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  • Jim Cramer throws in the towel

    Posted Oct 06 2008, 10:28 AM by Kim Peterson
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    Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money

    I wonder how much influence Jim Cramer has on the markets. The host of CNBC's "Mad Money" went on the Today show Monday and told investors to get out.

    "Whatever money you may need for the next five years, please take it out of the stock market right now, this week," he said. "I do not believe that you should risk those assets in the stock market right now.”

    Cramer is predicting that the market could fall by as much as 20%.   Read More...

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  • Obama's court pick, Sotomayor, keeps gun stocks soaring

    Posted May 29 2009, 02:52 PM by Louis Navellier
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    Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money

    President Obama's nomination of federal appeals court Judge Sonia Sotomayor to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter heralds yet another victory for gun-makers. Yes, you read that right.

    Let me explain.

    While most investors have been rightly focused on the crisis in the markets and economy lately, some Americans have been focusing on other political issues, namely the Second Amendment.

    They wonder, will the Obama Administration and new Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor put the right to bear arms in jeopardy? Clearly, many think so, as evidenced by an increase in gun sales and an associated rally in gun stocks.

    Indeed, two of my favorite gun stocks, Sturm Ruger & Co. (RGR) and Smith & Wesson (SWHC), rallied Thursday on the news of Sotomayor's nomination. But it's not just Sotomayor's nomination that has been lifting the gun-makers. The recession has helped, too   Read More...

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  • Ethanol myth blasted in new Science mag

    Posted Feb 10 2008, 11:54 PM by Jon Markman
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    Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money

    Corn-based ethanol production is sure to go down as one of the greatest mistakes ever in U.S. energy policy, yet it is so heavily embedded in election-year politics it just won't go away.

    The government's recent move to boost ethanol production -- embedded in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007  -- panders to Midwestern and Southern farm-state electorates that are influential in presidential races, yet will end up costing the nation billions more than it purports to save.

    I  wrote about this scam back in October in a column titled, "Shuck the ethanol and let solar shine," but apparently for some reason my expression of outrage was not enough to prevent Congress from passing a law in late December that will cost taxpayers as much as $550 billion over the next four years.

    Now scientists have finally completed research that shows ethanol is not only bad business but also bad for the environment. According to news reports, the latest issue of Science magazine highlights studies showing that biofuels produce more greenhouse gas emissions than fossil fuels when all of their production inputs are accounted for.    Read More...

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  • The scary loss of market support

    Posted Nov 20 2008, 04:46 AM by Charley Blaine
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    Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money

    Note: This post has been updated to account for Thursday's close.

    I was fairly sure a couple of weeks ago that the market was putting in a bottom. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index told me so.

    I was so confident that a bottom was forming that I even commissioned a graphic showing why. Now, I'm worried about how far much farther the market could fall. The S&P 500 tells me so.

    Here's why.   Read More...

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  • Guns: A better buy than stocks

    Posted Apr 16 2009, 10:20 AM by Minyanville
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    Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money

    Forget stocks and bonds, the real money's in guns.

    The Wall Street Journal reports artillery enthusiasts are stocking up on guns and ammo, not necessarily ahead of widespread civil unrest resulting from our ongoing economic swoon, but as an investment. These trigger-happy speculators are betting President Obama will institute a ban on assault rifles, which would crimp supply and send prices, well, shooting up.

    For it's part, the Obama administration says it has no plans to enact such legislation and supports the Second Amendment right to bear arms.

    During the federal ban on semiautomatic weapons from 1994-2004, prices soared. Recent buying has reached almost a frenzied pitch, creating backlogs for popular models and enabling resellers to list certain guns well above suggested retail prices. AK-47s doubled in price between September 2008 and the end of last year.   Read More...

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  • New wheat crisis plagues world food supply

    Posted Mar 27 2008, 12:46 AM by Jon Markman
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    Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money

    If it seems like you are paying more for your cereal, beer and pizza lately, shake your fist in the direction of Pakistan, Uganda and Argentina, because a weird confluence of international events are combining to slash the world supply of wheat and boost prices. The downside of globalization is that a crop failure 10,000 miles away can lead to pricier brewskis here. 

    It's actually a lot more serious than that. The New Scientist magazine reports that a wheat disease that started in central Africa actually threatens to destroy most of the world wheat crop, leaving millions to starve. A fungus called Ug99 has already spread from Africa to Iran and is bearing down on Pakistan, according to the report. This is bad news because Pakistan and Punjab wheat is extremely important to the entire food chain of the densely populous plains of South Asia.

    According to reports, scientists hope to slow the spread of Ug99 by spraying new forms of fungicide but the only real firebreak will come when agronomists are able to create Ug99-resistant strains of wheat over the next few years. The disease, which is said to be a super-strong strain of black stem rust, first came to light in Uganda in 1999 and has since ruined crops in Kenya, Ethiopia and Yemen. Now winds are expected to take the spores to Egypt, Turkey, Syria and Iran. Chinese scientists are said to be on a crash program to develop Ug99-resistant wheat strains before the disease ravages its already weakened croplands.   Read More...

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  • North Dakota oil discovery called biggest in U.S.

    Posted Apr 10 2008, 03:53 PM by Jon Markman
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    Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money

    Watch out, Texas!  Get back California, Louisiana and Alaska! North Dakota and Montana are on track to knock all of you off your high horses as the oil capital of the United States.

    According to a government report published today that has stunned the energy biz, a thin layer of rock known as the Bakken Shale, located a couple of miles under the Badlands, holds up 4.3 billion barrels of recoverable oil, making it the single largest oil reservoir that federal scientists have ever assessed. 

    At today’s price of $110 per barrel, that puts the value at $475 billion, give or take a few bill, or more than enough to make people think ND stands for North Dallas. Or maybe that’s New Dhabi. 

    The U.S. Geological Survey only assessed the Bakken Shale in U.S. boundaries, so the full extent of the find, which stretches north into the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba, will ultimately be larger. Already the estimate for “technically recoverable” oil – or that which is exploitable using current technology -- is 25 times higher than the last time the USGS surveyed the area, in 1995.   Read More...

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  • 5 reasons the market could crash in October

    Posted Sep 18 2009, 04:08 PM by InvestorPlace
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    Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money

    This article is by InvestorPlace's Michael Shulman.

    There are anywhere between one and 100 reasons the market could fall in October. Some of these reasons are technical; some are fundamental.

    Bing: More on Stock Market Crashes

    Here are five, all of which are worth careful consideration.

    #1 -- The Consumer is Down and Out


    The driver of the U.S. economy is the consumer -- consumer spending accounts for 70% of the nation's GDP. And the consumer is down and out.

    Americans have lost 40% of their wealth in the past two years. More than $4 trillion in credit lines will have vanished by year-end. The real unemployment rate (unemployed, discouraged and part-time workers wanting full-time work) is roughly 20%; and weekly work hours and wages are stagnant. In short, most consumers have no extra income to spend.   Read More...

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  • Mud wrestling in Midtown

    Posted Mar 11 2009, 04:54 PM by Charley Blaine
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    Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money

    Last we heard from those two lovebirds, CNBC's Jim Cramer and "The Daily Show's" Jon Stewart, each was accusing the other of being a terrible, horrible, awful human being. Or something like that.

    Now they're going to face off Thursday on Stewart's program, airing on the Comedy Central network. Given the egos at work, it could be a lot of fun.

    A veritable mud-wrestling match between two very smart, quick-tongued men.    Read More...

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  • Was that the market bottom?

    Posted Mar 10 2009, 11:55 AM by Andrew Horowitz
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    Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money

    Over the past several weeks, there has been a growing chorus of negativity coming from all directions. It always concerns me when I hear everyone singing the same tune. For instance, investing in gold recently was said to be the only way to protect your portfolio from this economic calamity. Hard assets were on everyone's minds and pundits were suggesting to buy until it hurt. Well, that was $80 an ounce or so ago and now gold seems to have lost its shine.

    So, how can you tell when we are seeing a market top or bottom? That is next to impossible, but one way is to separate emotions from  rationale and consider objectively how many are calling for a top or a bottom. If you recall, the ideas of a bottom have been all but squashed in favor of a Dow 5,000 or an S&P 500 at 500. But just last weekend, it was clear that the level of bearishness hit a high chord. Here is why...   Read More...

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