The market looks great this morning.

Another week, another slow Wall Street. I had a pretty good week as I made a few good purchases last week. I accumulated more “OPC” and “FNM” stocks at a low price. I am very optimistic about OPC, C and CEMJQ. I wish I could purchase CEMJQ as will without making any calls. That would make things easy. We had a pretty good weekend. We went to a dinner party which was quite eventful.

The market looks really bright this morning. I don’t know what to expect during the month of October. I am hoping it won’t be as gloomy as the investors forecasted to be. Time will tell, I guess.
Things are still slow in Fort McMurray. I just hope that we get going at some point. It just does not look very good for the rest of the year. I am hoping that 2010 will be better for us and we will be back in the green again.

LONDON (AP) -- German stocks led the advance in Europe Monday after voters gave Chancellor Angela Merkel's new pro-business coalition a majority in parliament, while takeover fever helped U.S. markets to early week gains. In Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 index of leading British shares closed up 83.5 points, or 1.6 percent, at 5,165.70 while France's CAC-40 rose 85.86 points, or 2.3 percent, to 3,825. However, those gains were dwarfed by the DAX's performance, which ended 154.90 points, or 2.8 percent, higher at 5,736.31 after elections Sunday gave the conservative Merkel a second four-year term. Her Christian Democrats have enough seats to end the "grand coalition" with the center-left Social Democrats and are expected to form a new government with the pro-business Free Democrats. Merkel said she wants to have a new center-right government in place by the time Germany celebrates the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall on Nov. 9. However Marc Ostwald, a strategist at Monument Securities, cautioned against too much investor euphoria as Peer Steinbrueck of the Social Democrats will no longer be finance minister.

- WASHINGTON (AP) -- Big job losses and a spike in early retirement claims from laid-off seniors will force Social Security to pay out more in benefits than it collects in taxes the next two years, the first time that's happened since the 1980s. The deficits -- $10 billion in 2010 and $9 billion in 2011 -- won't affect payments to retirees because Social Security has accumulated surpluses from previous years totaling $2.5 trillion. But they will add to the overall federal deficit. Applications for retirement benefits are 23 percent higher than last year, while disability claims have risen by about 20 percent. Social Security officials had expected applications to increase from the growing number of baby boomers reaching retirement, but they didn't expect the increase to be so large.

What happened? The recession hit and many older workers suddenly found themselves laid off with no place to turn but Social Security.

- Stocks leapt on Monday as deal news, upbeat analyst comments and the perception of available bargains after last week's losses fueled broad-based buying. The Dow Jones Industrial Average recouped most of last week's 155-point fall, trading 138 points higher in recent action, up 1.4%, at 9803, helped by gains in 29 of its 30 components. The only exception was Kraft, which was recently down 0.2% and has moved between gains and losses throughout the session.

- NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil rose nearly 2 percent above $67 a barrel on Monday as U.S. equities jumped and news emerged that Iran was test-firing missiles. U.S. stocks climbed as more merger and acquisition activity encouraged investors and hinted at economic recovery, which could spur energy demand. U.S. crude rose $1.18 to $67.20 a barrel by 12:49 p.m. EDT (1649 GMT), after earlier falling as low as $65.41. London Brent rose 86 cents to $65.97. Support for oil also came from Iran test-firing a type of missile on Monday that defense analysts said could hit Israel and U.S. bases in the Gulf region, state television reported. "Crude futures are following the stock market right now and the news from Iran firing missiles has sparked some buying, too," said Phil Flynn, analyst at PFGBest Research in Chicago. Tensions over Tehran's nuclear program have supported oil prices in recent years. The country is the second-largest oil producer in the Middle East. In late 2008, Iran threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 40 percent of the world's globally traded oil passes, when tensions rose in another row with the United States around the nuclear work.

- WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of the World Bank on Monday sounded a cautionary note about granting greater regulatory power to the U.S. Federal Reserve and said the dollar's future will "depend heavily on U.S. choices." "It should not be a surprise that American democracy is hesitating about authorizing the Fed to supervise systemic banking as well as operating monetary policy, adding to its power," World Bank President Robert Zoellick said. In a speech prepared for delivery at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies, Zoellick said the U.S. Congress had a long tradition of viewing banks with suspicion that made it a challenge to beef up the U.S. central bank's power after last year's financial panic. Aiming to prevent a repeat of the crisis that pushed the world financial system to the brink of collapse, President Barack Obama has proposed sweeping changes to U.S. regulation that would make the Fed the lead systemic risk regulator.

- MANILA, Philippines – Rescuers pulled more bodies from swollen rivers Monday as residents started to dig out their homes from under carpets of mud after flooding left 140 people dead in the Philippine capital and surrounding towns. Overwhelmed officials called for international help, warning they may not have sufficient resources to withstand another storm that forecasters said was brewing east of the island nation and could hit as early as Friday. Authorities expected the death toll from Tropical Storm Ketsana, which scythed across the northern Philippines on Saturday, to rise as rescuers penetrate villages blocked off by floating cars and other debris. The storm dumped more than a month's worth of rain in just 12 hours, fueling the worst flooding to hit the country in more than 40 years. At least 140 people died, and 32 are missing.

- TEHRAN, Iran – Iran tested its most advanced missiles Monday to cap two days of war games, raising more international concern and stronger pressure to quickly come clean on the newly revealed nuclear site Tehran was secretly constructing. State television said the powerful Revolutionary Guard, which controls Iran's missile program, successfully tested upgraded versions of the medium-range Shahab-3 and Sajjil missiles. Both can carry warheads and reach up to 1,200 miles (2,000 kilometers), putting Israel, U.S. military bases in the Middle East, and parts of Europe within striking distance. The missile tests were meant to flex Iran's military might and show readiness for any military threat. "Iranian missiles are able to target any place that threatens Iran," said Abdollah Araqi, a top Revolutionary Guard commander, according to the semi-official Fars news agency. Iran conducted three rounds of missile tests in drills that began Sunday, two days after the U.S. and its allies disclosed the country had been secretly developing an underground uranium enrichment facility. The Western powers warned Iran it must open the site to international inspection or face harsher international sanctions. Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hasan Qashqavi said the missile tests had nothing to do with the tension over the site, saying it was part of routine, long-planned military exercises.

- CAIRO – Al-Qaida's deputy leader on Monday seized upon President Barack Obama's failure to bring about a freeze in Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank and called him a "fraud" in a new audio message. Ayman al-Zawahri's 28-minute audio message was mainly a eulogy for slain Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, but he also took the opportunity to slam NATO member states operating in Afghanistan, including Germany, which he criticized for keeping troops there. The recording comes after a series of al-Qaida videos this past month, including several attacking Germany and threatening strikes against Berlin's military mission in Afghanistan. Those releases raised concerns among German authorities ahead of parliamentary elections which ended Sunday. Al-Zawahri reserved special scorn for Obama, whom he has insulted in nearly every one of his messages since the latter's historic election as U.S. president. Many experts believe that Al-Qaida is struggling in the face of Obama's popularity in the Muslim world, especially compared to his predecessor George W. Bush. Obama publicly called for an Israeli freeze in settlement construction in order to restart the peace talks, but was rebuffed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week.

Optimistic about the week

I had a pretty good weekend. It was quite eventful and fun. I am glad that I played some poker and got a few good hands. The market was slow but steady last week. I am hoping that the stock market will be much better in the coming weeks. OPC, C, AIG and FNM are showing good signs. I am hoping very good things from OPC. CEMJQ gave up some grounds at the end of Friday. I am still very hopeful that it will reach 3 ($) in coming months.



- WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Insurer American International Group Inc's (NYSE:AIG - News) once-desperate financial state has started to stabilize, a government agency said on Monday, as an influential lawmaker said he would look at easing the terms of the insurer's federal bailout once more. AIG's shares shot up, rising more than 16 percent in afternoon trade to $46.44. AIG, the recipient of billions of dollars in government support, started to show signs of stabilizing in mid-2009, as financial markets improved, congressional investigators said in a report on the status of the government's assistance to the company. The insurer was rescued by the government in September 2008, after losing bets that it made on the U.S. housing market threatened to drive the firm into bankruptcy.

- Rarely has the stock market seen a six-month rally like the one it just turned in. The Dow Jones Industrial Average's 46% surge was one of just six of that magnitude in the last 100 years. And that is exactly what worries many analysts. All previous rallies of this magnitude took place in the 1930s and the 1970s, according to Ned Davis Research. Those were periods of turbulence for both the economy and the markets, and none of the gains was sustained. Many analysts believe that stocks are again in such a turbulent period, and that this rally could lead to another slump. Stocks did enjoy a rally of 40% in 1982, at the start of a long-running period of stock-market prosperity. That rally wasn't of the same magnitude of the others, however. It came as economic troubles, notably inflation, were finally being squeezed out of the economy.

- WASHINGTON – Despite predictions the Great Recession is running out of steam, the House is taking up emergency legislation this week to help the millions of Americans who see no immediate end to their economic miseries. A bill offered by Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., and expected to pass easily would provide 13 weeks of extended unemployment benefits for more than 300,000 jobless people who live in states with unemployment rates of at least 8.5 percent and who are scheduled to run out of benefits by the end of September.
The 13-week extension would supplement the 26 weeks of benefits most states offer and the federally funded extensions of up to 53 weeks that Congress approved in legislation last year and in the stimulus bill enacted last February.

- Oil prices fell for a third straight day before the U.S. Federal Reserve meets to discuss monetary policy, which for months has helped to drive crude prices higher. Benchmark crude for October delivery lost more than 3 percent, or $2.33, to settle at $69.71 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. With the October contract set to expire on Tuesday, traders were focusing more on the November contract, which fell $2.56 to settle at $69.93. Natural gas futures, which have soared throughout the month, fell sharply, as did most other fuels. Energy consumption in North America and Europe has been crimped by recession, leaving China as one of the few countries that continue to consume oil, gasoline and diesel in large quantities. That pace, at least during late summer, appeared to slow, according to a report released Monday. Chinese oil demand slid 5.4 percent in August from July, the first month-to-month drop since March, according to Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill.

- TROY, New York (Reuters) – President Barack Obama criticized the largest U.S. banks on Monday for trying to thwart legislation that would overhaul federal student loan programs. He singled out in particular banks that have received bailout money from the federal government, saying they want to maintain the status quo on student loans because they get an "unwarranted subsidy" from it. The U.S. House of Representatives last week approved legislation that would cut major banks and student loan giant Sallie Mae out of a large slice of the $92 billion university student loan business, shifting most lending into a program run by the U.S. Education Department. The bill, strongly backed by Obama, will go next to the Senate for further consideration. Some Republicans criticized the bill as a government takeover of an industry that has served students well but Obama's fellow Democrats praised the House bill as a victory for students over banks.

- BAGHDAD – The kidnappers holding an Iraqi auto mechanic's 11-year-old son gave him just two days to come up with $100,000 in ransom. When he could not, they were just as quick to deliver their punishment: They chopped off the boy's head and hands and dumped his body in the garbage. The boy's final words to his father came in an agonizing phone call. "Daddy, give them the money. They are beating me," Muhsin Mohammed Muhsin pleaded a day before he was killed. As the worst of the country's sectarian bloodshed ebbs, Iraqis now face a new threat to getting on with their lives: a frenzy of violent crime.

- ANSBACH, Germany – A German teenager who wounded nine students and a teacher in a terrifying ax and arson attack on his school was motivated by a "hatred for humanity" and had been planning the rampage since April, officials said Monday. The new details came as the 18-year-old, who had been shot three times by police, was awakened Monday from a medically induced coma. Prosecutor Gudrun Lehnberger said the suspect was responsive but has not yet been questioned about Thursday's attack. However, the roughly 80 pages of evidence recovered from the teenager's laptop included extensive information on his plans, much of it addressed to a female whose name was not released, said Juergen Krach, another prosecutor. Krach said investigators believe the addressee may be fictional, and the material was apparently not sent to anyone. The teenager, who has not been named, wrote that his "goal was to kill as many students and teachers as possible and burn down the school," Lehnberger told reporters at a news conference.

- TEHRAN, Iran – Iran's president said Monday he is proud to stoke international outrage with his latest remarks denying the Holocaust as he heads for the United Nations this week — showing he is as defiant as ever while his country comes under greater pressure to curtail its nuclear program. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad takes the world stage with a speech Wednesday to the U.N. General Assembly. He appears intent on showing he has not been weakened by three months of turmoil at home, where the pro-reform opposition has staged dramatic protests claiming Ahmadinejad's victory in June presidential elections was fraudulent. Ahmadinejad has a reason to try to present his government as strong: On Oct. 1, Iran is to enter key negotiations with the United States and other powers seeking concessions on Iran's nuclear program. The U.S. and its allies suspect Iran is secretly pursuing a nuclear weapon, warning that Tehran already has enough enriched uranium to build a bomb. Iran denies the accusations, saying it only aims to generate electricity.

- TORONTO (Reuters) – Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff said on Monday he would not propose tax increases to balance the budget if he became prime minister, saying Canada's economic recovery is too fragile. Ignatieff, who is trying, so far unsuccessfully, to force an election to oust the minority Conservative government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, said spending cuts and economic growth were the way to slay the budget deficit. "At a time when we are still bumping along the bottom, tax increases would add to the burden on Canadian businesses and Canadian families, and we think that might just shut recovery off cold," Ignatieff told reporters following an economic speech in Toronto. "So our proposition is we need to keep our tax rates competitive but we will not propose tax increases in a platform in the next election," he said.
In April, Ignatieff said no honest politician faced with a huge deficit would take anything off the table because Canadians were allergic to structural budget deficits, a remark the Conservatives have kept prominent in their attacks on him. In his speech to Toronto's financial community, Ignatieff said spending controls alone would not be enough to dig Canada out of the fiscal hole, but that economic growth initiatives would be needed to fight unemployment. Canada's total shortfall for this year and the next five years is forecast to be C$164.4 billion ($152.2 billion), Ignatieff also hinted that protective "buy American" trade restrictions brought in by the United States, Canada's largest trading partner by far, must be fought on all fronts, and promised an investment review process to protect Canada's national interests.

We are not doing so badly for SEPTEMBER

It had been a while since I bogged. We took a trip last week which was eventful. We had a lot of fun. A lot had happened this week in the Wall Street. CEMJQ is still going strong and broke a Dollar mark this week. I think it’s still going to gain and will go to $ 2. OPC showed some strength on Wednesday and I thought the sleeping giant is finally waking up but looks like it’s going back to $ 2 mark. I am glad I took out some cash off the table. I am still optimistic about this stock. TPUT is a big disappointment. The stock just about wiped out. I am stuck and can’t do much right now. I am glad I made a few dollars in FLEX and IMGG. This is helping my portfolio to not look so bad. Let’s see what happens in the coming weeks.


TEHRAN, Iran – Hard-liners attacked senior pro-reform leaders in the streets as tens of thousands marched in competing mass demonstrations by the opposition and government supporters. Opposition protesters, chanting "death to the dictator," hurled stones and bricks in clashes with security forces firing tear gas. The opposition held its first major street protests since mid-July, bringing out thousands in demonstrations in several parts of the capital. In some cases only several blocks away, tens of thousands marched in government-sponsored rallies marking an annual anti-Israel commemoration.

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama is sitting down for interviews with five television networks this afternoon, a highly unusual schedule even for a president who regularly uses the media to get his message across. Obama will be taping interviews with ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN and Univision that will be shown during the networks' Sunday morning talk shows. The only network missing from the lineup is Fox News, which has refused to carry Obama's last several prime time news conferences. Obama also is visiting David Letterman on Monday, the first appearance ever by a sitting president on Letterman's "Late Show." White House aides say Obama agreed to the interviews in order to reach as many people as possible with his health care reform message.

BRUSSELS – The head of NATO called Friday for the U.S., Russia and NATO to link their missile defense systems against potential new nuclear threats from Asia and the Middle East, saying that the old foes must forget their lingering Cold War animosity. Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen appealed for unity a day after the U.S. shelved a Bush-era plan for an Eastern European missile defense shield that has been a major irritant in relations with Russia. "We should explore the potential for linking the U.S., NATO and Russia missile defense systems at an appropriate time," Fogh Rasmussen said. "Both NATO and Russia have a wealth of experience in missile defense. We should now work to combine this experience to our mutual benefit," he said.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Forty-two states lost jobs last month, up from 29 in July, with the biggest net payroll cuts coming in Texas, Michigan, Georgia and Ohio. The Labor Department also reported Friday that 27 states saw their unemployment rates increase in August, and 14 states and Washington D.C., reported unemployment rates of 10 percent or above. The report shows jobs remain scarce even as most analysts believe the economy is pulling out of the worst recession since the 1930s. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said earlier this week that the recovery isn't likely to be rapid enough to reduce unemployment for some time.

- Oil prices weakened Friday, dampened by concerns that a recovery in U.S. demand may be slower than expected and as stockpiles of refined products continued to rise. By mid-afternoon in Europe, benchmark crude for October delivery was down 47 cents to $72.00 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 3 cents to settle at $72.47 on Thursday. Victor Shum, an energy analyst with consultancy Purvin & Gertz in Singapore, said oil prices were held back by a slide in regional stock markets and a stronger U.S. dollar. U.S. government data also indicated that economic recovery would be slow, which may mean less demand for energy in the near term by the world's largest crude user.

- WASHINGTON (AP) -- Regulators have proposed rules to stem conflicts of interest and provide more transparency for credit rating companies. They also proposed banning "flash orders," which give some traders a split-second edge in buying or selling stocks. The changes, which are open to public comment for 60 days, could eventually be adopted by the agency, possibly with revisions. The credit rating industry was widely faulted for its role in the subprime mortgage debacle and the financial crisis. The five members of the Securities and Exchange Commission voted at a public meeting Thursday to propose rules that could reshape an industry dominated by three firms: Standard & Poor's, Moody's Investors Service and Fitch Ratings. Their practices would be opened wider to public view and subject to some restraints.