Top Stocks

On the issue of network neutrality, Google seems to have gone over to the dark side.

While the Federal Communications Commission continues to wrestle over the issue, Verizon and Google have reached a tentative deal on handling Internet content that could lead to film studios being charged extra if they want to deliver better-quality movie downloads, an individual familiar with the deal has told TheWrap.

The as yet  unannounced agreement -- potentially to be presented to legislators or the Federal Communications Commission as a model for legislation -- essentially anticipates the splitting of Internet connections into two lines. One would be for normal traffic and one for "managed services," the source said.

 

 

After flirting with new highs in June, gold has been out of sight and out of mind for most investors. In other words, the gold bugs have gone into hiding. The yellow metal has been trapped in a relentless downtrend that took prices down 8.5%.

 

You can't really blame people for looking the other way. Stocks are up more than 11% over the past few weeks.  But things are changing now.

 

It's been a good couple of days for gold -- since July 28 the Gold SPDR (GLD) has gained more than 3.3% while stocks have gained just 1.5%. More importantly, gold prices have broken up and out of its month-long downtrend. Technical indicators and investment flows all now suggest that higher prices are ahead for the precious metal.

 

Apple (AAPL) has enough cash to buy whatever it wants, and even though the company refuses to pay a dividend, its growing hoard (currently $46 billion) is a key draw for investors.

But some people may not have an accurate view of Apple's cash position. That's because some financial reporting services don't count long-term marketable securities as cash, writes an industry analyst at Asymco.

Apple has vastly increased its long-term securities in a short period of time. In 2008, it had pretty much nothing in the long-term category. But as of the most recent quarter, more than a third of its cash was held in a long-term vehicle, according to Asymco. 

When I was in the 18-34 age group, my portfolio was heavily weighted toward stocks. Perhaps too heavily, but who cared. This was the time for more risk.

But kids these days are having none of it. Now, younger investors are just as terrified of risk as their grandparents, reports The Wall Street Journal.

In a recent Merrill Lynch investors survey, 52% of those 18-to-34 years old said they have a low tolerance for risk today. That's just a few percentage points behind the over-65 group (of which 55% said they have a low tolerance for risk). 

David Baldt was a superstar in the asset-management world. When he got hired by Schroders, a press release bragged that Baldt had once been named fund manager of the year at Morningstar.

But Baldt's star has fallen hard, and now he's being investigated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for insider trading.

The SEC has been cracking down on mutual fund managers, accusing them of essentially doing the same thing: Telling family members to sell fund shares when the financial world was collapsing in fall 2008. 

By Jeanine Poggi, TheStreet

 

Barnes & Noble (BKS) may nail a "For Sale" sign on its front lawn, which could draw interest from an array of potential suitors.

 

The largest U.S. book retailer said Tuesday that it is considering strategic alternatives, including a possible sale. "The board came to this decision based on the price of Barnes & Noble shares in the marketplace, which the board believes are now significantly undervalued," Barnes & Noble said in a statement.

 

The company's founder and biggest shareholder, Leonard Riggio, has already said he is considering bidding for the company along with a larger group of investors.

 

By Jeff Reeves, editor of InvestorPlace.com

It's been quite a ride for Harley-Davidson (HOG). The iconic motorcycle company has been cranking out bikes since 1903, and it's one of only two major motorcycle manufacturers to have survived the Great Depression.

The first Harley rolled off the line just one year after the first telegraph cable was laid across the Pacific Ocean, and nowadays you can log on to Harley's website to customize your "Hog" or find a dealer on your smart phone.

But now there's a rough road ahead for the company. The plant that cranks out Harley's choppers in Milwaukee may finally be at its breaking point after more than a century, with labor costs threatening to shutter the facility and end 107 years of tradition.

 

By Jim Cramer, TheStreet

 

If we could get 10 more days just like Tuesday, 10 days when most stocks give up some pennies or nickels, some dimes, we could be in good shape to go higher.

 

The problem is that it almost never happens. The hallmark of this market since 2007 is that we get short, sharp moves and then we get hammered.

 

We had a nice steady climb off the bottom last year -- the generational bottom -- and then we met our selling match. But the problem with this market is that it's able to go off the chart getting overbought and oversold. In fact, when I saw the S&P oscillator at 9.9 yesterday, I blanched. They are going to kill it, I said to myself.

 

The first major survey of iPhone 4 users proves that reception issues and dropped calls are indeed a top concern among customers. But if you think that the primary gripe with the latest Apple (AAPL) gadget involves the so-called “death grip” that strangles the smartphone’s antenna, think again. It’s in fact network provider AT&T (T) that gets the brunt of the iPhone 4 criticism.

So says a recent survey from ChangeWave Research, conducted just weeks ago and grilling hundreds of the very first iPhone 4 customers. Here are the details:

 

Research in Motion (RIMM) unveiled a highly-anticipated new BlackBerry Tuesday, but the general reaction seemed to be, "Is that all?"

Investors had been hoping for an iPhone killer. The new BlackBerry Torch, however, probably won't be able to pull it off. Nor will the new operating system, BlackBerry 6, that was also announced by RIM Tuesday.

Shares of Research in Motion were down nearly 3% after the announcement. Here's what some observers were saying about the news: 

The renminbi is coming. The renminbi is coming.

At this pace, it may take a decade or more, but slow changes in China's currency policy are paving the way for a challenge to the U.S. dollar.

Eventually.

On Wednesday, Chinese regulators lifted restrictions on the flow of the renminbi in Hong Kong.

 

The Death Cross may soon be killed.

Stocks are moving up, and the Death Cross that showed in the S&P 500 Index a month ago -- when the 50-day moving average crossed below the 200-day average -- could finally disappear.

Friday, the index's 20-day average beat out the 50-day average, according to The Wall Street Journal. That's a good sign of a fresh movement upward, and if it continues, the death cross could be unwound. 

Don't be misled by the New York Times article this week saying Goldman Sachs (GS) won't spend money on political advertising. In an "unexpected sign of restraint," the Times reported, Goldman will not buy political ads on radio or TV.

Restraint? Hardly. Goldman is a political machine, and that's not going to change anytime soon. The company has a 12-person government affairs office in Washington, D.C., according to The Washington Post, including former aides to President George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.

Goldman has scores of outside lobbyists, too, including former House leader Richard Gephardt. So don't think for a minute that the company is easing out of politics or showing any restraint. 

By Anthony Agnello, InvestorPlace.com

While the BlackBerry might be losing ground to the Apple (AAPL) iPhone with each passing day, that doesn't mean Research In Motion (RIMM) is down for the count. In fact, according to a report from Bloomberg filed last Friday, RIMM is set to mount a major counteroffensive against Apple -- and it's much more than the new BlackBerry phone announced today.

Research In Motion is about to get into the tablet computer game with their new iPad competitor, the Blackpad, set to hit stores this fall.