Here's an interesting story, which speaks volumes about the psychological dynamic of the markets. On Friday the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) will report on end-of-season inventories, often called 'ending stocks.' Traders are getting word the report may show inventories are lower-than-usual. Against that backdrop, as a trader you certainly don't want to take a short position. So what to do? You buy, of course.

Monday's buying drove corn prices to a record high of $7.6025 per bushel, up 24.25 cents, as reported in the Wall Street Journal. Country Hedging, a brokerage firm, said: "Federal forecasters could drop the projection to less than 500 million bushels from last month's 675 million. This is a 15 year low."

Continue reading Supply Concerns Send Corn Prices to a Record High

Supply Concerns Send Corn Prices to a Record High originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 04 Apr 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

NetApp (NTAP), the fourth-largest player in the external disk storage market, creates innovative storage and data management solutions for small and medium-sized companies around the world. It competes mainly with other storage majors like EMC (EMC), IBM (IBM), HP (HPQ) and Dell (DELL).

Continue reading Storage Software Worth 22% of NetApp's Stock Value

Storage Software Worth 22% of NetApp's Stock Value originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 04 Apr 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Copper was the darling of commodity traders. The price rallied from about $6,400 per ton to a record $10,190 in the past year, The Financial Times reports. Momentum was strong and it looked like there was no end in sight. But now, prices have dropped off a bit and miners are worried that the rally has hit a brick wall. The main concern is that what drove drove prices skyward -- China's demand -- may be slowing, according to the FT.

One indication of the slowdown is the amount of stocks held in exchange warehouses. At the LME Asia + Shanghai exchange warehouses, copper stocks have increased from below 150,000 to over 325,000 tons. That buildup has worried miners. The companies affected are Freeport MeMoRan (FCX), BHP Billiton (BHP), Xstrada (XSRAF), Anglo American and Brazil's Codelco, according to the Financial Times.

Continue reading Miners Hedge Copper Inventories as Demand from China Slows

Miners Hedge Copper Inventories as Demand from China Slows originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 04 Apr 2011 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Let's go back to the financial crisis and the practices that brought this country to its knees. Banks developed a fancy scheme whereby they absolved themselves of all risk from the loans they made. They simply wrapped them up in a bundle and sold them to someone else. What they were doing is essentially packaging and reselling "junk."

When the news of how bad things were became known, the markets froze and collapsed. No one knew who had which securities, and if they did, they didn't know their true value.

Continue reading Banks Lobby Against Risk Retention on the Loans They Make

Banks Lobby Against Risk Retention on the Loans They Make originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 02 Apr 2011 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Why Did ServiceSource's IPO Jump 22%?

Why Did ServiceSource's IPO Jump 22%? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 01 Apr 2011 15:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

An invasion of U.S. oil fields by Asian buyers is happening. Recently, companies from Korea, China and India have bought land in the oil-rich states of Texas, Colorado and Wyoming, according to Reuters.

In one of the biggest land deals, Korea National Oil (KNOC) bought one-third of Anadarko Petroleum's (APC) land holdings in South Texas for $1.55 billion. The purchase of 80,000 acres is located in the Eagle Ford Shale section, which is believed to have rich deposits of oil, natural gas and liquids, according to Reuters. KNOC also will receive 16,000 acres in the Pearsall Shale in South Texas.

Continue reading Korea, China and India Invade U.S. Oil Fields

Korea, China and India Invade U.S. Oil Fields originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 22 Mar 2011 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The rebuilding of Japan will require large amounts of basic materials. One such material is cement. Cement is used in virtually every type of large building or factory.

It might be helpful to look at some cement stocks. Here are just a few, along with their recent share prices:

• Lafarge Coppee (LFRGY): $14.00. One of the world's largest cement and gypsum manufacturers.

Continue reading Cement Companies Could Benefit from Japanese Disaster

Cement Companies Could Benefit from Japanese Disaster originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 15 Mar 2011 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Every major crisis has its winners and losers. With the Japanese crisis, most prominent may be the uranium stocks. As you might guess they are getting hammered. The presumption is that governments will be reluctant to approve nuclear projects in the wake of Japan's nuclear meltdown.

Here are just a few companies and recent stock prices:

• Denison Mines (DNN): $2.55, down 74 cents. Denison is a worldwide mining and exploration company. It has two uranium waste recycling plants in the U.S.

Continue reading Uranium Stocks Hammered in the Wake of Tragedy in Japan

Uranium Stocks Hammered in the Wake of Tragedy in Japan originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 15 Mar 2011 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The crisis in Japan will require all sorts of construction materials for rebuilding destroyed buildings and factories. Steel is used in most construction projects. Here in the United States, U.S. Steel (X) is a dominant player.

Let's look at the company profile and earnings reports. "Based in Pittsburgh, the company operates mills throughout the Midwest, in Ontario, Canada, Serbia and Slovakia. The company makes semi finished steel, tubular and plate steel and tin products. Its annual production capacity is about 32 million tons of raw steel. The company's customers are from autos, chemical and steel service center industries."

Continue reading Will U.S. Steel Benefit as Japan Rebuilds?

Will U.S. Steel Benefit as Japan Rebuilds? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 15 Mar 2011 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Chinese government released trade data that portrays a $7.3 billion deficit. Is that believable or just convenient amid the international pressure to raise the value of their currency? We can hardly believe what comes out of Washington, so data coming out of China has to be quite suspect.

I'm sure they retained qualified independent auditors to ascertain the validity of the figures -- yeah right ...

Continue reading Chasing Value: A Chinese Trade Deficit?

Chasing Value: A Chinese Trade Deficit? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 11 Mar 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The publishing industry is experiencing an new and booming business in e-books. According to Forrester Research, consumers spent $1 billion on e-books in 2010. That number is expected to triple by 2015. In the US there were about 10 million e-readers in circulation in 2010, triple that of 2009.

The two leading players in the e-reader market are Amazon (AMZN) with its Kindle and Barnes and Noble's (BKS) Nook. With these readers a single reader can use the reader or a friend can be added as long as they know each other's email, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Continue reading e-Book Lending -- the Next New Thing

e-Book Lending -- the Next New Thing originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 11 Mar 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The market for single cup roasters is estimated at $4 billion, according to Reuters. Single cup coffee roasters are growing in popularity, especially in business offices and waiting rooms. Naturally, coffee roasters like Green Mountain Coffee (GMCR) and Starbucks (SBUX) want a piece of the action.

The single cup roasters provide several advantages to having coffee in larger coffee pots. For one thing, coffee which sits for hours in a pot loses some of its fresh flavor or becomes bitter. Enter the single cup roaster. You simply pop a small container of coffee in the machine, and viola, you get a single cup of coffee with little or no mess, and always fresh.

Continue reading Starbucks and Green Mountain Coffee End Battle for Single Cup Roasters

Starbucks and Green Mountain Coffee End Battle for Single Cup Roasters originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 10 Mar 2011 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Warren Buffett invested $232 million in BYD (BYDDF), a Chinese auto maker during the financial crisis, as reported by Reuters. As of December 2010 Buffett's 225 million shares were worth $1.18 billion. In 2009, the shares were valued at just under $2 billion. So from 2009 to 2010, Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) lost about 40% of his investment.

But that is just the beginning. Now there is criticism surrounding the new Chinese car, dubbed the hybrid car F3DM.They center around two major areas, authenticity of the design and the overall workmanship of the car itself.

Continue reading Will Buffett Back Away from His Deal with BYD, the Chinese Auto Maker?

Will Buffett Back Away from His Deal with BYD, the Chinese Auto Maker? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 09 Mar 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

New Premium Portfolio Recommendation: On March 2, we issued a sell recommendation on four stocks (AET, DLTR, FRX and RAFG) at market. We recommended you use the proceeds and available cash to buy equal dollar amounts of the following four stocks at market:

Continue reading Buyback Letter Newsletter: Mid Month - March 2011

Buyback Letter Newsletter: Mid Month - March 2011 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 09 Mar 2011 17:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This is indeed a dramatic move. The world's largest bondholder, Pacific Invest Management Company, dubbed Pimco, sold all of its U.S. government holdings including U.S. treasuries.

At the end of February, Pimco had $236.93 billion or 12% of its holdings in the Total Return Fund in U.S. holdings. That was cut to zero.

Continue reading Pimco's Gross Sells All U.S. Government Holdings

Pimco's Gross Sells All U.S. Government Holdings originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 09 Mar 2011 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Applied Materials (AMAT) is the world's largest semiconductor producer. The company has diversified and is producing solar power cells, but its main revenue stream is still mainly coming from crystalline silicon technology.

The company had blowout earnings in the fiscal first quarter, with income of $506 million or 38 cents a share, up from $83 million or six cents a share a year earlier, as reported in the Wall Street Journal. Revenue rose 45% to $2.69 billion from $1.95 billion.

Continue reading Applied Materials Net Jumps Sixfold; Predicts Bigger Profits in 2011

Applied Materials Net Jumps Sixfold; Predicts Bigger Profits in 2011 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 08 Mar 2011 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

ARM Holdings (ARMH) is far away from Silicon Valley. Its headquarters are on the campus of Cambridge University in England. ARM holdings has carved out a unique niche in the computer chip market.

It is a different kind of chip maker. Its core business is licensing chip designs to larger companies like Apple (AAPL), Samsung (SSNLF) and Qualcomm (QCOM.), as reported in the New York Times.

Continue reading ARM Holdings Licenses Chip Makers

ARM Holdings Licenses Chip Makers originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 04 Mar 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

We recently launched coverage of Kayak with a roughly $800 million valuation. Unlike online travel agencies like Expedia (EXPE) or Priceline (PCLN), Kayak does not provide online bookings directly but provides consumers a one-stop research solution to best fares along with other value-added services like flight status updates and pricing alerts.

We believe advertising revenues make up over 60% of Kayak's valuation while referral fees from hotel queries and air ticket queries constitute 21% and 14% respectively.

Continue reading Kayak Worth $800 Million Though Google-ITA Deal Is Concerning

Kayak Worth $800 Million Though Google-ITA Deal Is Concerning originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 04 Mar 2011 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Priceline.com Incorporated (PCLN) mainly competes with Expedia, Travelocity and Orbitz in online travel services like bookings for air tickets, hotel stays and car rentals. Priceline recently released its Q4 2010 results.

Two highlights of the results are a 44.3% year over year increase in gross travel bookings, and a 68% rise in international revenues compared to same quarter last year. Rising international revenue reiterates our view that Priceline (through its acquisitions like Booking.com and Agoda) should be able to leverage its foothold in European and Asian markets.

Continue reading Improving Hotel Occupancy Levels Spell Upside for Priceline's Stock

Improving Hotel Occupancy Levels Spell Upside for Priceline's Stock originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 03 Mar 2011 16:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Alcatel-Lucent Launches Tiny New Cell Phone Antenna System

Alcatel-Lucent Launches Tiny New Cell Phone Antenna System originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 03 Mar 2011 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.