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Can't afford a $100,000 BMW? That's OK, because soon you'll be able to rent one by the hour directly from the automaker -- if you live in Germany.

BMW will test the pilot program for a year. If successful, the program could expand beyond Germany.

The automaker seems to have taken a page right from Zipcar, the U.S. company heading for a $75 million IPO. If Zipcar can find success with hourly vehicle rentals, perhaps U.S. automakers and dealers should consider the option as well. 

By Louis Navellier

Hot stocks to buy this week are found in the gold and mining industries.

If you’ve been watching the rapid rise of gold prices (and what investor hasn’t), you’ve probably been on the prowl for mining and gold stocks to play the upside of this precious metal. Large-cap gold stocks like Barrick Gold (ABX), AngloGold (AU) and Newmont Mining (NEM) are probably at the top of your list.

 

In the long term, I'm not especially interested in owning Citigroup (C).

The bank's consumer banking business, once its strength, has turned into an also-ran. Capital needs forced it to put its Smith Barney brokerage business into a strange joint venture with Morgan Stanley (MS). And what was once the best global name in banking has been seriously tarnished by the financial crisis and the company's near-death experience.

Ah, but in the medium term, it's a different story. Citigroup is clearly on its way to a modest recovery in earnings power as a gradually improving loan book lets the bank reduce loan-loss reserves. In the third quarter, for example, which the bank reported on Oct. 18, Citigroup announced the release in $1.96 billion from reserves against loan losses.

 

The next two weeks are shaping up as a critical test for the U.S. stock market.

Several key technical indicators stalled in the past few days, as if waiting for something to happen. Monday started out with a bang, but the markets stalled again in the afternoon.

I think that "something" is probably the Federal Reserve's meeting Nov. 2 and 3. Wall Street wants to know more from Chairman Ben Bernanke on the size and timing of any new program of quantitative easing before moving higher. If the market is disappointed in what it hears Nov. 3 from the Federal Open Market Committee, I think we could get a correction that retraces part of this rally.

 

By Don Dion, TheStreet

 

The metals industry continues to be a wildly attractive region of the market for ETF sponsors. Gold, silver and other precious metals, in particular, are drawing huge crowds as investors seek out ways to protect against rampant market volatility.

 

This has led fund companies to further increase the number of products available that track these metals.

 

Recently, ETF Securities, a relative newcomer in the U.S., launched ETFS Physical Precious Metals Basket Shares (GLTR), the first fund aimed at providing investors access to a physical combination of gold, silver, platinum, and palladium.

 

By Jeanine Poggi, TheStreet

 

Coach (COH) reported third-quarter earnings and revenue that handily topped expectations. But the numbers may leave investors wondering: Has the handbag maker reached its peak?

 

During the quarter, the company earned $188.9 million, or 63 cents a share, a 34% surge from $140.8 million, or 44 cents, a year ago. Analysts predicted a profit of 55 cents a share for Coach.

 

Coach's revenue jumped 20% to $911.7 million, also above estimates of $846.8 million. North American sales at stores opened at least a year grew 8.5%, the biggest gain since the fourth quarter of 2008. The same measure rose 3% in Japan and by double digits in China.

 

By Jeff Reeves, editor of InvestorPlace.com

Apple (AAPL) and Sony (SNE) have a lot in common. Both redefined music with portable players -- Apple with its recent iPod, and Sony with its Walkman, which debuted in 1979.

Both companies have redefined gaming, too -- Apple with its emerging App Store and convergence devices that are both useful and fun, and Sony with its groundbreaking PlayStation 2 system, which remains the best-selling video game console in history.

So what would happen if the creative minds at both companies joined forces to create a new generation of gadgets?

 

By Jim Cramer, TheStreet

 

"I missed it." Those three words follow any mention of gold I have made within the past year. And the tone has changed from regret to anger at my bringing it up.

 

Yet when I look at what people are willing to pay for TIPs, Treasuries with inflation protection, I think gold should not only be higher, it should be much higher.

 

Think about it: The only reason you would go for a negative yield on a Treasury is if you believed not only that inflation is right around the corner but that it will be a rager. If that's the case, the notion that you "missed" gold at $1,330 is pretty fanciful.

 

Fortune puts Amazon's share price into perspective: Even if the stock had a major crash that suddenly cut its share price in half, it would still have a higher valuation than Google (GOOG), Apple (AAPL) or Research In Motion (RIMM).

Amazon (AMZN), trading Monday in the $170 range, is at a very lofty price-to-earnings ratio (currently 68.8), writes Andy Zaky. "Even more striking is that the company trades at 2.31 times its expected 5-year growth rate, which indicates that the stock has gotten way ahead of itself," he adds.

Does this valuation "far exceed any semblance of reality," as Zaky puts it? Let's check in with some analysts for help here. 

Updated at 3:15 p.m. ET

 

By Olivia Oran, TheStreet

 

EBay (EBAY) announced a new partnership Monday with Groupon, the popular coupon website that offers localized daily shopping deals.

 

Under the partnership, eBay users will find Groupon's deals throughout the site, like discounts on skin care products and restaurants. Members of eBay's rewards program who purchase the Groupon deal of the day will receive 5% of the purchase price in eBay Bucks.

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Groupon offers discounts with local businesses in more than 250 markets around the U.S. and Canada. Subscribers receive e-mail alerts about the deals, which are activated only when a minimum number of people agree to buy.

 

Shares of Citigroup (C) are up slightly Monday to around $4.18 after getting added to the "conviction list" at Goldman Sachs (GS).

Analysts at Goldman don't think Citigroup is in as much mortgage-related "putback" risk as some other banks, according to TheStreet.com. Analysts give the stock a 35% potential upside, which could see the price headed to $5.50.

Another positive for Citi: The government could soon be rid of the 12% stake it has in the bank. Goldman thinks the Treasury will have sold its Citigroup shares by early next year. 

By Don Dion, TheStreet

 

Here are some exchange-traded funds that might rise this week.

 

1. iShares Dow Jones U.S. Pharmaceuticals Index Fund (IHE)

 

Health care has been a choppy part of the market as companies mull ways to deal with the passage of Washington's sweeping reform bill. But one subsector that has performed well has been drug stocks.

 

Over the past 90 days, IHE has outperformed ETFs designed to track other parts of the health care industry, such as the iShares Dow Jones U.S. Healthcare Providers Index Fund (IHF) and the iShares Dow Jones U.S. Medical Equipment Index Fund (IHI).

 

By Jaime Dlugosch, InvestorPlace.com

Exchange-traded funds in my buy list last week were successful, and I’m looking for the upward trend to continue this week.

 

We did a nice job last week rotating out of the gold and mining ETFs. The precious-metals market took a breather last week after enjoying a nice run over the previous several weeks.

 

The same cannot be said for the rest of the market. I was expecting a pause in stocks and made recommendations for both long and short exchange-traded funds as the place to be.

 

By Jim Cramer, TheStreet

 

The headlong rush into batteries for cars that plug into our coal-based electric system -- as opposed to vehicles powered by abundant and cleaner natural gas -- has taken a new twist with the recognition that we don't have enough of the rare earth metals that go into those batteries to produce them on the mass scale required.

 

You need a periodic table to really tell the score in this business, but, as Bloomberg said in an astute story this morning, more than 90% of the rare earth minerals we need are in China. And, as we know, China is not a fair trader.

 

Rare earth minerals are the worst combination: There aren't enough of them, and they're in China. No wonder lanthanum oxide, a key ingredient in batteries, has risen sevenfold in just a few months. That's a typical run.

 

While many companies continue to post strong third-quarter profits, much of the earnings season talk has centered on concerns about the "top line" -- that is, revenue growth. The consensus seems to be that while corporations have done a great job of cutting costs and squeezing every dollar out of every sale, demand for their products hasn't picked up as much as investors would like.

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Generally that may be true, but it doesn't mean there aren't plenty of exceptions. Whether because of conditions within their specific industries, an ability to tap into areas of the world that do have strong demand, or a good old-fashioned ability to market and sell their products, a number of firms have been producing very good top-line growth in a challenging climate.

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With that in mind, I thought I'd see which companies that have been riding impressive sales waves also get approval from my Guru Strategies, fundamentals-based approaches that are each based on the strategy of a different investing great. Here are some of the best of the bunch.