Are we in for surprise in the financials?

It had been a mixed week. DOW gained some grounds but not in the area that I am interested in. C, FNM, X and OPC is standing still. I am sure the surge is coming for C, FNM and X. I am just not too comfortable putting my money in anything at the moment. It’s just a “wait and see” game. I am still optimistic about OPC. It will go to $ 3 at some point this year. I just hope that happens soon. CEMJQ is not doing anything for the last couple of weeks. I was hoping that it will go to $ 2 this week. Will it go? When will it go? Who knows? STEC is another story; I wonder what Kramer has to say about this stock. He spread optimism about this stock and a lot of sucker like me got into this stock just to find out after a few weeks that this stock tanked. I just hope that it will be back to $30’s at some point.

There are a lot of activities happening in Fort McMurray. I just hope that it stays positive for the rest of the year. I have not heard anything from Albian Sands in a while. I wonder what is going on there. What is their plan for 2010? Albian can give us a huge sparks next year. I am hoping to hire some experienced folks over the next few months. The problem is, I am not seeing too many resumes. The resumes that are coming are weak. This is a good time to build some good staff for our office.

- LONDON – European and U.S. stock markets took a breather Tuesday after a big rally in the previous session had pushed the Dow Jones industrial average to its highest level this year. Analysts said it was unsurprising trading was subdued after Monday's big gains, when sentiment was buoyed by the weekend pledge from the Group of 20 rich and developing countries to maintain stimulus measures as long as economies remained weak. In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was up only 0.62 of a point at 5,235.80 while Germany's DAX rose 11.35 points, or 0.2 percent, to 5,631.07. The CAC-40 in France was 5.38 points, or 0.1 percent, lower at 3,780.11. On Wall Street, the Dow was down 3.4 points at 10,223.54 soon after the open while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 0.89 point, or 0.1 percent, to 1,092.19. On Monday, U.S. stocks closed around 2 percent higher in the wake of the G-20 statement, with the Dow closing at 10,226.94, its best finish this year. David Jones, chief market strategist at IG Index, said there may be an "element of twitchiness creeping back into the market" as many of the world's major indexes approach their highest levels of the year. Though the Dow pushed out to fresh highs for 2009, Jones noted that the FTSE 100 and the S&P 500, for example, are still trading just below their October highs. "It would not be surprising to see markets mark time ahead of here, or even for some to book profits following the strong rise seen so far this month," said Jones. Much could well depend on whether the S&P 500 — widely considered to be a better barometer of investor appetite than the Dow — can breach its October high of 1,097.

- NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks jumped to new highs for the year Monday as the dollar extended its slide, boosting prices for commodities including gold and oil. Energy and materials stocks led the market higher. Investors were also buying stocks on growing confidence about the global economic recovery, getting a shot of optimism from news this weekend that the Group of 20 countries will keep stimulus measures in place. Investors saw the agreement as a signal that interest rates would remain low. Major stock indexes rose more than 1 percent, including the Dow Jones industrial average, which rose 150 points. Investors around the world are seeing the dollar as weaker than other currencies because of low U.S. interest rates, and so they're using it for what's known as "carry trade," to finance purchases of investments in other countries. That trend takes the dollar down when those purchases are made. Stock investors like a weaker dollar because it helps U.S. exporters by making their goods cheaper to overseas buyers and giving the companies a boost when they convert profits from abroad to dollars.

- LAS VEGAS (AP) — A 21-year-old Michigan poker professional who chose cards over college won the World Series of Poker main event in Las Vegas early Tuesday, winning $8.55 million and becoming the youngest player to win the tournament in its 40-year history. Joe Cada of Shelby Township, Mich., turned over a pair of nines early after 46-year old Darvin Moon called his all-in wager with a suited queen-jack, setting up an about-even race for most of the chips on the table. But a board of two sevens, a king, an eight and a deuce didn’t connect with either player’s cards and gave Cada the win. “I ran really well and I never really thought this was possible,” Cada said. “It was one of those dreams and I’m thankful it came true.” The hand abruptly ended a final table that saw Moon, a logger from western Maryland, bounce back to a dominant chip lead after being down 2-1 in chips to start the night. “I knew if I could catch, I got him,” Moon said of the final hand. “I just took a shot.” Cada broke a record for the tournament’s youngest winner set last year by Peter Eastgate of Denmark. Cada is 340 days younger than Eastgate. The record was previously held for two decades by 11-time gold bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, who posed for pictures with Cada after the win.

- SANTA MONICA, Calif. (AP) -- First-day sales of Activision Blizzard Inc.'s "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" broke records, raking in an estimated $310 million in North America and the United Kingdom alone. The video game went on sale all over the world on Tuesday, but Activision provided figures Thursday only for North America and Britain. The company estimates that it sold about 4.7 million copies of the game in the first 24 hours in those markets, making it the biggest-selling launch in the history of entertainment. The latest installment in the "Call of Duty" action franchise was expected to at least match last year's "Grand Theft Auto IV," which was the most successful video game release in history and at the time may have been the top entertainment launch ever. That game, from Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., had sold 3.6 million units on its opening day, worth $310 million worldwide. "Call of Duty" made that much in just North America and Britain. The launch of "Call of Duty" also easily brought in more than last year's record $155 million opening weekend for the Batman movie "The Dark Knight." Shares of Activision, which is based in Santa Monica, rose 23 cents, or 2 percent, to $11.61 in morning trading Thursday.

- WASHINGTON (AP) -- U.S. banks will prepay about $45 billion in premiums to replenish a federal deposit insurance fund now in the red, under a plan adopted by federal regulators. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. board voted Thursday to mandate the early payments of premiums for 2010 through 2012. Amid the struggling economy and rising loan defaults, 120 banks have failed so far this year costing the insurance fund more than $28 billion. To address concerns of small banks in weak financial condition, the FDIC also set up an exemption process for those that prove the prepaid fees would be a hardship. The FDIC expects the cost of bank failures to grow to about $100 billion over the next four years. It is the first time the agency has required prepaid insurance fees. The idea behind it is for banks to spread the costs over three years rather than paying a one-time fee that would deplete their capital reserves. The deposit insurance fund stood at $10.4 billion at the end of June -- already its lowest point since 1992 -- and since has fallen into deficit. That hasn't occurred since the savings-and-loan crisis of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Still, depositors' money is guaranteed -- up to $250,000 per account -- by the FDIC.

- DETROIT (AP) -- Ford Motor Co. said Thursday that its Fusion midsize sedan has already broken the model's annual sales record even though U.S. auto sales have dropped 25 percent. Ford sold 151,137 Fusions through Wednesday, beating the full-year sales record of 149,552 set in 2007, the company said in a statement. Fusion sales through the first 10 months of the year were up 15 percent from the same period in 2008, according to Autodata Corp. The Fusion was the top-selling car made by a Detroit automaker through October. The Fusion is made at Ford's factory in Hermosillo, Mexico. It gets up to 34 miles per gallon on the highway when equipped with a four-cylinder engine and six-speed automatic transmission. A gas-electric hybrid version gets up to 41 miles per gallon in the city. The car's base price is just under $20,000 including shipping. Even at record levels, the Fusion's sales numbers still lag behind the top-selling midsize cars in the U.S. Through October, Toyota Motor Corp. sold 294,493 Camry and Solara cars, while Honda Motor Co. sold 244,579 Accords.

- WASHINGTON (AP) -- New claims for unemployment insurance fell more than expected last week, evidence the job market is slowly healing as the economy recovers. Still, many private economists and Federal Reserve officials worry the nation could be in for a "jobless recovery" as the unemployment rate rises despite some overall economic growth. The Labor Department said Thursday that first-time claims for jobless benefits dropped to a seasonally adjusted 502,000 from an upwardly revised 514,000 the previous week. That's the fewest claims since the week ending Jan. 3, and below economists' estimates. The four-week average, which smooths fluctuations, dropped to 519,750, also the lowest in almost a year. It has fallen by more than 20 percent since its peak in the spring.

- FRANKFURT (AFP) – German luxury car maker Porsche on Thursday unveiled pre-tax losses of 4.4 billion euros (6.5 billion dollars) for its 2008-2009 financial year after a profit of 8.6 billion euros the previous year. The main reason for the massive loss over the financial year, which ended in July, was Porsche's failed bid to take over its far bigger German rival Volkswagen, Europe's top car maker. VW said last month it would buy 49.9 percent of Porsche.

- WASHINGTON – Government health officials say swine flu has sickened about 22 million Americans since April. They say about 4,000 have died, including 540 children. The startling new figures — about four times higher than previous death estimates — don't mean swine flu has suddenly gotten worse. Instead, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday called them a long-awaited better attempt to understand the virus' true toll. The CDC now believes that about 98,000 people have been hospitalized in the first six months of the nation's swine flu epidemic, including 36,000 children.

- NEW YORK – In what could be one of the biggest counterterrorism seizures in U.S. history, federal prosecutors sought to take over four U.S. mosques and a New York City skyscraper owned by a Muslim organization suspected of being controlled by the Iranian government. Prosecutors on Thursday filed a civil complaint in federal court against the Alavi Foundation, seeking the forfeiture of more than $500 million in assets. The assets include bank accounts; Islamic centers consisting of schools and mosques in New York, Maryland, California and Houston; more than 100 acres in Virginia; and a 36-story Manhattan office tower. Confiscating the properties would be a sharp blow against Iran, which the U.S. government has accused of bankrolling terrorism and trying to build a nuclear bomb. A telephone call and e-mail to Iran's U.N. Mission seeking comment were not immediately answered. John D. Winter, the Alavi Foundation's lawyer, said it intends to litigate the case and prevail. He said the foundation has been cooperating with the government's investigation for the better part of a year.

- CHICAGO (Reuters) – The National Hockey League had its most profitable year in 2008-2009 and team values rose $3 million to an average of $223 million despite a recession that curbed fan and sponsor spending, Forbes magazine said. Big revivals in markets like Chicago, Pittsburgh and Washington, as well as new deals with such companies as Honda Motor Co Ltd, Cisco Systems Inc and McDonald's Corp helped boost gate receipts and sponsorship revenue, according to the magazine's annual study. The teams dubbed the "Original Six" ranked among the top seven most valuable of the league's 30 teams, with the Philadelphia Flyers at No. 5 the only interloper, according to the list, which was released late on Wednesday. The most valuable team was the Toronto Maple Leafs, which saw its estimated value rise 5 percent to $470 million, Forbes said. It was followed by the New York Rangers (up 1 percent to $416 million), Montreal Canadiens (up 2 percent to $339 million) and the Detroit Red Wings (up 11 percent to $337 million). Other teams showing large gains in value included the Chicago Blackhawks (up 26 percent to No. 7 at $258 million); the Washington Capitals, with league's most valuable player Alexander Ovechkin (up 15 percent to No. 20 at $183 million); and the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins (up 14 percent to No. 11 at $222 million), Forbes said.

- TOKYO – President Barack Obama is emphasizing cooperation on his first major trip to Asia, opening with a warning to North Korea that there will be tough, unified action by the U.S. and its Asian partners if the Koreans fail to abandon their nuclear weapons programs. The hard line on North Korea was to be a prominent theme of a Friday night speech that also was intended to more broadly showcase a United States that, under Obama's leadership, seeks deeper and more equal engagement in Asia. It was to be the fifth major foreign address of Obama's 10-month presidency, this one geared toward setting a new tone for the sometimes-rocky U.S. relationship with the world's fastest-growing region. In the speech, to 1,500 prominent Japanese in a soaring concert hall in bustling downtown Tokyo, Obama planned to give his most extended remarks in some time on North Korea, said Ben Rhodes, a deputy national security adviser. Previewing himself, Obama said after a meeting early Friday with Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama that "it's absolutely vital" that North Korea — and Iran in the Middle East — bow to international demands that they give up nuclear weapons ambitions. The U.S., Japan, China, Russia and South Korea are partners in talks to persuade North Korea to give up the active nuclear weapons program it has in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions. Pyongyang is widely believed to have enough weapons-grade plutonium for a half-dozen nuclear bombs