I first discussed MasterCard Inc. (MA) here on April 13, 2009, at a price of $176.06, and shares have vectored toward $250 resistance after a dip to $215 this winter. I obviously still like the business model at this stage.

Look for MasterCard to post an impressive 9% to 12% revenue increase in 2011 and a 7% to 9% gain in 2012. MasterCard has emerged from the nation's worst recession in more than 25 years in enviable shape, even amid the frugal consumer era that's likely to restrict U.S. consumer spending. Look for transaction growth to continue, as a result of the U.S. and global trend toward increased use of credit cards.

American Express (AXP) was not on Wall Street's list of best buys today. The market is a few minutes away from closing as I write this, and I see that the shares are off by over 2% to $44.82. Volume is quite high.

Should investors be considering this credit-and-charge-card entity for their portfolios? Well, the stock is closer to the 52-week high of $49.19 than it is to the 52-week low of $36.60, but the twelve-month chart shows that the shares have been bouncing around in that somewhat narrow range rather vigorously.

Stocks hit what appears to be a 2-year high on the DJIA and NASDAQ today as economists and allocation experts keep raising targets for 2011. The jobless claims data was not enough to unravel markets and Moody's issuing additional warnings on Spain and Greece failed to dash the ambitions of the bulls. Even after bond yields challenged 7-months highs briefly this morning and even after more insider trading arrests were announced, the bulls still won.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow Jones 11,499.25 +41.78 (0.36%)
S&P 500 1,242.87 +7.64 (0.62%)
Nasdaq 2,637.31 +20.09 (0.77%)

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades

If you took advantage of MasterCard's (MA) 20% summer dip to add to shares, you made the correct move.

Mastercard, first discussed on April 13, 2009 at a price of $176.06, found support at $190 and has since re-taken key, psychological resistance at $200, currently trading at/near $235.

Look for MasterCard yo post an impressive 9-12% revenue increase in 2010 and a 10-12% rise in 2011. MA has emerged from the nation's worst recession in more than 25 years in enviable shape, even amid the 'frugal consumer' era that's likely to restrict U.S. consumer spending. Look for transaction growth to continue, as a result of the U.S./global trend toward increased use of credit cards.

MasterCard (MA) was higher this afternoon as market participants evaluated the credit-card company's most recent quarterly release. Shares were up 2.5% to a quote of $245.02.

The 52-week high for the stock is $269.88, so one could look at the situation as having room to grow (thankfully, the current share price is comfortably above the 52-week low of $191). The one-year chart, however, might offer some cause for concern. The stock does seem to want to make a comeback, but the image nevertheless is a bit tough to examine.

Discover Financial Services (DFS) is trading higher this afternoon after the credit-card entity reported numbers for the fiscal third quarter. At the time of this writing, the stock was up 2.4% to $15.95. Volume was very strong.

The shares have traded in a narrow range over the last twelve months. The 52-week low is $12.11 while the 52-week high is $17.36. The chart shows a nice trading vehicle for those who like to buy and sell on a short-term basis.

"Benjamin Graham has been recognized for decades as the father of value investing; Warren Buffett is known as the Oracle of Omaha for his superior investing skills," asserts J. Royden Ward, adding, "For this report, we combine Warren Buffett's and Ben Graham's criteria for choosing stocks.

The advisor reviews Abbott Laboratories (ABT), Coach (COH), Intel (INTC), Mastercard (MA), Microsoft (MSFT) and Tupperware Brands (TUP).

MasterCard Inc. (MA) closed down $6.12 to $194.40. Traders are concerned the Federal Reserve's potential approach to debit rules following the Financial Reform Bill could pressure the shares of MA and Visa. October put option implied volatility is at 36, January is at 38. This is versus its 26-week average of 33, according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

S&P Retail Index SPDR (XRT) seeks to replicate as closely as possible to the performance of the S&P Retail Select Index. XRT closed up 38 cents to $38.59. XRT call option volume of 16K contracts compares to put volume of 91K contracts. September put option implied volatility is at 27, October is at 31, December is at 35. This is versus its 26-week average of 29, according to Track Data, suggesting larger December price movement.

Options Update is by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

News that credit card debt has fallen to an eight-year low may not be the news that Visa (V) and Mastercard (MA) want to hear, but it is good news overall given the employment and economic situation. It's a sign of fiscal discipline during rough times.

Some analysts were a bit worried about credit card debt after the housing crisis; if you are unemployed, it can be easy to run up large debts on credit cards and then default on them.

I am sure there are some out there who think that consumers need to go out and spend more money to stimulate the economy, but that logic is not always good depending on the purchases.

MasterCard Inc. (MA) topped analysts' second-quarter earnings expectations Tuesday morning, but the stock had trouble finding positive ground in early trading. For the recently concluded quarter, the credit card titan banked a profit of $458 million, or $3.49 per share, up from its year-ago earnings of $349 million, or $2.67 per share. Revenue for the period climbed 6.7% to $1.37 billion, or 7.9% on a constant currency basis.

The bottom-line results comfortably exceeded analysts' expectations, which called for a profit of $3.33 per share, but Wall Street was anticipating a slightly more robust quarterly revenue of $1.38 billion.

I found a rather interesting article on Bloomberg, one discussing the potential of smartphones to replace credit cards. Supposedly, both AT&T (T), Verizon (VZ), and perhaps T-Mobile, may work with Discover Financial Services (DFS) and Barclays (BCS) in Atlanta and three other cities to test a system allowing consumers to pay with the "wave of a smartphone." This move would be the largest effort to attempt mobile payments in America and could serve to cut into credit card use.

Crone Consulting, a credit card consultant, noted that such a move could be a "game-changer" as far as credit cards are concerned. Think of how much such a move could cut into the market share for credit cards. According to the article, Visa (V) and MasterCard (MA) handled 82% of U.S. consumer spending a year ago (that is $2.45 trillion). Now imagine that smartphone users have the ability to simply pass their phone over a reader in order to pay for their purchases.

It seems as if everyone is worried about the economy going into a double-dip recession these days. Worry in and of itself can be very destructive, both to your mental state and to the economy overall. Besides pulling out your hair, causing acid reflux and other health problems, worry can actually become self-fulfilling prophecy and cause the very thing you are most afraid of.

A number of years ago when I read Dale Carnegie's book How to Stop Worrying and Start Living, one method he suggested was just to accept the worst case scenario and then move on with life from there.

So accept it: THE ECONOMY IS DOOMED! it's going to be 10 years of economic nightmare!

Now what?

Talk about hair cuts. The shares of MasterCard Inc. (MA), first discussed here on April 13, 2009 at a price of $176.06, plunged 21% in the past three months, amid the Dow's retreat.

The drop has turned a once big-winner trade into only a modest gain, but the calculation here is that the price move represents an overcorrection. Here's why:

MasterCard's revenue should increase an impressive 9-12% in 2010 and 10-15% in 2011. MA has emerged from the nation's worst recession in more than 25 years in enviable shape, even amid the 'frugal consumer' era that's likely to restrict U.S. consumer spending. Look for transaction growth to continue, as a result of the U.S./global trend toward increased use of credit cards.

With the unemployment rate hovering near 10%, bad news on the TV and job prospects dwindling, it can be tempting to retreat to a nice beach somewhere until the economy turns around. Some people are actually doing it! Rather than sitting around and moping until the economy recovers, you can go see the world and have the trip of a lifetime.

Out of work and taking a vacation? You probably want some of what I am smoking? Well, listen up!

(DFS), whose related companies include American Express (AXP), MasterCard (MA), and Visa (V), closed higher yesterday after releasing Q2 data. Of course, I should put the phrase "closed higher" into perspective. The stock ended the day at $14.08, which meant it rose 0.5%. Not exactly a spectacular end to the session, but it actually was doing better at other points during the intraday period.

According to this item, an improved profit picture in the latest report drove the buying. Card-sales volume went up while charge-offs went down. A great combination for the business.