Nielsen Sets Up Camp in YouTube, With Advertisers in Tow

Nielsen (NYSE: NLSN  ) has been asking Google (NASDAQ: GOOG  ) to add tracking codes to YouTube videos for years, but Google has refused. Why wouldn't you just trust YouTube's own viewing numbers?

But Big G has finally come around to Nielsen's worldview, opening up YouTube videos and other Google-owned media to third-party eyeball tracking. Ad buyers want to know more than just how many video hits "Gangnam Style" has amassed (1.8 billion, for the record). In the following video, Fool analyst, former Nielsen worker, and all-around cool customer Anders Bylund explains why this is a big deal.

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Thursday Closing Bell: Markets Close Higher after Yellen

November 14, 2013: U.S. equity markets opened mixed Thursday morning as the Nasdaq Composite was weighed down by a weak earnings report after markets closed last night from Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO). The weekly report on new unemployment benefits claims was slightly worse than expected, the U.S. trade deficit was wider than expected, and labor productivity was down. But investors were paying more attention to the confirmation hearing of Janet Yellen as the new Fed chair.

European, Asian, and Latin American markets all closed higher today.

Friday's calendar includes the following scheduled data releases and events (all times Eastern):

8:30 a.m. – Empire State manufacturing survey 8:30 a.m. – Import and export prices 9:15 a.m. – Industrial production 10:00 a.m. – Wholesale trade

Here are the closing bell levels for Thursday:

S&P500 1790.62 (+8.62; +0.48%) DJIA 15876.22 (+54.59; +0.35%) NASDAQ 3972.74 (+7.16; +0.18%) 10YR TNOTE 2.696% (+0.21875) Gold $1,286.30 (+17.90; +1.4%) WTI Crude oil $93.76 (-0.12; -0.1%) Euro/Dollar: 1.3460 (-0.0027; -0.20%)

Big Earnings Movers: Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) is down 11% at $21.35 after putting up weak revenues last night. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) is up 0.2% at $79.09 and Kohl's Corp. (NYSE: KSS) is down 8.1% at $53.56 on so-so earnings and weak forecasts.

Stocks on the Move: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Co. (NASDAQ: HMHC) is up 32.2% at $15.86 after its IPO today. Tile Shop Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: TTS) is down 39% at $12.95 following a short seller's claim that profits were overstated. Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) is down 5.4% at $25.07 after halting sales of its Chromebook laptop due to an overheating charger problem.

In all, 246 NYSE stocks put up new 52-week highs today, while 20 stocks posted new lows.

What Child Care Costs Mean for You and Your Family

Alamy Politics aside, Hillary Clinton was right: For most of human history, it usually took a village (or a tribe) of people to raise a child. Humans are social creatures: Though moms and -- to a lesser extent -- dads shouldered the major tasks of child-rearing, the support of the community played a huge role. Meals were cooked, kids were looked after, and social groups helped ensure the safe upbringing of the young. Today, that same societal structure isn't anywhere near as prevalent. In its place are long waiting lists and sky-high costs associated with putting a child in day care. How expensive has this gotten? If you lived in Washington, D.C., in 2011, putting your infant in a child care center would have cost $388 per week -- or more than $20,000 for a full year. Of course, I'm cherry-picking one of the most expensive locales, but it highlights a nationwide trend. In fact, in every region of the country except for the West, a family with two children in child care spent more for their kids to be looked after than they did on all housing costs combined. If you're expecting, or already have children, here are some key trends to keep in mind when deciding what to do when it comes to looking after your kids. Location, Location, Location This is the mantra of just about every real estate agent, but the same could be said of child care providers. For instance, full-time child care for an infant in Mississippi averaged $4,600 per year in 2011, but was $15,000 in Massachusetts. But the difference in absolute dollars doesn't mean much when you consider that the average salary in Massachusetts is higher than what it is in Mississippi. Instead, here's a look at the five least and most expensive states to have an infant in center-based care, as a percentage of median family income. Even within states, however, there are big differences. And no variable seems to be more important than -- you guessed it -- location. But this time, instead of talking about different states, we're referring to the difference between living in an urban or suburban community (defined as near a city center of at least 50,000) and a rural one. The most extreme example would be in Oregon, where the cost to put your infant in a child care center in an urban area is more than as expensive as it is in a rural area. But Oregon isn't alone: How Much More Expensive Is Urban Care vs. Rural Care? Is It a Better Option to Quit Your Job and Stay at Home? When confronted with such costs -- and endless waiting lists -- many parents are faced with the difficult decision of whether to continue working or to take a few years off to care for their children themselves. Of course, finances alone aren't the only consideration; for many people, their work is an intrinsically rewarding experience that goes beyond just earning a paycheck. But because one's approach to their work varies from individual to individual, let's just focus on the dollars and cents of such a decision. One very important matter to be aware of is a federal tax credit available to families who have to pay for child care. The credit is good for up to 35 percent of your child care bill with a limit of $3,000 for one child and $6,000 for two or more children. Let's take the most average state from our data set -- Iowa -- and see when it makes more financial sense to stay at home.

October Sales Are Expected to Bring Back Smiles to the Automakers

The U.S. auto industry is expected to post good number for the month of October and auto dealers should take a sigh of relief after soft September sales. Kelley Blue Book predicts sales for the month will rise 8% compared to the year-ago month. Edmund.com is also very positive about auto sales during the month and estimates a double-digit growth of around 12.7%. Let's take a brief look at how things looked during this period.

An Overview

The first two weeks of the month saw a sales plunge of 6% in the Atlantic coastal region where there is huge workforce serving the government. Consumers step back from making purchases when they sense economic uncertainty. Accordingly, sales remained weak for the 16 days of federal partial shutdown. It should be noted that demand remained weak only in those parts of the economy where there were job losses due to the close down program.

Both JD Power and LMC Automotive affirmed that it had a short term impact on auto sales. The industry saw a steep rise in the second half after the shutdown was over. That was a good time for the shutdown to end as consumers were growing panicky and losing confidence which is very evident from the first half numbers. JD Power observed that right after the shutdown, sales saw a jump of 7.7% in the third week. The shutdown did have an impact, but it wasn't big enough to put a brake on the recovery of the sector.

Automakers have been encouraged by the rebound of the housing sector and energy sector, which in turn lifted the demand for pickups. As business is growing, owners are identifying the need of replacing their old vehicles with the latest ones. This gave a real boost to the Detroit Three. General Motors (GM), Ford (F), and Chryslers benefited the most out of this as pickup trucks are their strength. Additionally, pent-up demand also bolstered the sale of vehicles. The seasonally adjusted annualized rate is expected to be 15.5 million.

What to Expect from Whom

Out of all the giant automakers, ! Nissan (NSANY) is estimated to post the highest sales gain over last year comparable month which could be as high as 19%. The global lead automaker Toyota (TM), and Japanese rival Honda (HMC) are also expected to see solid gains during the month which could be around 15% and 13%, respectively. South Korean counterpart Hyundai is forecast to witness a modest rise of about 3.3%.

As far as domestic automakers are concerned, Edmunds says that Ford is expected to post a 16% sales gain over the same month last year, General Motors is forecast to experience a 10% sales rise, and Chrysler is estimated to record an 11% increase in sales.

Looking ahead

The auto industry is set to post a solid year as the economic conditions are encouraging and demand remains decent. LMC has reduced its estimation of retail sales down to 12.8 million. However, it kept the total sales for the current year the same at 15.6 million units. Senior Vice President of LMC Jeff Schuster is pretty optimistic about the coming year as well. He predicts that 2014 would cross the 16 million units mark. However, there is a word of caution: The first quarter of 2014 could see consumer confidence dwindling a bit. It would be exciting to watch how the auto industry fairs in the last quarter of the year.

New York will stockpile gas to prevent storm outages

Lines outside some gas stations stretched for miles.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) New York will store 3 million gallons of fuel in an emergency reserve to prevent outages like those during Superstorm Sandy one year ago.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Saturday announced the state would create a Strategic Gasoline Reserve -- a $10 million pilot program that includes tanks for the fuel on Long Island. Should outages occur in an emergency elsewhere, the gas could be delivered, he said.

It's being called the first such state-based fuel reserve in the nation.

Lines outside of gas stations stretched for miles in the tri-state area after the fatal late-October storm slammed the East Coast and left millions without power. Portions of New York and New Jersey rationed gas as people mobbed stations seeking fuel for vehicles and generators. Emergency responders also found themselves without enough fuel.

Four days after the storm hit, AAA estimated between 60% and 65% of gas stations in the region were not operational.

Many stations were left without power to pump the gas from underground tanks. Others ran out of fuel, and some resupply efforts were hindered by traffic jams. In June, Cuomo announced $17 million to help more gas stations install the emergency generators.

His office said in a similar emergency, "gasoline from the reserve will be released to meet fuel needs while the industry recovers from a disruption in routine operations."

A contract with Northville Industries, the private company slated to store the fuel, needs to be finalized, the governor's office said.

Hot Gold Stocks For 2014

Asian stocks outside Japan fell for a fifth week, the longest streak of losses in two years, amid concern central banks are losing an appetite for more stimulus. Japanese stocks rebounded the final day of the week as Nomura Holdings Inc. and Fidelity Worldwide advised buying shares.

Newcrest Mining Ltd. fell a third week amid after the Australia�� biggest gold producer said it will write down the value of its assets by as much as $5.7 billion. Nomura Holdings Inc., Japan�� largest brokerage, climbed 1.3 percent with the Topix index little changed after a fourth week of swings. Chinese shares in Hong Kong capped a record losing streak.

The MSCI Asia Pacific excluding Japan Index dropped 1.3 percent this week to 440.07, extending this year�� loss to 6.6 percent. A gauge that includes Japanese shares added 0.3 percent for the week. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index fell for a record 12 straight days through June 14 amid concern that growth is slowing in the world�� No. 2 economy.

Hot Gold Stocks For 2014: Goldman Sachs Group Inc.(The)

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides investment banking, securities, and investment management services to corporations, financial institutions, governments, and high-net-worth individuals worldwide. Its Investment Banking segment offers financial advisory, including advisory assignments with respect to mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, corporate defense, risk management, restructurings, and spin-offs; and underwriting securities, loans and other financial instruments, and derivative transactions. The company?s Institutional Client Services segment provides client execution activities, such as fixed income, currency, and commodities client execution related to making markets in interest rate products, credit products, mortgages, currencies, and commodities; and equities related to making markets in equity products, as well as commissions and fees from executing and clearing institutional client transactions on stock, options, and fu tures exchanges. This segment also engages in the securities services business providing financing, securities lending, and other prime brokerage services to institutional clients, including hedge funds, mutual funds, pension funds, and foundations. Its Investing and Lending segment invests in debt securities, loans, public and private equity securities, real estate, consolidated investment entities, and power generation facilities. This segment also involves in the origination of loans to provide financing to clients. The company?s Investment Management segment provides investment management services and investment products to institutional and individual clients. This segment also offers wealth advisory services, including portfolio management and financial counseling, and brokerage and other transaction services to high-net-worth individuals and families. In addition, it provides global investment research services. The company was founded in 1869 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

Hot Gold Stocks For 2014: Australian Dollar(AU)

AngloGold Ashanti Limited primarily engages in the exploration and production of gold. It also produces silver, uranium oxide, and sulfuric acid. The company conducts gold-mining operations in South Africa; continental Africa, including Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Namibia, and Tanzania; Australia; and the Americas, which include Argentina, Brazil, and the United States. It also has mining or exploration operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea, and Colombia. As of December 31, 2010, the company had proved and probable gold reserves of 71.2 million ounces. The company has a strategic alliance with Thani Dubai Mining Limited to explore, develop, and operate mines across the Middle East and parts of North Africa. AngloGold Ashanti Limited, formerly known as Vaal Reefs Exploration and Mining Company Limited, was founded in 1944 and is headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Profit Confidential]

  Graham Ehm, Executive Vice President of South African-based AngloGold Ashanti Limited (NYSE: AU), one of the biggest gold producers in the global economy, stated the company is looking to save $500 million over the next 18 months, as capital expenditures will only be going towards their highest-quality assets. (Source: Mining Weekly, August 5, 2013.)

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Considering the work stoppages and violent clashes that have become the norm at South African precious-metals mines, perhaps the miners were wondering exactly what they were getting for their money. An expose by South Africa's Daily Maverick has uncovered a system where miners such as AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE: AU  ) and BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP  ) surreptitiously paid for the salaries of the heads of the local mining unions to keep the mine workers in line, and it's only because the miners sought to end the "uncomfortable arrangement" with the unions that the matter came to light.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  One way Yamana has kept its competitive cost advantage is through extensive sales of base-metal byproducts like copper and zinc, as both it and fellow low-cost rival Goldcorp (NYSE: GG  ) benefit from utilizing those secondary metals to offset the cost of their gold production. Peers Gold Fields (NYSE: GFI  ) and AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE: AU  ) , on the other hand, face much higher costs in part because of their exposure to South Africa and its unstable labor market.

Best Oil Companies To Own In Right Now: CME Group Inc.(CME)

CME Group Inc. operates the CME, CBOT, NYMEX, and COMEX regulatory exchanges worldwide. The company provides a range of products available across various asset classes, including futures and options on interest rates, equity indexes, energy, agricultural commodities, metals, foreign exchange, weather, and real estate. It offers various products that provide a means of hedging, speculation, and asset allocation relating to the risks associated with interest rate sensitive instruments, equity ownership, changes in the value of foreign currency, credit risk, and changes in the prices of commodities. CME Group owns and operates clearing house, CME Clearing, which provides clearing and settlement services for exchange-traded contracts and counter derivatives transactions; and also engages in real estate operations. Its primary trade execution facilities consist of its CME Globex electronic trading platform and open outcry trading floors, as well as privately negotiated transact ions that are cleared and settled through its clearing house. In addition, the company offers market data services comprising live quotes, delayed quotes, market reports, and historical data services, as well as involves in index services business. CME Group?s customer base includes professional traders, financial institutions, institutional and individual investors, corporations, manufacturers, producers, and governments. It has strategic partnerships with BM&FBOVESPA S.A., Bursa Malaysia Derivatives, Singapore Exchange Limited, Green Exchange, Dubai Mercantile Exchange, Johannesburg Stock Exchange, and Bolsa Mexicana de Valores, S.A.B. de C.V., as well as joint venture agreement with Dow Jones & Company. The company was formerly known as Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings Inc. and changed its name to CME Group Inc. in July 2007. CME Group was founded in 1898 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jeff Reeves]

  Options traders and commodity junkies should recognize CME Group (CME) as the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, a financial entity that operates a host of futures exchanges as well as providing its own exchange-traded products and derivatives.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Among exchanges, the action is beyond the stock market. With the rise in trading of futures, options, and other derivative investments, NYSE Euronext's ownership of the NYSE Liffe exchange in London was a key element of ICE's interest. CME Group (NASDAQ: CME  ) and CBOE Holdings (NASDAQ: CBOE  ) have worked hard to preserve their respective strength in futures and options, and rising market turbulence has made many of their products look a lot more enticing. Given that derivatives can help hedge market risk and reduce overall exposure, all of the exchange companies have an opportunity to bolster their presence in the derivatives market with innovative products that meet the new needs investors have in a more turbulent financial environment.

Hot Gold Stocks For 2014: Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited(AEM)

Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited, through its subsidiaries, engages in the exploration, development, and production of mineral properties in Canada, Finland, and Mexico. The company primarily explores for gold, as well as silver, copper, zinc, and lead. Its flagship property includes the LaRonde mine located in the southern portion of the Abitibi volcanic belt, Canada. The company was founded in 1953 and is based in Toronto, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sally Jones]

  The once-troubled Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. (AEM) is hitting a new record for gold production in the third quarter at 315,828 ounces, according to the Financial Post, and the company�� executives are buying. Here�� a third quarter company update and a look at billionaire stakeholders of AEM, a stock that spiked 23.66% over the past five days.

• [By Patricio Kehoe] e, has cash costs of $912 per ounce, and Agnico Eagle�� costs do not even reach the $700 per ounce mark. Hence, it comes as little surprise that revenue has been decreasing steadily, since gold prices are hovering around the $1300 mark at best. As the company is hemorrhaging money, investment gurus the like of John Burbank and Seth Klarman have decided to sell their entire stake in the firm. I agree with this bearish stance, and recommend investors stay away from Kinross Gold.

  Any Long Term Investment?
  
  If you were to follow Jean-Marie Eveillard�� purchases, one would be inclined to see good growth prospects for Agnico Eagle, and thus believe in this stock�� potential. And, you wouldn�� be wrong, as the firm has been growing at a steady pace, with no end in sight to its expansion possibilities. However, with a 171% price premium, investors might be better off waiting until a more favorable entry-point is available. Nevertheless, as a long-term investment, I feel highly optimistic and would thus even consider paying the additional cost.

  Disclosure: Patricio Kehoe holds no position in any stocks mentioned.
  
  Also check out: Jean-Marie Eveillard Undervalued Stocks Jean-Marie Eveillard Top Growth Companies Jean-Marie Eveillard High Yield stocks, and Stocks that Jean-Marie Eveillard keeps buying John Burbank Undervalued Stocks John Burbank Top Growth Companies John Burbank High Yield stocks, and Stocks that John Burbank keeps buying
  The Strategy of Ben Graham ��Warren Buffett�� Mentor From 1923 to 1957 Warren Buffett�� mentor, Ben Graham, followed a strategy of investing in net-nets. He said: ��t always seemed, and still seems ridiculously simple to say that if one can acquire a diversified group of common stocks at a price less than the...net current assets alone��he results should be quite satisfactory. They were so in our experience, for more than 30 years.��br> Today net-nets are rare. They are collected under Gu

Hot Gold Stocks For 2014: Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc.(TC)

Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in mining, milling, processing, and marketing molybdenum products in the United States and Canada. The company?s principal properties include the Thompson Creek Mine and mill in Idaho; a metallurgical roasting facility in Langeloth, Pennsylvania; and a joint venture interest in the Endako Mine, mill, and roasting facility in British Columbia. It also holds interests in development projects comprising the Davidson molybdenum property and the Berg copper-molybdenum-silver property located in northern British Columbia; the Howard?s Pass property, a lead and zinc project situated in the Yukon territory-northwest territories border; and the Maze Lake property, a gold project located in the Kivalliq district of Nunavut. The company produces molybdenum products, primarily molybdic oxide and ferromolybdenum, as well as soluble technical oxide, pure molybdenum tri-oxide, and high purity molybdenum disulfide. As o f December 31, 2010, its consolidated recoverable proven and probable ore reserves totaled 462.2 million pounds of contained molybdenum in the Thompson Creek Mine and the Endako Mine. The company was formerly known as Blue Pearl Mining Ltd. and changed its name to Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc. in May 2007. Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc. is based in Denver, Colorado.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Selena Maranjian]

  The biggest new holdings are Chesapeake Energy�puts, and shares of Discovery Communications. Other new holdings of interest include Halcon Resources (NYSE: HK  ) , and Thompson Creek Metals (NYSE: TC  ) . Oil and gas company Halcon, operating in the promising Bakken region, as well as Texas's productive Eagle Ford shale region, among others, is expected to grow by 30% annually over the coming years. It recently reported 2012 net daily production 128% higher than year-ago levels, and proven reserves up 417%. Halcon was recently one of my colleague Joel South's top two energy holdings, and analysts at Stifel recently upped its rating�from Hold to Buy.

Hot Gold Stocks For 2014: Northgate Minerals Corporation(NXG)

Northgate Minerals Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in exploring, developing, processing, and mining gold and copper deposits in Canada and Australia. Its principal producing assets include 100% interests in the Fosterville and Stawell Gold mines in Victoria, Australia; and the Kemess South mine located in north-central British Columbia, Canada. The company was formerly known as Northgate Exploration Limited and changed its name to Northgate Minerals Corporation in May 2004. Northgate Minerals Corporation was founded in 1919 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

Hot Gold Stocks For 2014: NEW GOLD INC.(NGD)

New Gold Inc. engages in the acquisition, exploration, extraction, processing, and reclamation of mineral properties. The company primarily explore for gold, silver, and copper deposits. Its operating properties include the Mesquite gold mine in the United States; the Cerro San Pedro gold-silver mine in Mexico; and the Peak gold-copper mine in Australia. The company also has development projects, including the New Afton gold, silver, and copper project in Canada; and a 30% interest in the El Morro copper-gold project in Chile. The company was formerly known as DRC Resources Corporation and changed its name to New Gold Inc. in June 2005. New Gold Inc. was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Even bad news has failed to dent the rise in gold stocks today. NewGold (NGD), for instance, has gained 1.8% to $7.49 despite the fact that the wall of one of its mines collapsed. The Wall Street Journal has the details:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  One group of stocks not feeling the optimism today: Gold miners. With fewer concerns that a U.S. attack on Syria will be disruptive and more evidence that tapering will begin this month, the price of the precious metal has dropped 1.6% to $1,388.90 an ounce–and gold stocks are falling with it. New Gold (NGD), for one, has dropped 3% to $6.55, while Barrick Gold (ABX) has fallen 1.3% to $19.25.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Bridges favorite stocks include Goldcorp, Newmont, Eldorado Gold (EGO) and New Gold (NGD).

  Note, however, that these recommendations are all qualified in one way or another. Investors should keep that in mind before going all in on the gold miners.

Hot Gold Stocks For 2014: Claude Resources Inc.(CGR)

Claude Resources Inc. engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of precious metal properties, as well as production and marketing of minerals in Canada. It primarily explores for gold in northern Saskatchewan and northwestern Ontario. The company holds interests in the Seabee gold mine located at Laonil Lake, northern Saskatchewan; and the Madsen property that consists of 6 contiguous claim blocks totaling approximately 10,000 acres, located in the Red Lake Mining District of northwestern Ontario. It also holds interest in the Amisk Gold project, which covers an area of 13,800 hectares in the province of Saskatchewan. The company was founded in 1980 and is based in Saskatoon, Canada.

China’s Wealth Effect

Considering China’s restrictions on foreign investment in the country’s capital markets, it is little surprise that few people appreciate the sheer size of those markets. The only way outsiders can make anything close to a direct investment in Chinese equities or bonds is through Hong Kong-traded instruments or the few Chinese American Depository Receipts listed on US exchanges.

The Chinese equity market is still relatively small, with a capitalization of about $5 trillion. That’s a lasting legacy from when the country’s stock exchange was shut down following the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 and not reopened until 1990. The country’s domestic bond market, on the other hand, is valued at about $4 trillion, a hefty figure.

True, the country’s bond market is smaller than its equity market. But at $4 trillion, it’s the fourth-largest bond market in the world, behind the US, Japan and France, and growing by nearly 30 percent per year.

There are indications that the Chinese government will begin taking a new tack on foreign investment sooner rather than later, though on the Chinese timeline sooner could still be a matter of years. That’s especially true as the government must first address larger structural issues.

Next month will bring the third plenary session of the 18th Central Committee, a meeting during which a package of key economic reforms is to be discussed.

Those reforms are expected to include measures such as the central government taking over social security and some health care spending from local governments, to strengthen the country’s social safety nets. The central government might also begin allowing local governments to begin issuing bonds similar to US municipals rather than relying on more short-term funding vehicles.

Also on the agenda are plans to reform the country’s system fo! r pricing commodities and other resources and ease the household registration system to allow more rural families to move into the cities.

But most importantly for investors, there are signs that Beijing wants to move forward with market-based interest rates and the loosening of capital controls, making it easier to move money in and out of the country. The government has already taken a tentative step in that direction, announcing a free-trade zone in Shanghai in September that will act as a proving ground for more free-market policies.

In the free-trade zone there are more relaxed investment and capital controls in place, including yuan convertibility, freer investment in Shanghai securities and futures markets and the freedom of foreigners to directly trade in local securities.

These plans come at a critical time for the Chinese economy.

It’s no secret that the country is battling a substantial debt problem after it kept interest rates too low for too long, a familiar problem. As a result, China’s state-owned enterprises were able to leverage up their balance sheets using cheap loans which the government basically required state-owned banks to make. It also helped to drive yet another boom in real estate speculation.

That pushed up China’s credit-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio to about 220 percent over the past few years, with credit now accounting for more than a third of GDP. At the same time, all of that lending spawns opportunities for raging corruption, particularly at the local government level.

When the central government assumes more of the responsibility for social spending, serious deficits at the local level will eliminate many opportunities for corruption. That’s because localities are heavily reliant on real estate taxes and short-term funding vehicles. The measures will also help slow credit growth in China, ultimately helping to reduce the country’s debt burden.

Loosening foreign investment restrictio! ns will a! lso help spur Chinese economic growth which, while on track to meet the government’s 7.5 percent growth target this year, has been slowing of late. Foreign investment will be a critical component of growth in the years to come, as China’s economy becomes more consumer focused, helping to stimulate spending through a wealth creation effect.

So, one day sooner rather than later, foreign investors may be able to have more direct asset to a securities market valued at nearly $10 trillion, creating more wealth for the Chinese and everyone else.

How to choose the right investment plan?

A: Before we go to the allocation of investments, let us focus on what should be a style of investment. I will recommend retail investors that your style of investment should be for short-term pain and long-term gain rather than short-term gain and long-term pain. Let me define this further; typically in a momentum market prices keep on rising everyday but over a period of time market loses its momentum and comes down to the fair value. When you invest in a momentum market you will always have short-term gain. You bought something today it goes up tomorrow, you buy more it goes up further, you feel happy. Eventually you put more money and the market corrects and then you are nursing your wounds.

On the other hand the market is not in momentum, you buy something invariably Murphy's Law come into play, you see the price erosion, you have to buy more and then again Murphy's Law come into play and you further lose money. Now you have to buy a lot and after that market will recorrect and it will go to fair value and you will make lot of money. So, you have to invest for short-term pain and long-term gain. Most retail investors follow the reverse strategy of generating short-term gain and incurring long-term pain.

In terms of an average tax paying investor, his allocation should essentially comprise in today's scenario, something towards safe assets and safe assets will include bank deposits, savings bank account, which will fund him for liquidity, liquid mutual funds which can take care of his liquid needs, he can invest in debt mutual funds, tax free bonds and corporate debentures and corporate fix deposits. All this combination on a post tax adjusted basis gives him surety of return with lower risk. You want to invest in high credit instruments and you do not want to take credit risk on the safe money, so invest in AA and above rated instruments, monitor the credit rating clearly and if there is a credit downgrade then do not hesitate to book loss and move out of that investment.

The other class of investments which comes which is bit illiquid is real estate and gold. Real estate is again something where you will need either for staying or for investment. If you are investing in real estate go towards reputed developers where delivery of real estate is not a question and try to invest in those areas which are developing and which over a period of time the center of city will shift over there. In gold again try to go via gold ETF where you don't have to worry about the quality and storage rather than buying physical gold. At least in gold ETF the liquidity is guaranteed whereas in physical gold you never know whether jewelers will be able to honor their commitment or not.

Finally other asset class which emerges is equity. Here again you will have to go for quality blue-chip names and if you are not able to identify them, go for equity mutual funds. One interesting thing which people need to do, like in Gujarati community every time in Diwali we follow a tradition of throwing garbage out of our house. It is a symbolic thing of throwing unnecessary garbage out of our house. I think we need to do that with our portfolio also. So over a period of time you will realize that you have so many aqua culture companies, NBFC companies, technology companies which are not in existence. It is time to throw that garbage out and keep good quality stocks in your house.

How one should not fall prey to emotional investment ads

It has been a long tradition amongst us that you allow your heart to rule when you fall in love. You heart takes the decision there and not your mind. Similar thing should not happen when you take your investment and financial decisions.

Most of the financial and investment products are marketed to create an emotional appealing and not a rational appealing.

Why the marketing campaigns are emotionally appealing?

Well, I think all those investors who are above 30 years will vouch safe for me is that heart takes decision non-rationally (not irrationally), which is quicker, means it takes the decision and may or may not think about the consequences.

Hence, marketers find it easy to sell their products, even complex financial investment decisions with long term implications, by appealing to heart.

Let us see some examples?

Selling pension schemes!!! Very few people actually think of retirement planning until and unless they approach 50 years of age. Now how to lure young people between 30 and 40 years of age to buy retirement plans like pension schemes.

They would show an elderly couple frolicking in Goa beaches to show that they are enjoying their life even in their retirement life and money is no constraint as they have invested in the right pension plan when they were young.

Selling Children Education Plans!!! While advertising an educational plan for children, the marketer would tug at the heart strings of the parents by showing a picture where the child is dreaming about a good overseas degree. Now which parent will think twice about not fulfilling the dreams of their child (and in today's nuclear family, there is only one child to educate).

And, a further stronger pulls at the heart, by putting a girl child's photograph, with career aspiration. Making the parent feeling double guilty for not doing much for the girl child, and if she is the only child, more so.

Is it wrong to follow the heart?

Many of my friends will now argue that it makes sense to go for retirement planning when one is younger or it is not always the aspiration of the parents to give the best to their children. I have no issues with these arguments. I would like to join in this chorus by advocating both. But with a word of caution.

Look for right investment products

Please look for right investment products which will fulfil your need of retirement planning or savings for children education who are not spending too much money on advertisement saving it to give higher returns on their investment products.

PPF is a very good safe investment option for anyone to accumulate money for their long term needs like retirement or children's education / marriage.

Similarly investing in mutual fund SIPs is also a good way of accumulating money for retirement and children's future. The charges in mutual funds are very low when compared to the charges in children plan or pension plan from insurance companies.

Avoid buying a long term insurance product like a consumer product like soap!!!

Long term saving product are not consumer product, which we finish using within a month. It is OK if you see your favourite actress selling a soap and you opt for it. But will it be wise for you to go for an insurance policy (Payable for 10 years or more) product sold by her.

Please remember! The marketers who are pulling at your heart strings through advertisements have also the onus to recover the advertisement expenses including their own salaries, bonuses and perks. Why become a Mamu just like that!!!

Use only your mind, when you make your investment decisions, and you will hardly regret any such decisions.

Next Steps:

Now take a list of all your existing investments and check you have bought them because it appealed to you rationally or emotionally. If you have just bought them, only because it emotionally appealed to you, then now verify the same investment appeals to you also rationally or not.

If it is not rationally appealing, then you have fallen prey for the emotionally appealing strategy used by the marketers. Good that you are able to find this now. As you have realised this now, take a prudent decision to come out of this wrong investment and buy a right investment rationally.

A man must be big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them and strong enough to correct them.

The author is Ramalingam K, CFP CM is the Chief Financial Planner at holisticinvestment.in, a leading Financial Planning and Wealth Management company.

Top 5 Small Cap Stocks To Buy For 2014

Small cap NASDAQ stocks Vera Bradley, Inc (NASDAQ: VRA), Ebix Inc (NASDAQ: EBIX) and Synta Pharmaceuticals Corp. (NASDAQ: SNTA) had the highest short interest as of late September according to HighShortInterest.com with short interest of 57.46%, 52.28% and 47.09%, respectively. However, shorting a stock can be a dangerous business as the bears can and do sometimes get mauled by the bulls. With that in mind, let�� take a look at why the bulls or the bears may be right or wrong about these three shorted small cap stocks:�

Vera Bradley, Inc. A leading designer, producer, marketer and retailer of stylish and highly-functional accessories for women, small cap�Vera Bradley�� products include a wide offering of handbags, accessories and travel and leisure items. Around the middle of September, Vera Bradley sank after earnings and after giving a disappointing earnings guidance. Specifically, Vera Bradley reported that net revenues increased 1.9% to $125.4 million and net income of $15.0 million verses $13.4 million (but net income for the last�twenty-six weeks fell 7.2% to $24.1 million) but what really caused the stock to tank was a guidance of between $128 million to $130 million in revenue (below forecasts for about $147 million) and a profit of 30 cents to 35 cents (below forecasts for a 48-cent profit). Right now, Vera Bradley has a trailing P/E of 12.87 and a forward P/E of 13.11���meaning its looking undervalued. Moreover and if Vera Bradley can beat its guidance, things could get bearish for the shorts; but with that said and for investors, there are probably better bets out there in the retail space. On Monday, Vera Bradley rose 1.48% to $21.24 (VRA has a 52 week trading range of $17.27 to $31.00 a share) for a market cap of $862.41 million plus the stock is down 13.7% since the start of the year, down 16.6% over the past year and down 21% since October 2010.

Top 5 Small Cap Stocks To Buy For 2014: Texas Instruments Incorporated(TXN)

Texas Instruments Incorporated engages in the design and sale of semiconductors to electronics designers and manufacturers worldwide. The company?s Analog segment offers high-performance analog products comprising standard analog semiconductors, such as amplifiers, data converters, and interface semiconductors; high-volume analog and logic products; and power management semiconductors and line-powered systems. Its Embedded Processing segment includes DSPs that perform mathematical computations to process and enhance digital data; and microcontrollers, which are designed to control a set of specific tasks for electronic equipment. The company?s Wireless segment designs, manufactures, and sells application processors and connectivity products. Its Other segment offers smaller semiconductor products, which include DLP products that are primarily used in projectors to create high-definition images; and application-specific integrated circuits. This segment also provides handhe ld graphing and scientific calculators, as well as licenses technologies to other electronic companies. The company serves the communications, computing, industrial, consumer electronics, automotive, and education sectors. Texas Instruments Incorporated sells its products through a direct sales force, distributors, and third-party sales representatives. It has collaboration agreements with PLX Technology Inc.; Neonode, Inc.; and Ubiquisys Ltd. The company was founded in 1938 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Smith]

  LSI is cheaper than it looks
  When you stack up LSI stock against a couple of its larger competitors -- Marvell Technology (NASDAQ: MRVL  ) and Texas Instruments (NASDAQ: TXN  ) , it's not immediately clear that LSI is a bargain. Right off the bat, you can see that the stock sells for 30 times earnings -- while TI costs only 23.3 times earnings, and Marvell costs an even 22.0.

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Texas Instruments (NASDAQ: TXN) is projected to report its Q3 earnings at $0.53 per share on revenue of $3.23 billion. TI shares gained 4.04% to close at $10.30 on Friday.

Top 5 Small Cap Stocks To Buy For 2014: Sify Technologies Limited(SIFY)

Sify Technologies Limited provides enterprise and consumer Internet services primarily in India. The company offers various corporate network/data services comprising e-commerce and network connectivity solutions, such as end-to-end services network, application, and security services; voice origination and termination services; co-location and managed hosting services; and system integration services for data centre build, hardware distribution, security solutions, and turnkey projects. It also provides application services, including SLEMS and Microsoft Exchange messaging platforms; I-test for online assessment and LiveWire, which enable management of training processes across the organization; document management system for the management of documents electronically; and Forum, a forward supply chain solution. In addition, the company operates e-Ports that offer browsing, chat, email, gaming, utility bill payment, travel ticketing, hotel booking, mobile recharge, Intern et telephony, and online share trading services; and portals, which provide news, views, reviews, interactions, and services in the areas of movies, sports, finance, food, videos, astrology, online games, shopping, and travel, as well as offers content offerings and broadband services. Further, it provides infrastructure management services, such as network management, datacenter and helpdesk outsourcing, desktop and storage outsourcing, IT security outsourcing, LAN and WAN outsourcing, database and telecom outsourcing, and application monitoring and management services to automotive, chemical, media, and financial enterprises; and virtualization design, integration, and deployment services for servers, storage, networks, and end user clients. Sify has approximately 1,278 e-Ports in 200 towns and cities; and serves 1,06,000 broadband subscribers through 1500 cable TV Operators. The company, formerly known as Sify Limited, was founded in 1995 and is based in Chennai, India.

Top Stocks To Invest In: Petroquest Energy Inc(PQ)

PetroQuest Energy, Inc. operates as an independent oil and gas company. It engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and operation of oil and gas properties in Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Texas, as well as onshore and in the shallow waters offshore the Gulf Coast Basin. As of December 31, 2009, the company had estimated proved reserves of 1,931 thousand barrels of oil and 167,361 million cubic feet equivalent of natural gas. It owned working interests in 9 net producing oil wells and 277 net producing gas wells. PetroQuest Energy was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  PetroQuest Energy Inc. (NYSE: PQ) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at J.P. Morgan.

  Rubicon Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: RBCN) was downgraded to Underperform from Perform at Oppenheimer.

Top 5 Small Cap Stocks To Buy For 2014: Voyager Oil & Gas Inc.(VOG)

Voyager Oil & Gas, Inc. engages in the exploration and production of oil and gas in the United States. It primarily focuses on oil shale resource prospects in Montana, North Dakota, Colorado, and Wyoming. As of May 17, 2011, the company controlled approximately 141,500 net acres in the five primary prospect areas comprising 28,000 net acres targeting the Bakken/Three Forks in North Dakota and Montana; 14,200 net acres targeting the Niobrara formation in Colorado and Wyoming; 800 net acres targeting a Red River prospect in Montana; 33,500 net acres in a joint venture targeting the Heath Shale formation in Musselshell, Petroleum, Garfield, and Fergus counties of Montana; and 65,000 net acres in a joint venture in the Tiger Ridge gas field in Blaine, Hill, and Chouteau counties of Montana. It supplies energy and fuel for industrial, commercial, and individual consumers. The company is based in Billings, Montana.

Top 5 Small Cap Stocks To Buy For 2014: Panera Bread Company(PNRA)

Panera Bread Company, together with its subsidiaries, owns, operates, and franchises retail bakery-cafes in the United States and Canada. Its bakery-cafes offer fresh baked goods, sandwiches, soups, salads, custom roasted coffees, and other complementary products, as well as provide catering services. The company also manufactures and supplies dough and other products to company-owned and franchise-operated bakery-cafes. As of March 29, 2011, it owned and franchised 1,467 bakery-cafes under the Panera Bread, Saint Louis Bread Co., and Paradise Bakery & Cafe names. The company was founded in 1981 and is based in St. Louis, Missouri.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By BubbleBustInvesting]

  Three popular franchises, Panera Bread (PNRA), Dunkin' Brands (DNKN), and Starbucks (SBUX) are reporting Q1 earnings this week. Analysts expect Panera Bread to report earnings in the range of $1.68 to $1.58; Dunkin Brands in the range of 0.32 50 0.28; and Starbucks in the range of 0.52 to 0.47.

• [By Sean Williams]

  This week, I want to highlight the co-CEOs of Panera Bread (NASDAQ: PNRA  ) , Ronald Shaich (a co-founder of Panera Bread) and Bill Moreton, and point out why they've made such an incredible dynamic duo for shareholders, employees, and the community.

• [By WALLSTCHEATSHEET.COM]

  Panera has defied the odds and proven skeptics wrong for many years. The stock also held up much better than its peers during the financial crisis. This doesn�� mean Panera is as resilient now as it was at that time, but�this should at least offer some comfort. On the other hand, it�� nice to own a stock that pays a dividend during difficult times, which�can help ease the pain.

• [By Adrian Campos]

  The attractive combination of high margins and aggressive revenue expansion has caused Starbucks' value to increase enormously. How did Starbucks manage to create a strong coffee empire despite increasing competition from traditional players such as Dunkin' Brands (NASDAQ: DNKN  ) , and the emergence of challengers like Panera Bread (NASDAQ: PNRA  ) ? More importantly, how long will Starbucks' dominance in the coffee world last?

Foot Locker Runs Up, While Ross Stores Sink

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Today's post is the scorecard for the six retail-wholesale stocks that reported quarterly results in the afterhours Thursday and premarket Friday. Foot Locker (FL) kicked the ball out of the park premarket on Friday setting a new multi-year high. On the opposite side of the ledger shares of Ross Stores (ROSS) slumped after matching earnings expectatins and a cautious holiday spending outlook.

The stock market remains extremely overvalued. ValuEngine shows that 85.5% of all stocks are overvalued with 57.7% overvalued by 20% or more. All 16 sectors are overvalued with 13 overvalued by 22.6% to 36.6%. The retail-wholesale sector is 30.6% overvalued with an overweight rating. Of the 344 stocks 79.9% in this sector have buy or strong buy ratings. [Read: Apple Rides iPad Profits for 2014]

The six stocks in today's earnings scorecard were profiled on Thursday in PetSmart, Ross Stores Report Afterhours Thursday and all had buy ratings according to ValuEngine and they still have buy ratings. [Read: 25% of Workers Will Spend At Least 4 Hours Doing This on Cyber Monday]

Among the six stocks in today's table, the biggest gainer since reporting earnings results is up by 5.3% while the biggest loser declined by 7.1%. All six are overvalued four by 6.5% to 31.8%. All have gains over the last 12 months with four up between 10.4% and 32.9%. All are above their 200-day SMAs which reflects the risk of a reversion to the mean. Reading the Table OV/UN Valued: Stocks with a red number are undervalued by this percentage. Those with a black number are overvalued by that percentage according to ValuEngine. VE Rating: A "1-engine" rating is a strong sell, a "2-engine" rating is a sell, a "3-engine" rating is a hold, a "4-engine" rating is a buy and a "5-engine" rating is a strong buy. Last 12-Month Return (%): Stocks with a red number declined by that percentage over the last 12 months. Stocks with a black number increased by that percentage. Forecast 1-Year Return: Stocks with a red number are projected to decline by that percentage over the next 12 months. Stocks with a black number in the table are projected to move higher by that percentage over the next 12 months.

Value Level: Price at which to enter a GTC limit order to buy on weakness. The letters mean; W-weekly, M-monthly, Q-quarterly, S-semiannual and A-annual.

Pivot: A level between a value level and risky level that should be a magnet during the time frame noted.

Risky Level: Price at which to enter a GTC limit order to sell on strength. [Read: Veteran Warrior Arthur Levitt Still an Upender of Wall Street]

Ann (ANN) ($36.01) beat EPS estimates by 2 cents earning 89 cents a share premarket on Friday. The buy rated retailer of upscale women's clothing set a new multi-year high at $37.40 and a low of $35.50 that day. My weekly value level is $34.24 with a monthly pivot at $37.93 and a quarterly risky level at $40.52. Foot Locker ($38.51) beat EPS estimates by a penny earning 68 cents a share premarket on Friday. The stock set a new multi-year high at $39.15 then dipped to $37.99 that day. The buy rated maker of athletic shoes has a semiannual value level at $36.94 with a semiannual risky level at $39.29. [Read: Why Barnes & Noble (BKS) Is No Borders] Gap (GPS) ($41.01) beat EPS estimates by a penny earning 72 cents a share in the afterhours on Thursday. The stock drifted lower but stayed above its 200-day SMA at $39.75. The buy rated retailer of casual apparel has a weekly value level at $38.04 with a monthly risky level at $46.25. Hibbet Sports (HIBB) ($63.40) beat EPS estimates by a penny earning 66 cents a share premarket on Friday. The stock traded in a wide range of $63.95 down to $59.01 that day that set a new multi-year high at $64.56 on Monday. The buy rated sporting goods store has a monthly value level at $59.90 with a semiannual pivot at $62.67 and semiannual risky level at $68.73. PetSmart (PETM) ($74.07) beat EPS estimates by 2 cents earning 88 cents a share premarket on Friday. The stock is just above its 50-day SMA at $73.61 on Monday after a Friday low at $71.77. The buy rated provider of pet supplies has a weekly value level at $70.27 with a semiannual pivot at $74.51 and monthly risky level at $74.93.

Ross Stores ($75.51) matched EPS estimates earning 80 cents a share in the afterhours on Thursday. The buy rated retailer of off-prices apparel and home accessories got crushed from its Thursday close at $80.26 to a low of $73.00 on Friday and closed Monday above its 50-day SMA at $75.31. The 200-day SMA is $66.84 with semiannual risky levels at $79.86 and $82.91.

At the time of publication the author held no positions in any of the stocks mentioned.

Follow @Suttmeier

This article is commentary by an independent contributor, separate from TheStreet's regular news coverage.

Richard Suttmeier is the chief market strategist at AlphaPlus Analytics in addition to ValuEngine.com. He has been a professional in the U.S. Capital Markets since 1972, transferring his engineering skills to the trading and investment world. Suttmeier has an engineering degree from Georgia Tech and a Master of Science degree from Brooklyn Poly. He began his career in the financial services industry in 1972 trading U.S. Treasury securities in the primary dealer community. He became the first long bond trader for Bache in 1978, and formed the Government Bond Department at LF Rothschild in 1981, helping establish that firm as a primary dealer in 1986. This experience gives him the insights to be an expert on monetary policy, which he features in his newsletters, and market commentary. Suttmeier's industry licenses include, Series 7 and Registered Principal (Series 24). He has been the Chief Market Strategist for ValuEngine.com since 2008 and often appears on financial TV. Click here for details on Suttmeier's "Buy and Trade" investment strategy. Richard Suttmeier can be reached at RSuttmeier@Gmail.com

5 Big Stocks to Trade for Big Gains

BALTIMORE (Stockpickr) -- Trick or treat? Mr. Market has been dishing out the latter for any investors who come knocking this Halloween -- and that's not likely to change as we enter the final stretch of 2013.

Historically, the final months of the year come with the strongest gains for investors. That's quite a statement considering the fact that the S&P 500 is already up 23.6% since the calendar flipped over to January. But as I'll show you in a moment, stocks aren't showing any red flags right now; in fact, the macro view is about as bullish as it gets.

In spite of the S&P's ratchet moves higher this year, there are still some key buying opportunities in the big-name stocks. That why, today, we're taking a closer technical look at five of them.

If you're new to technical analysis, here's the executive summary.

Technicals are a study of the market itself. Since the market is ultimately the only mechanism that determines a stock's price, technical analysis is a valuable tool even in the roughest of trading conditions. Technical charts are used every day by proprietary trading floors, Wall Street's biggest financial firms, and individual investors to get an edge on the market. And research shows that skilled technical traders can bank gains as much as 90% of the time.

Every week, I take an in-depth look at big names that are telling important technical stories. Here's this week's look at five high-volume stocks to trade this week.

SPDR S&P 500 ETF

It makes sense to start off with a look at the broad market. To do that, we'll look at the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), the most investible way to buy "stocks" as a group. Frankly, charts don't get much more bullish than SPY has been for the last 12 months. We're very much in a "buy the dips market" right now.

The S&P 500 index has been in a textbook uptrend since last November, bouncing higher within a well-defined price channel. While the trend changed a bit back in late June, the setback was temporary, and the line connecting the price lows from those last 12 months has proven to be an optimal buying opportunity for the big index.

One thing worth noting is the fact that SPY's relative strength line has remained in an uptrend itself over the course of this rally. Since SPY is designed to track the S&P, an uptrend in relative strength indicates that investors are piling into the ETF more aggressively as a way to gain exposure to stocks. Considering the fact that this rally has largely lacked participation from retail investors, that's a pretty solid sign of strength.

If you're looking to pick up this ETF, I'd recommend waiting for it to pull back near the 50-day moving average.

Morgan Stanley

Financial services powerhouse Morgan Stanley (MS) is showing us the exact same setup right now, a fact that's not really that surprising considering the fact that the investment bank's big equity exposure basically makes it a leveraged bet on stocks.

But with markets in bull mode, that's a good thing!

Like SPY, Morgan Stanley is bouncing within a well-defined price channel right now. Price channels are valuable because they provide high probability ranges for a stock's price action. In other words, MS's price is unlikely to trade outside of those two bands on the chart above -- and that's exactly what makes this stock tradable right now. The best time to be a buyer comes on a bounce off of support, a level we're not far from.

Buying off a support bounce makes sense for two big reasons: it's the spot where shares have the furthest to move up before they hit resistance, and it's the spot where the risk is the least (because shares have the least room to move lower before you know you're wrong). Remember, all trend lines do eventually break, but by actually waiting for the bounce to happen first, you're ensuring the MS can actually still catch a bid along that line.

A stellar relative strength uptrend in MS adds some extra evidence that its rally has staying power.
 

Toyota

Japanese carmaker Toyota (TM) has basically spent most of its time tracking sideways in the second half of the year. But that doesn't mean that you should ignore TM as we reach the final stretch of 2013, especially as Japanese equities continue to outperform the market here at home. Toyota looks like it has some more upside ahead of it.

That's because TM is currently forming an ascending triangle pattern, a bullish setup that's formed by a horizontal resistance level above shares at $132.50 and uptrending support below shares' price action. As TM bounces in between those two technical price levels, it's getting squeezes closer and closer to a breakout just above that $132.50 level. When that happens, it's time to be a buyer.

It's going to be critical to wait for confirmation on a breakout in TM; after all, shares pushed above $132.50 temporarily back in early August, only to get swatted lower a day later. A close above that price ceiling followed by a consecutive open above it provides a higher-probability signal for traders.

Manulife Financial

Manulife Financial (MFC) is another stock that's forming an ascending triangle pattern right now. In the case of this $33 billion Canadian financial services firm, resistance comes into play at $18, a price level that's acted as a ceiling for shares since all the way back in July. The buy signal comes on a move through that $18 barrier.

Whenever you're looking at any technical price pattern, it's critical to think in terms of those buyers and sellers. Triangles, and other pattern names are a good quick way to explain what's going on in a stock, but they're not the reason it's tradable. Instead, it all comes down to supply and demand for shares.

That $18 resistance level is a price where there has been an excess of supply of shares; in other words, it's a place where sellers have been more eager to step in and take gains than buyers have been to buy. That's what makes a breakout above it so significant -- the move means that buyers are finally strong enough to absorb all of the excess supply above that price level.

After it happens, I'd recommend keeping a protective stop at $16.50.

Sherwin-Williams

Last up is paint and coatings maker Sherwin-Williams (SHW). Sherwin-Williams has more or less kept pace with the S&P so far this year, rallying around 23% from the first trading session in January until today. But SHW looks primed to stage another leg higher in November; here's how to trade it.

SHW is currently forming a rounding bottom pattern, a price setup that indicates a gradual transition in control from sellers to buyers. The pattern's name is a pretty good description of how it looks on a chart -- the buy signal comes on a move through $195. Typically, rounding bottom patterns come at the bottom of a downtrend (not the top of an uptrend as we're seeing in SHW), but even though the setup here isn't textbook, the trading implications are exactly the same.

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At the time of publication, author had no positions in stocks mentioned.

Jonas Elmerraji, CMT, is a senior market analyst at Agora Financial in Baltimore and a contributor to TheStreet. Before that, he managed a portfolio of stocks for an investment advisory returned 15% in 2008. He has been featured in Forbes , Investor's Business Daily, and on CNBC.com. Jonas holds a degree in financial economics from UMBC and the Chartered Market Technician designation.

 

Follow Jonas on Twitter @JonasElmerraji

Monday Money Maker – 5 MORE Trades That Can Make 500% in a Rising Market

It's that time yet again. 

Back in early September, when we broke over the 5% line on the S&P (1,680), we decided it was time for "5 More Trade Ideas That Make 500% in an Up Market" as a follow up to our April 14th's 5 Trade Ideas, that were already on the way to hitting all of their goals.  Those 5 new trade ideas were:

ABX 2015 $13/18 bull call spread at $2.80, selling 2015 $15 puts for $2.05 for net .75, now .26 – down 65% 8 QQQ Jan $75/80 bull call spreads for $3 ($2,400), selling 1 ISRG 2015 $300 put for $23.50 ($2,350) for net $50, now net $2,072 - up 4,044% HOV 2015 $3/5 bull call spread at $1.25, selling $4 puts for .90 for net .35, now net .57 - up 62% EWZ 2015 $44/49 bull call spread at $2.60, selling $35 puts for $1.95 for net .65, now net $1.30 - up 100% CROX 2015 $12/17 bull call spread at $2, selling $12 puts for $1.90 for net .10, now net .35 - up 250%

ABX is "off track" (so we like it for a new play) and QQQ is way ahead of projections and the others are merely "on track" for our expected gains.  Now that we have our holy trinity of index levles (Dow 16,000, S&P 1,800 and Nasdaq 4,000), we can use the 2 out of 3…

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The following article is from one of our external contributors. It does not represent the opinion of Benzinga and has not been edited.

Posted-In: Markets Trading Ideas

Originally posted here...

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Weekly CFO Sells Highlight

According to GuruFocus Insider Data, the largest CFO sells during the past week were: Genpact Ltd, Oshkosh Corporation, Anadarko Petroleum Corp, Charles Schwab Corp, and Skyworks Solutions Inc.

Genpact Ltd. (G): CFO Mohit Bhatia Sold 148,036 Shares

CFO Mohit Bhatia sold 148,036 shares of G stock on 11/19/2013 at the average price of $18.06. Mohit Bhatia owns at least 41,585 shares after this. The price of the stock has decreased by 0.22% since.

Genpact Ltd. has a market cap of $4.15 billion; its shares were traded at around $18.02 with a P/E ratio of 18.00 and P/S ratio of 2.03. Genpact Ltd. had an annual average earnings growth of 11.00% over the past 5 years.

Genpact Ltd. has released its third quarter 2013 results. These results included revenue growth of 8.9% over last year to $534.9 million, and income from operations growth of 22.9% to $86.0 million. Net income was $70.3 million for the quarter, up 179.1% over the third quarter of 2012, while adjusted net income was up 17.8%.

Oshkosh Corporation (OSK): Exec. VP and CFO David M. Sagehorn Sold 141,005 Shares

Exec. VP and CFO David M. Sagehorn sold 141,005 shares of OSK stock on 11/18/2013 at the average price of $50.36. David M. Sagehorn owns at least 69,667 shares after this. The price of the stock has decreased by 6.29% since.

Oshkosh Corporation has a market cap of $4.08 billion; its shares were traded at around $47.19 with a P/E ratio of 13.30 and P/S ratio of 0.55. The dividend yield of Oshkosh Corporation stocks is 0.32%.

Oshkosh has released its fiscal fourth quarter 2013 results. Fourth quarter net income was $35.7 million ($0.40 per share), compared to $83.7 million ($0.91 per share) prior year quarter. Consolidated net sales decreased 15.8% to $1.73 billion, and free cash flow was $386 million.

Director Richard M Donnelly and multiple other insiders have all also sold shares of OSK stock recently.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp (APC): EVP, Finance & CFO Robert G Gwin Sold 60,100 ! Shares

EVP, Finance & CFO Robert G Gwin sold 60,100 shares of APC stock on 11/19/2013 at the average price of $90.92. Robert G Gwin owns at least 61,248 shares after this. The price of the stock has increased by 1.23% since.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp has a market cap of $46.32 billion; its shares were traded at around $92.04 with a P/E ratio of 26.30 and P/S ratio of 3.17. The dividend yield of Anadarko Petroleum Corp stocks is 0.49%. Anadarko Petroleum Corp had an annual average earnings growth of 0.30% over the past 10 years.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp reported third quarter 2013 net income of $182 million, or $0.36 per share, and cash flow of $1.779 billion.

Director Paulett Eberhart sold 24,600 shares of APC stock on 11/13/2013 at the average price of $91.

Charles Schwab Corp (SCHW): EVP and CFO Joseph R Martinetto Sold 104,457 Shares

EVP and CFO Joseph R Martinetto sold 104,457 shares of SCHW stock on 11/21/2013 at the average price of $24.91. Joseph R Martinetto owns at least 82,685 shares after this. The price of the stock has increased by 0.04% since.

Charles Schwab Corp has a market cap of $32.13 billion; its shares were traded at around $24.92 with a P/E ratio of 35.60 and P/S ratio of 6.14. The dividend yield of Charles Schwab Corp stocks is 0.96%. Charles Schwab Corp had an annual average earnings growth of 4.80% over the past 10 years.

In its third quarter of 2013, Charles Schwab saw net revenues rise by 15% to $1.37 billion, while net income rose 17% to $290 million.

EVP - Advisor Services Bernard J. Clark and EVP and General Counsel Carrie E Dwyer have both also sold shares of SCHW stock over the past week.

Skyworks Solutions, Inc. (SWKS): VP & CFO Donald W Palette Sold 92,105 Shares

VP & CFO Donald W Palette sold 92,105 shares of SWKS stock on 11/18/2013 at the average price of $25.7. Donald W Palette owns at least 45,444 shares after this. The price of the stock has increased by 3.15% since.

Skyworks Solutions, Inc. ! has a mar! ket cap of $4.99 billion; its shares were traded at around $26.51 with a P/E ratio of 20.00 and P/S ratio of 2.84. Skyworks Solutions, Inc. had an annual average earnings growth of 22.30% over the past 5 years.

In its fourth quarter of 2013 ended September 27, 2013, Skyworks Solutions Inc. delivered $477 million in revenues, up 13.3% over prior year quarter, and non-GAAP operating income of $130 million, up from $103.6 million last year.

President and CEO David J Aldrich sold 40,000 shares of SWKS stock on 11/20/2013 at the average price of $25.27. EVP Liam Griffin and multiple other insiders have all also sold shares of SWKS stock.

For the complete list of stocks that Sold by their CFOs, go to: Insider Buys.

CEO Buys, CFO Buys: Stocks that are bought by their CEO/CFOs. Insider Cluster Buys: Stocks that multiple company officers and directors have bought. Double Buys:: Companies that both Gurus and Insiders are buying Triple Buys: Companies that both Gurus and Insiders are buying, and Company is buying back.

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G STOCK PRICE CHART

Stock market leadership points to strength

NEW YORK — There might be a lack of leadership in Washington about the debt fight, but that hasn't stopped traditional bull market leaders from heading the performance derby in the stock market.

Small-company stocks, perennial bull market favorites, are again leading the pack on Wall Street.

The sector made a new bull market high Monday despite the political gridlock that has placed the nation in grave fiscal danger as Thursday's deadline to raise the nation's borrowing limit ticks closer.

Semiconductor stocks also are exerting their leadership potential, as are new issues that recently began to trade in public markets after offering stock to the public for the first time.

"The leadership backdrop remains favorable," Chris Verrone of Strategas Research Partners told clients in a research note.

Despite the market angst about the 15-day-old government shutdown and the fight about raising the debt ceiling, the stock market has been led by offensive stocks, not defensive ones, which is an encouraging sign.

When go-go stocks with upside potential — such as fast-growing small companies, chip stocks or recent initial public offerings — are on the move, it means investors are still willing to take risks to make money, Verrone says.

The hot IPO market by itself signals that investors' animal spirits haven't been snuffed out by the government's inability to agree on a debt-related deal.