Lennar Corp. (LEN) posted earnings Thursday, saying that it returned to profitability in its fiscal second quarter. Any profit at all is better for the homebuilder than the housing market last year, but investors didn't seem too impressed by the Lennar earnings turnaround as shares LEN stock were off slightly in midday trading.

Software, and now hardware, maker Oracle Inc. (NASDAQ: ORCL) releases fiscal fourth quarter earnings after markets close today. Analysts' earnings estimates for Oracle are that the company will report EPS of $0.54 on revenue of $9.5 billion. That's a nice boost from the year ago EPS of $0.46 for Oracle and revenues of $6.9 billion.

Nike, Inc. (NYSE: NKE) reported fourth quarter 2010 earnings after the market closed yesterday. Diluted EPS came in at $1.08, better than previous earnings estimates of $1.06, and up substantially from Nike earnings of $0.70 in the same period a year ago. Nike revenues for the quarter totaled $5.1 billion, up from $4.7 billion a year ago and in line with earnings report expectations.

The bad housing news got worse this week. New home sales plunged 32.7% in May to their lowest level on record - and April's figures were revised down significantly, to 446,000. The expiration of the home buyers' tax credit is a likely culprit. That does not bode well for homebuilders, housing stocks or ETF funds in the sector.

Airplanes are filling up again and airline stocks are doing pretty well. For the first quarter of 2010, the US Department of Transportation reports that 135 million passengers filled airline seats, compared with about 127 million in the same period a year ago. However, the airlines also bumped about 220,000 ticketed passengers, an even sharper rise compared with about 175,000 in the same period a year ago.

General Motors unit Chevrolet will be launching their brand new electric car, the Volt, in November of this year. GM has set up a program with the U.S. Department of Energy that will give the first 4,400 Volt buyers a 240-volt charging station for their electric vehicles. This could help get the fledgling electric car market off the ground and not just help GM but also automakers like Honda (HMC), Toyota (TM) and Ford (F) that are planning to bring electric vehicles (or EVs) to the market.

Stocks in the euro zone are enjoying a reprieve from the European debt crisis of May in large part due to a successful bond auction in Spain. This euro crisis and Spanish bond auction came amid fear that when Spain came to market with a $4.3 billion debt sale the market would give it the one-fingered salute. Instead, the maximum amount set was sold at reasonable prices to investors looking for some good investment yield.

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Winnebago Industries Inc. (WGO) reported earnings Thursday morning that have continued the motor home giant's successful 2010. Revenues were up more than 165% over 2009, showing that consumer spending on big ticket items may be on the rebound. Specifically, Winnebego earnings were $3.4 million, their first operating profit in over two years and an astounding increase over WGO stock reported operating loss of -$14.8 million just one year ago.

The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) supermarket chain reported first quarter earnings that beat analysts' expectations and the company was rewarded with a downgrade from Bank of America Merrill Lynch from 'neutral' to 'underperform'. Grocer Safeway Inc. (NYSE: SWY) received the same ratings downgrade.

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With mortgage rates for 30-year fixed-rate loans at record lows, 75% of borrowers are looking to refinance. But unfortunately for homebuilders and housing stocks like Toll Brothers (TOL), Pulte (PHM) and KB Home (KBH), sales of new homes remain slow. So can record low mortgage rates turn things around for homebuilders and the housing market?

Investing strategies that indicate we are entering another volatile period for the stock market as in 2008 are way off. Investors should stick to a trading strategy that banks on an economic recovery and rebound for most companies. A group of elite stocks will benefit best from this investing strategy.

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