995, the European Union’s statistics office in Luxembourg said today. Economists had estimated GDP declined 0.5 percent in the three months through June, the median of 32 forecasts in a Bloomberg survey showed.”

Kansas.com — Cash for Clunkers has mixed effect on local used-car sales “The biggest issues, used-car dealers said, are not directly tied to the economy. Their concerns are with the ‘unintended consequences’ of the Car Allowance Rebate System, or CARS — commonly known as Cash for Clunkers — and an increase in the prices they are paying for used cars at auction.”

WSJ.com — Cap-and-Trade’s Unlikely Critics: Its Creators “Europe has embraced cap-and-trade rules. Emissions initially rose there because industries were given more permits than they needed, and regulators have since tightened the caps. Meanwhile China, India and other developing markets are reluctant to go along, fearing limits would curb their growth. If they don’t participate, there is little assurance that global carbon emissions will slow much even if the U.S. goes forward with its own plan. And even if everyone signs up, Mr. Crocker says, it isn’t clear the limits will be properly enforced across nations and industries.”

Cordially yours,

J. Christoph Amberger

Executive Publisher, TodaysFinancialNews.comSimilar Posts:

• Peabody Energy: Playing China’s red-hot coal Industry – October 20, 2009
• TFN eNews 10/20/2009: The best stock to buy now! – October 20, 2009
• Sinobiopharma, Inc. (SNBP) soars on — what exactly? – January 21, 2010
• Profits on ZAP (ZAAP), Keryx Biopharmaceuticals (KERX), and Emtec (ETEC) – December 23, 2009
• TFN eNews 12/23/2009: Last-minute gains before the holidays! – December 23, 2009

Article first published on Today's Financial News

TFN eNews 8/13/2009: Brace yourself for some really great news!

McDonalds (NYSE:MCD) is warning investors today, yet share price is on the rise. When cheap is good, this is a great company to have in your portfolio. Fortunately, cheap has never been more popular.

By Andrew Snyder, TodaysFinancialNews.com

Baltimore – (TFN): I did something last Friday that I have not done in years and I am embarrassed to admit it. If you live on the East Coast, you know we just experienced a beautiful weekend. After a long, cold winter, a warm breeze was a refreshing reminder spring is just weeks away.

Normally, when my wife gets a craving for ice cream, I mutter my disdain and half-heartedly go along for the ride. I would rather eat a steak over ice cream any day. But when the weather was that nice and the weekend so promising, I jumped on the occasion.

But here is where it gets a little embarrassing. Instead of taking her to one of the trendy ice cream joints in town, I pulled up to the McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) drive-thru window.

$2.12 later, we had two hot fudge sundaes and were on our way. That’s just about the price we would have paid for handful of sprinkles at any of the other joints.

The price made me happy. The sugar and cream made her happy. It was the start of a great weekend.

Cheap when cheap is good

Multiple my experience by several million people across the globe and you start to see why McDonalds has been making it shareholders rather happy over the last six months. While everybody else is failing, the company’s incredible scale and marketing savvy is keeping it on an level keel even through a hurricane of a recession.

But today the company is warning investors its first quarter may not be as appetizing as the last few. A strong dollar and rising commodity costs are impacting its earnings and its margins. With expectations of Q1 sales to be off by close to $600 million over the same period last year, the company says the adverse currency and commodity conditions will take as much as $0.09 per share off of this quarter’s earnings.

Investors should not be worried about the news. It is certainly no surprise.

February appears to have been a strong month for the company. Overall, global same-store sales rose by a calendar-adjusted 5.4%, helping to prove more folks are flocking to the restaurant’s low-priced menu.

For investors, this is a good time to start looking at shares of the company. While share price is far from joining companies like Citigroup (NYSE:C) and General Motors (NYSE:GM) on the dollar menu, they are quite the value. McDonald’s has not traded this cheaply in nearly two years.

If you are looking to get rich quick, this is not the investment for you. But if you want a shot at double-digit profits and reduced risk, take a look at McDonalds.

Consumers have taken advantage of the low menu prices. Now investors have the opportunity to take advantage of low share prices.Similar Posts:

• Three Monday morning movers – October 19, 2009
• A lot to think about today – December 8, 2009
• Why biotechs like CombinatoRx (CRXX) make the best penny share speculations – November 20, 2009
• Peabody Energy: Playing China’s red-hot coal Industry – October 20, 2009
• Fat Americans versus lean China – October 15, 2009

Article first published on Today's Financial News

Tightwad Investing: McDonalds rules the value menu

The markets are scared once again. Who is to blame? It does not take an expert to know Washington is up to the same old tricks. Who knew Uncle Sam was a heavyweight boxer?

By Andrew Snyder, TodaysFinancialNews.com

Baltimore – (TFN): Washington does it again. I have never been a conspiracy theorist by even the most liberal of standards, but this action has got me wondering. Could the government actually be trying to drive us into submission?

It is the last trading day in one of the worst months in Wall Street history and the only thing on the collective mind of American investors is what will Washington do next? In case you missed this morning’s opening action, all three indices plunged deep in the red on the news the Obama administration is likely to purchase up to 36% of Citigroup (NYSE:C) and, even worse, the new that the government’s original estimate of the nation’s recession was grossly understated.

If those two nuggets of information are not enough to make you hide under the covers or chug a fifth of whiskey, you are one tough son of a gun.

The Citigroup news is more of the same threat of nationalization. We’ve written and heard about it enough and by now you know the story. The government is doing its best to own everything it possibly can.

But this bit about the economy shrinking even further is downright nasty.

What happened to us?

Originally, the government told us the nation’s economy dwindled by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. That figure hurt and was about the equivalent of an ex-girlfriend slapping us in the back of the head. But now, the Commerce Department says the actual figure was more like a 6.2% decline.

What? Did they forgot to carry the one or something?

That figure more than hurts. It is the equivalent of the same ex-girlfriend’s tough football-playing new boyfriend popping us to the jaw. It is darn near paralyzing and certainly drops us to our knees.

A 3.8% decline created a challenge to climb out of. But a 6.2% will take an incredible amount of work, and most importantly, time.

Who knows, this could simply be a strategy to force the nation into socialist submission. It would make for one heck of a conspiracy. But I just cannot believe it.

No matter what, I stand by my guns (literally, at this point) and continue to advise investors to short the major equities markets. If you followed my advice when I advised taking the strategy, the last couple of weeks would have been filled with bliss instead of jaw-aching pain.Similar Posts:

• Now’s the time to go foreign – October 22, 2009
• “Engaging, fast-paced and intriguing. Bravo!”: Bill Bonner on The Lazarus Smile – January 21, 2010
• Oil investors: Keep your eye on that dollar – September 21, 2009
• A huge week for the greenback – October 9, 2009
• Where would you rather have your money? – November 20, 2009

Article first published on Today's Financial News

A powerful and paralyzing shot to the jaw

Almost all casual investors trust the Dow Jones Industrial Average to tell the truth. Unfortunately, it has been lying to them for a long time. It is only going to get worse.

By Andrew Snyder, TodaysFinancialNews.com

Baltimore – (TFN): You cannot trust anybody on Wall Street these days, not even the Dow Jones index. The magical figure that is watched by investors all across the globe is lying to us.

The worse the nation’s financial crisis becomes, the less the index will tell the truth.

When the Dow Jones Industrial Average was created some 113 years ago, its newspaper-industry creators made a haunting mistake. They made the index price-weighted instead of value-weighted index. In other words, the higher a company’s share price, the more “pull” it has in the index.

As you should know, the Dow has thirty Blue Chip components. The companies the index monitors are supposed to be the bellwethers of their industries.

Right now, IBM (NYSE:IBM) gets the most weight (over 9%) due to its $88 share price.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, companies like General Motors (NYSE:GM) and Citigroup (NYSE:C) have very little weight, due to their respect share prices of just $2.02 and $2.50.

Unfortunately, the companies in the most danger of bankruptcy have the least amount of weight. In fact, the Washington Post reports, if these two companies see their shares go to zero due to bankruptcy or nationalization, the Dow would only mark a drop of 50 points.

That is an absurd notion considering the economic impact that sort of news would bring.

Index or popularity contest?

Adding even more “skewing” potential is the fact that the critical Dow’s managers have a tendency to swap positions in and out of the index. Most recently, they crossed out AIG (NYSE:AIG) and added Kraft (NYSE:KFT). Every substitution, no matter how closely related the companies, skews the indexes future movement.

The managers removed a highly indicative company with strong correlation to the current recession and added a recession-resistant company with a moderate share price and therefore a moderate weight.

With this kind of manipulation, while certainly not malicious, it is no wonder the index’s moves are hard to predict.

Wall Street has turned up its nose to the Dow Jones index for decades, yet it remains the most closely watched monitor of the equities market.

Investors need to be aware of this phenomenon. Sure, the Dow and the S&P 500 correlate over 95% of the time, but going forward that figure will likely fall as the S&P leads us out of this financial meltdown.

The Dow makes great dinner party conversation, but if you are serious about tracking the markets, you had better keep your eye on a much broader, value-based index like the S&P 500. Its action tells the real story on Wall Street.Similar Posts:

• Facet Biotech: Open for bidding – December 10, 2009
• Bankruptcy: The word Sirius investors fear the most – September 28, 2009
• M&A Tuesday: A day late and lots of dollars short – November 3, 2009
• Hype thrills… and kills – October 2, 2009
• No bailout needed: Good news from the rags – September 29, 2009

Article first published on Today's Financial News

Don’t trust the Dow. It’s a liar

The nation’s refinery workers are threatening to strike. If they do, what does it mean to investors? There are multiple ways to play the news. Each of them could lead to big gains.

By Andrew Snyder, TodaysFinancialNews.com

Baltimore – (TFN): It looks like it will be another volatile week in the energy markets. On one side of the balance, a tremendous economic slowdown and an overabundance of oil are pushing prices down, while the other side of the balance, rather empty until now, has the threat of a major strike propping prices up.

Even with the threat of a strike, crude prices managed to dip below the crucial $40 level, the unofficial delineator between cheap and moderately priced oil. What will happen through the rest of the week is up to the United Steelworkers.

If the union, which represents some 30,000 employees and about 70% of the nation’s refinery production, votes against the proposed contract, volatility is bound to rise. If a contracted is ratified over the next day or so, then volatility and prices are likely to drop even further.

The union and the nation’s oil companies are working on a day-by-day basis, but insiders say they are getting close to a compromise. In fact, some say it looks like a strike may even be unlikely. But unions have surprised us before and will certainly do it again.

Destroying what’s left

What makes a worker want to go on strike in this economic downturn, especially after they were promised a raise, remains out of my grasp. But then again, what makes unions tick in the first place has always been a mystery to me. They drove large manufacturers out of my hometown, took Detroit to its knees and now they are threatening to tear at the throat of the nation’s last great blue-collar profit maker.

If these workers get the guts to strike, as an investor, you have a few options. You can pick a major oil refiner, like Valero (NYSE:VLO), the nation’s largest, and short it. After all, even a short-term strike will pull down its quarterly profits.

Another option is to play the broader refining industry through an ETF like United States Gasoline Fund (NYSE:UGA). As production falls, gasoline prices will rise.

Finally, you can play the broader energy market through a fund like the Ultra Oil and Gas ProShares (NYSE:DIG). If shares go up, its price will jump at a two-to-one ratio, at least on a day-to-day basis. Be careful with these ETFs as they are calculated on a single day, not a long-term trend. With the right level of volatility, these shares can actually drop in value even as prices rise over the long-term.  They do it quite often.

But do not be certain crude prices will rise because of a refinery-level strike. Chances are, it could be just the opposite. We already have too much oil on the market. If refineries shut down, the supply glut will be even worse. In that case, take the Ultrashort Oil and Gas ProShares (NYSE:DIG).

No matter which slant you take or which way you choose to invest, one thing is certain. The nation’s largest companies are once again out of the predictable hands of a free market. They have been seized by unions and greedy politicians.

It makes the job of an investor even harder, but the profit opportunity is there just the same.Similar Posts:

• Harley’s “reverse” strike pays off – November 25, 2009
• Oil investors: Keep your eye on that dollar – September 21, 2009
• TFN eNews 11/25/2009: “Reverse strike” — The new labor paradigm? – November 25, 2009
• How to play the Exxon news – December 14, 2009
• Beer Wars: Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD) Belgian breweries are high and dry – January 20, 2010

Article first published on Today's Financial News

Playing a potential refinery strike

Just as expected, investors are suffering this week. Earnings season does not get into high gear until next week. Is this an opportunity to profit as the Street “buys” the news?

By Andrew Snyder, TodaysFinancialNews.com

Baltimore – (TFN): Sometimes it hurts to be right. On Monday, I told readers we were in for a rough week and volatility was sure to climb. I even told speculative investors to look at VIX put options. Those that did are sitting on big gains.

Since that article, the Dow has been mired in red and the VIX has soared.  Just today, the closely watched index is up by more than 17%. While we are still more than 30 points away from highs reached in December, the sudden surge is stirring memories many investors hoped were behind them.

Unfortunately, as we get further into earnings season, the roller coaster will only get more nauseating.

If your head is spinning while watching the major indices, you will certainly lose your lunch looking at the list of winners and losers today. Just a handful of companies are hitting new yearly highs today (they are tiny little guys, too), while nearly 100 well-known firms are retreating below their 52-week lows.

Is the economy “de-railed”

One company making shorts happy is Burlington Northern Santa Fe (NYSE:BNI). The giant rail carrier has lost 15% of its value in the last three days as investors brace for next week’s annual earnings report. Investors were sent running like light-sensitive cockroaches after the news rival CSX (NYSE:CSX) announced a preliminary Q4 earnings figure 10% below analyst expectations.

The decline in the auto and construction industry has, according to industry executives, “significantly” hampered demand. But there is hope for Burlington. The company is a leader when it comes to carrying coal and its exposure to the pipeline-hating ethanol industry remains large. This could provide investors a positive spin as earnings are released on January 20 and will help propel the company to a double-digit earnings increase.

For investors looking for an undervalued Blue Chip, this could be it. Warren Buffet and his Berkshire Hathaway spent over $165 million buying a chunk of the company at a price of about $75 per share. This could be your chance to get in at levels more than $10 cheaper.

Keep a close eye on this company over the next few weeks. If the overall market even hints of a rebound, Burlington’s shares will surge.

As for the rest of the market, I wish I could have similar feelings. But the numbers do not add up. The bad news will not end with today’s retail figures.Similar Posts:

• OshKosh vs Cat: Not much of a fight – October 20, 2009
• Fat Americans versus lean China – October 15, 2009
• Bad news from the housing market – November 18, 2009
• Profit opportunity: Get ready for a volatile earnings season – October 5, 2009
• M&A Tuesday: A day late and lots of dollars short – November 3, 2009

Article first published on Today's Financial News

A grim day on Wall Street has some upside

We invite our readers to make their own predictions of what core events will rock the financial markets in 2009… both in a positive way and in a negative way. (Please use the comments to enter into the fray!)

by J. Christoph Ambergers

Baltimore — (TFN): TFN eNews reader Robert O. wrote in: “Enjoyed reading your TFN article today, as usual. Nearly all others in the media would agree with most or all of what you wrote yesterday. Add me to that list.

“I’m just thinking out loud here, but what if we get a ‘black swan’ event that comes out of no-where and changes the direction things are going? Often, black swan events are something bad, something that sends the world into a tail spin (9/11 for example).

“Considering that almost everybody is thinking things are going to get worse, is it possible a black swan event could cause things to turn around and head in a totally unexpected but BETTER direction?

*** MAKE SURE you also read our special report The 3 Hottest Stem Cell Stocks under $5!

“If so, what could that unexpected event be? I would really enjoy reading your thoughts about this, but only if you think this is worth thinking about.”

I have to admit that my outlook for 2009 would be quite bleak even if I trusted the new U.S. administration — or the concept of government intervention in the markets.Similar Posts:

• Penn National: It’s not gambling if it’s a sure thing – October 21, 2009
• TFN eNews 09/21/2009: A make-or-break week for gold prices … and gainer #62! – September 21, 2009
• Playboy: Is the bunny for sale? – November 12, 2009
• Forget Dubai: ValueVision is bigger news – November 30, 2009
• TFN eNews 10/21/2009: Plenty of opportunities tomorrow! – October 21, 2009

Article first published on Today's Financial News

TFN Readers Forecast: Black Swan and White Swan Events for 2009