- The Bernanke-Home Depot disconnectThe home improvement chain and the Fed chairman see the economy differently.
- Despite weak sales, Wal-Mart still a value
We've been here before, and the company has overcome much worse.
VIDEO ON MSN MONEY
The company stops offering unlimited data for a set monthly price.
AT&T (T) is changing the pricing on data plans for the iPhone, the iPad, and other devices -- and some think that other wireless providers will follow suit.Starting Monday, AT&T customers will no longer get unlimited Internet access for a set monthly price. Instead, they'ill pay either $15 a month for 200 megabytes of data or $25 a month for 2 gigabytes. Try to imagine 200 megabytes as the equivalent of about 400 photos, according to USA Today.
Customers can still go over that limit, they'll just pay more depending on how much data they use. The company says that 98% of customers use less than 2 GB. Previously, iPhone customers paid $30 a month for unlimited data.
| Tags: | Kim Peterson |
The company returns to wine and beer in hopes of boosting flagging sales.
Shares of Walgreen (WAG) were up 2.5% Wednesday to $32.82 on news that the company will start selling wine and beer again.
It's about time. Rivals CVS Caremark (CVS) and Rite Aid (RAD) sell wine and beer in many locations. Without those items, Walgreen became more of a drugstore and less of an all-around general store.
Analysts are applauding the move, saying it will help Walgreen recover some of the sales it lost in the recession. Sales at the front end of Walgreen stores dropped 2.6% in April, The Wall Street Journal reports.
| Tags: | Kim Peterson |
A woman is suing Citigroup, claiming she was fired because she's just too attractive.
One news story has really hit the trifecta of poor taste this week.
First, you have the woman whose ego is so colossal that she thinks she was fired from Citigroup (C) for being too hot. Next, there's a crazy 20-picture photo spread in the Village Voice to prove that she is indeed smoking (and yes, she is).
Finally, there's her inevitable lawsuit against the bank, in which she claims her bosses couldn't concentrate because of her hotness and banned her from wearing turtlenecks, pencil skirts, 3-inch heels or fitted business suits. (What's left, a muumuu?)
| Tags: | Kim Peterson |
The world's largest car-sharing service has been losing money since it was founded a decade ago.
This post comes from The Big Money's Matthew DeBord.
Is car-sharing about to have its market moment? So it would seem, as Zipcar, the country’s best-known car-sharing service (and the world’s largest) filed for an IPO with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday.
The Cambridge, Mass., company’s modest goal is to take what was once a stalwart of crunchy, Northeastern hippie culture (it reportedly got its start with a single VW bug), raise $75 million and position itself among the dominant players in an industry that could be worth billions.
Or an industry that could never find its momentum.
| Tags: | automotiveinvestments |
Without a decrease in unemployment, stabilization of Spanish banks and an end to the oil spill, rising stocks are just selling opportunities.
By Jim Cramer, TheStreet
The market mocks us daily. With Europe and oil both coming down, we want the futures to come down with them. After Tuesday's brutal session -- when a ton of money went to work and then disappeared in the ether -- we don't need to be skunked again.
So what do the futures know? That the last half hour was "phony" as I have been saying? That we can ignore Europe, as it is simply catching up to our downside? That Tuesday’s banking and tech gains can override the weakness in Banco Santander and BBVA (BBVA)? That the euro seems to have a hard time going through 122, perhaps because of central bank buying? That China didn't go down or that the Aussie mining tax is going to be less onerous than we thought?
You add these up and I think you get nothing, nothing that is worth keeping stocks for. Remember, we need to see a number of things happen for a solid move up.
Some competitors could make a run at BP if the price is right and the risk seems low enough
As cleanup costs mount and with no end in sight to the undersea oil gusher in the gulf, investors have started to take a hard look at the reality at the disaster’s impact on BP (BP). The company has shed more than $70 billion in value since April 20 when an explosion on one of its oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico sparked the worst crude oil disaster in U.S. history.
Some say that things could get even worse as the blowout on the ocean floor continues to wreak havoc and the price tag continues to mount. But many others say the sell-off is overdone, and that investors would be wise to buy shares at what could be bargain valuations.
Yet another possibility is a buyout by one of BP’s bigger oil rivals – and here’s who would be the most likely suitors:
A new survey shows MOT and its Droid rank second only to Apple and its iPhone when it comes to "very satisfied" smartphone buyers
Motorola (MOT) has been one of those stocks that investors love to kick around. It peaked at almost $60 a share during the tech bubble days of 2000, slumped to $20 a share in 2006 amid increased competition from smartphones, and bottomed out at about $3 a share in March of 2009.
But Motorola has staged a comeback. The stock has almost doubled in the last year and a half with all the buzz behind its Google (GOOG) powered Droid handset. What’s more a recent ChangeWave smartphone survey shows Motorola now ranking #2 among “very satisfied” customers -- only trailing Apple (APPL) and its vaunted iPhone. But will this mean continued success for the stock?
The car-sharing company is hoping for as much as $75 million in a public offering.
Want to own part of a car-sharing service? Here's your chance, as Zipcar prepares for an initial public offering.The idea behind Zipcar is simple: Members can reserve one of the company's cars by the hour or day. The reservation includes gas and insurance.
The company has 400,000 members, and 7,000 cars for them to use. But is the stock a buy? Let's get into the numbers:
| Tags: | Kim Peterson |
As more homes fall into foreclosure, delinquent borrowers are embracing the situation.
Foreclosures are clogging the system so much now that the average borrower doesn't get evicted until 438 days of delinquency.
That's up from 251 days in January 2008, The New York Times reports. About 1.7 million U.S. households are in foreclosure.
There are a few reasons for the delay. First is sheer volume -- banks just can't process all the foreclosures on time. Also, legal challenges are becoming more common. Finally, the government is pressuring lenders to provide modifications and delay foreclosures.
| Tags: | Kim Peterson |
The punishment should fit the crime, but can the slow-moving wheels of justice suffice when people in the Gulf are hurting now?
When I was back in law school, one of the biggest concepts we discussed was how sentencing should fit the crime or 'tort.'
| Tags: | BP |
The financial sector can be a volatile place for investors right now, but these Latin American banks are booming
The financial sector has been a strange double-edged sword in portfolios over the last two years or so. In the wake of the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, billions of wealth was erased in what were long thought of as conservative stocks. Then the resurgence of some banks since the lows of last year made other investors a fortune, with Citigroup (C) and Bank of America (BAC) both soaring about 300% since historic lows on March 9, 2009.
The drama continues in the financial sector even now with the endless see-saw of mortgage default news and the continued worries over sovereign debt in the euro zone. Any investor jumping into financial stocks right now is really taking the tiger by the tail – but if you do your homework, there a number of opportunities in the sector become clear -- particularly among financials in Latin America.
Here are three:
| Tags: | Brazilemerging marketsfinancial crisisfinancial servicesinvesting strategyinvestmentsInvestorPlace |
Beer industry shipments are down as people continue to drink less than before.
Americans just aren't drinking as much beer anymore, which means trouble for the brewing business.Some of the biggest beer brands saw sales drop in the month ended May 16, Advertising Age reports. Only four beers in the top 30 saw growth: Keystone Light, Modelo Especial, Yuengling and Pabst Blue Ribbon.
"I've never seen so much red ink on a spreadsheet in all my years in this business," an industry watcher told Ad Age. "It's really disconcerting."
BP shares drop 11% after the oil company says the 'top kill' procedure failed to plug the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico.
By Joseph Woelfel, TheStreet 
BP (BP) shares were falling 11% after the oil company said its "top kill" effort failed to stop the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico.
BP's American depositary shares were sinking 11% to $38.11 at 10:43 a.m. ET.
BP said Tuesday it plans to place a new containment valve over the blown-out well this week. BP said it wil begin cutting through the riser that's spewing oil and gas into the Gulf as soon as Wednesday, after which it will attempt to install the cap-like device that would siphon the mixture to the surface.
The Gulf oil leak could become a bigger threat to stocks than Europe's debt woes.
Can there be a real rally until the BP (BP) spill is controlled? I am beginning to think not.
The uncertainty this disaster is causing and the ripple effects for the Southeastern U.S. will not be contained at these stock prices. It looks like we are pretty much done with offshore drilling, like we were done with nuclear after Three Mile Island.
I had thought that weak European countries alone could take the Dow ($INDU) to 9,500, but it looks like BP's in a foot race to take us down faster.
On Thursday the talking heads said a bull rally was underway but that didn't come true on Friday
Value Line Index -- Contains 1700 stocks so its much broader than the S&P 500 or much narrower Dow 30 -- Index not strong but in recovery
- Index actually rose by 1.57% last week -- That's up 3 out of the last 5 weeks and up 3 of the last 5 months
- 40% Barchart technical sell -- 2 buys, 4 holds and 7 sells
- Index closed Friday below its 20, 50 & 100 day moving average
Barchart Market Momentum -- Percentage of stocks closing above their moving averages for various time frames -- Above 50% is always good -- This week was better than last week but not as good as a month ago
| Tags: | investing strategy |
MORE ON MSN MONEY
DATA PROVIDERS
Copyright © 2013 Microsoft. All rights reserved.
Quotes are real-time for NASDAQ, NYSE and AMEX. See delay times for other exchanges.
Fundamental company data and historical chart data provided by Thomson Reuters (click for restrictions). Real-time quotes provided by BATS Exchange. Real-time index quotes and delayed quotes supplied by Interactive Data Real-Time Services. Fund summary, fund performance and dividend data provided by Morningstar Inc. Analyst recommendations provided by Zacks Investment Research. StockScouter data provided by Verus Analytics. IPO data provided by Hoover's Inc. Index membership data provided by SIX Financial Information.
Japanese stock price data provided by Nomura Research Institute Ltd.; quotes delayed 20 minutes. Canadian fund data provided by CANNEX Financial Exchanges Ltd.
FIDELITY VIEWPOINTS
- How to sell covered calls - Fidelity Investments
- Savvy year-end tax moves to consider now - Fidelity Investments
- Seven ways to prepare for tax changes
- Five reasons an annual review is crucial - Fidelity Investments
- Take a look at mid caps now - Fidelity Investments
- State of the sector: Health care - Fidelity Investments
RECENT QUOTES
WATCHLIST
LATEST POSTS
In the never-ending contest for sales, American carmakers are pulling ahead.
ABOUT
Top Stocks provides analysis about the most noteworthy stocks in the market each day, combining some of the best content from around the MSN Money site and the rest of the Web.
Contributors include professional investors and journalists affiliated with MSN Money.
Follow us on Twitter @topstocksmsn.
MARKET UPDATE
| NAME | LAST | CHANGE | % CHANGE | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| There’s a problem getting this information right now. Please try again later. | ||||
[BRIEFING.COM] The major averages ended modestly lower with the S&P 500 shedding 0.3%.
The benchmark average saw an opening loss of 1.2% after Japan's Nikkei tumbled 7.3%. Japanese stocks sold off amid continued volatility in Japanese Government Bond futures as the 10-yr yield spiked almost 16 basis points to 1.002 before the Bank of Japan's JPY2 trillion liquidity injection caused yields to retrace their gains.
Adding insult to injury was news out of China where the HSBC ... More
More Market News
Currencies
| NAME | LAST | CHANGE | % CHANGE |
|---|---|---|---|
| There’s a problem getting this information right now. Please try again later. | |||



