Market Insight

Markets rarely move at random. InvestorPlace’s leading analysts break down macro trends, sector dynamics, and recurring market patterns to help investors understand what is changing, what matters most, and where opportunities may emerge.

Costco Makes Move into Mall Retail Space

By Jeff Reeves
If Costco has its way, the mob scene taking place at its cavernous stores will soon be on the move – ideally to the oversized mall spaces known as “anchor” positions, which have long been the turf of big box retailers and department stores.

Apple Inc. Rumors – iTV Launch Set for Sept., 7-Inch iPad Confirmed

By Anthony John Agnello, Consumer and Technology Writer
A report from Bloomberg sheds new light on the Apple TV re-launch, including details on rental pricing. Speaking of new AAPL devices, a Taiwanese paper that rightly predicted the announcement of the original iPad is reconfirming the 7-inch iPad 2 for fall 2010.

Reasons for the Tech Buyout Frenzy – And Who’s Next

By Jeff Reeves
Wall Street has been abuzz with buyout news. Thursday’s announcement that Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) will buy McAfee (NYSE: MFE) for nearly $8 billion in cash made a huge splash last week – and Monday’s move from tech giant Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) to outbid Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) for small-cap data storage firm 3Par (NYSE: PAR) really threw the tech sector for a loop.

List of 52-Week Lows Hints at Market Mayhem to Come

By Jeff Reeves
A brutal housing report this morning sent the market into a tailspin, and the Dow Jones pushed below 10,000 for the first time in six weeks. But after investors digested the news of a gut-wrenching -27% drop in existing home sales, the sell-off softened. The broader markets still finished down, but the Dow reclaimed five figures by the closing bell.

McDonald’s, BK Move Towards Higher Prices

By Burke Speaker, Investorplace Writer
In what’s being seen as a smart but a somewhat risky move, McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD) today announced the newest foray into premium pricing with its $5 Smokehouse Deluxe burger at a time when consumers are downgrading from casual dining restaurants to more fast-food fare.

Gasoline Prices Falling on Less Driving, More Ethanol

By Paul Ausick
The US pump price for a gallon of gasoline has hit an eight-month low of just below $2.71/gallon. This is good news for consumers, of course, but it underscores the continuing weakness in the US economy.

Why Bigger Stocks Are Better than Small-Caps

By Jon Markman, Editor, Trader's Advantage and CounterPoint Options
In the past six months there has appeared to be a disconnect between the strength of stocks in the S&P 500 and all other companies, both public and private. Indeed, earnings growth has been much more impressive among large companies than small companies, which is a fairly rare event.

China Automaker and Buffett Stock BYD Faces Rough Road

By Paul Ausick
In February, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. (NYSE: BRK-B) reported ownership of 225 million shares of Chinese battery and auto maker BYD Company Ltd. (OTC: BYDDF). Berkshire Hathaway paid $232 million for a 10% stake in the company in 2008. That stake was worth $1.986 billion in February, for a tidy gain of more than 800%.

7 Health Care Penny Stocks to Buy

By Louis Navellier, Editor, Growth Investor
Here are 7 penny stocks in the health care sector each trading at under $2 a share as of this writing. Although these health care stocks may not be industry giants, they have shown long-term return potential for investors with strong year to date market performances.

T-Bonds Won’t Run Out of Gas Anytime Soon

By Ivan Martchev, InvestorPlace Contributor
The doomsayers of the U.S. Treasury bond market miss a fundamental point.

Merger ETF is Your Best Way to Play Acquisition Surge

By Jim Woods, Editor-in-Chief, Successful Investing, Intelligence Report, Bullseye Stock Trader
Today we received news of even more M&A action, as PC maker Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) made a $1.6 billion bid for data-storage firm 3PAR (NYSE: PAR), a +30% premium over last week’s offer from Dell (NASDAQ: DELL)

Visa, Bank of America Test Smartphone Payments

By Anthony John Agnello, Consumer and Technology Writer
Starting this fall, smartphone users will be able to use their handheld devices to pay for purchases at retail checkout counters across the country.

Apple Inc. (AAPL) News –Gov’t Mac Sales Soar

By Anthony John Agnello, Consumer and Technology Writer
Word is out that a Verizon (NYSE: VZ) iPhone might be further off than we thought. Meanwhile, AAPL hardware is a huge hit with business and government agencies, and the News Corp. (NASDAQ: NWS) iPad news service gains steam.

BHP-Potash Talks Show Strength of Fertilizer Stocks

By Ivan Martchev, InvestorPlace Contributor
Among agriculture stocks, the perennial rumor for a takeover candidate has always been AG pick Mosaic (NYSE: MOS) with its number-two position in the potash sector.

Where All That ‘Sidelines Cash’ is Heading Next

By Louis Navellier, Editor, Growth Investor
Standard & Poor's reported this week that the non-financial companies in the S&P 500 have accumulated a record-high $837 billion in cash as of March 31, 2010, the latest quarterly accounting period available. That's up 25.8% from a year earlier and up 221% from the end of 1999.

Coffee Prices Hit 12-Year High, Could Pinch Consumers

By Burke Speaker, Investorplace Writer
Coffee prices surged to a new 12-year high on Monday, pushed by last year’s poor Central and South American harvest and upcoming heavy storms in other coffee-producing regions that are adding to an already tight period for availability.

GM IPO – When Politics Meets Public Stock Offerings

By Jim Woods, Editor-in-Chief, Successful Investing, Intelligence Report, Bullseye Stock Trader
Most companies don’t throw an IPO party after being in business 102 years, but that’s what American auto giant General Motors is slated to do some time this fall after its stock offering. The GM IPO and return to public stock trading will be the first step in removing the government bailout from the automaker and getting back to private enterprise.

Gamestop Earnings Raise Fears Retailer is Next Blockbuster

By Anthony John Agnello, Consumer and Technology Writer
GameStop (NASDAQ: GME) stock slumped today after earnings, tracking at just above $18 a share during Friday morning trading. That's nearly a -10% drop since Wednesday, and an almost -34% drop from their $28.52 high in the past year. What happened?

Smucker’s Hopes to Share a Cup of Green Mountain Coffee Profits

By InvestorPlace Staff
No one is singing the Folgers’ “Best Part of Wakin’ Up” jingle more fervently this morning than J.M. Smucker Company (NYSE: SJM), which just announced the launch of dozens of new products, including Folgers gourmet single-serve coffee cups. The move is a bid to share in the success of the single-serve coffee market that has produced runaway profits for Green Mountain Coffee (NASDAQ: GMCR) and others.
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