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.

Simple trading strategies that make sense of the big picture through just a few important economic statistics can serve retirement investors well. When major institutional investors around the world want to understand what's happening in the global economy, they turn to ISI Group in New York. Here's a quick look at their current view of the U.S. economy and stock market, including the best investments to buy now.

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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.

When you buy stock, the price-earnings ratio, or the PE ratio, is key. Watching this benchmark closely can help you buy the best stocks.

FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) reported earnings this morning that beat analysts' expectations, but quarterly sales and profits are not the focal point for investors. FedEx reported EPS of $1.33, a penny better than earnings estimates on sales revenue of $9.43 billion, substantially better than FDX sales estimates for of $9.04 billion. FedEx Corp. leaders noted that volume growth drove the better-than-expected results for the shipping stock.

British Sky Broadcasting Group, or BSkyB, rejected a News Corp. buyout worth $11.5 billion. However, BSkyB but would like to see another merger or buyout prompted by NWS stock execs. British Sky Broadcasting, a satellite company akin to DirecTV (DTV) and Dish Network (DISH) is already 39% owned by News Corp before the buyout offer.

Cablevision Systems Corp. ( CVC) announced today that it was acquiring Bresnan Communications for $1.365 billion. Bresnan has more than 300,000 customers in Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, and Utah, and the company's wires pass more than 630,000 homes in the four states it serves. Ascent Media Corp. (NASDAQ: ASCMA), Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC), Charter Communications, Suddenlink Communications, and private equity firm TPG Capital were also said to be bidders for Bresnan. Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA) was apparently not interested, even though it owned 30% of Bresnan.

American Public University which is owned and operated by American Public Education, Inc. (NASDAQ: APEI) was recently in the news when Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) announced that it was starting a program to help its 1.4 million US employees gain a post-secondary education. Wal-Mart employees who participate in the program will get a grant from the school to meet 15% of their tuition costs, and Wal-Mart will pay up to $50 million over the next three years for tuition assistance and other costs.