One of the creatures from Jekyll Island, JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM), kicked off bank earnings by announcing an improvement in M&A and underwriting. The super-sized bank reported a 47% rise in profits — or $4.8 billion ($1.12 a share) on revenues of $26.1 billion versus earnings of $3.3 billion ($0.74 a share) on revenues of $24.3 billion a year earlier [see call transcript].

Shares are up ~1.75% to start the trading day.

What do we think?

JPMorgan handsomely beat Wall Street expectations for $1.00 a share in earnings on revenues of $24.2 billion. As we noted in our “Preview: Cheat Sheet to JPMorgan Earnings“, JPM improved key metrics including credit loss provisions ($3.0 billion, down by $5.9 billion, or 66%, from the prior year) and loan growth:

• End-of-period Business Banking loans were $16.8 billion, down 1% from the prior year and up 1% from

By Zackary D. Barron

The wireless sector continues to exhibit strong growth and earnings results as new technologies associated with the cellular phone continue to permeate into the American way of life. As is expected, companies like Apple Computer (AAPL) that have leveraged themselves into this sector are enjoying plush valuations as a result.

One of the companies that is entering this sector as a consumer value is Texas-based Metro PCS (PCS), a cell-phone service provider offering a $40 per month service plan that puts it amongst the least expensive plans in the business. The company also offers prepaid plans and unlimited usage plans so it also competes with the more standard fare of the cell phone service providers.

Yesteday’s USDA World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates caused quite a pop in agricultural commodity prices. (Check Out: “Here are Scary Charts of Food Prices Back to 30-Year Highs.“)

In addition to showing you the winning and losing stocks, here is your Cheat Sheet to the economic report:

Wheat: U.S. wheat ending stocks for 2010/11 are projected 40 million bushels lower this month as a reduction in expected feed and residual use is more than offset by higher projected exports.

Course Grains (Corn): U.S. feed grain supplies for 2010/11 are projected down reflecting lower corn production. U.S. corn production is estimated 93 million bushels lower as a 1.5-bushel-per-acre reduction in the national average yield outweighs a 183,000-acre increase in harvested area.

Rice: The U.S. 2010/11 rice crop is estimated at 243.1 million cwt, up 1.5 million or 0.6 percent from the previous estimate due

Australia’s floods have been relentless. Now, mining giant Rio Tinto (RIO)

By Jordan Roy-Byrne

An upward sloping consolidation in Gold (NYSE:GLD) that began in October has, despite a lack of any real losses, been enough to improve various sentiment indicators.

Mark Hulbert of MarketWatch gives an update on his Gold sentiment indicator:

Consider the average recommended gold market exposure among a subset of short-term gold market timers tracked by the Hulbert Financial Digest (as reflected by the Hulbert Gold Newsletter Sentiment Index, or HGNSI). This average currently stands at 33.6%, which means that the average short-term gold timer is allocating two-thirds of his or her gold-oriented portfolios to cash. Six weeks ago, in contrast, the HGNSI stood at 40.3%.

A similar pattern to what we’ve experienced over the last six weeks is the declining bullishness witnessed since mid-September, some four months ago. At the time, with gold bullion trading below $1,300 — more than $100 below its current price

First, the bad news:

RealtyTrac reported banks repossessed 1.05 million homes in 2010 — breaking the record of 918,000 homes seized in 2009. The number of foreclosure filings — including default notices, auctions and repossessions — also set a new record of 2.9 million in 2010. That means 1 in every 45 US households received bad news last year. Ouch.

Now, the temporary good news:

Foreclosure filings were reported on 257,747 U.S. properties in December, a decrease of nearly 2% from the previous month and down 26% from December 2009 — the biggest annual drop in foreclosure activity since RealtyTrac began publishing its foreclosure report in January 2005 and giving December the lowest monthly total since June 2008.

Foreclosures Slowed During Foreclosuregate

However, James J. Saccacio, CEO of RealtyTrac, notes:

Total properties receiving foreclosure filings would have easily exceeded 3 million in 2010 had it not

A recession causes cost-cutting. Once the cost-cutting stops, the losses stop and the profits return. As the profit returns, the confidence resurfaces and the companies think about putting profit to work again by reinvesting in new hires. Our Cheat Sheet to the Psychology of Market Cycles says it all. Here’s a batch of companies crossing our radar with positive hiring news in the first couple weeks of 2011:

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) announced on January 7th it will hire 260 new employees at aluminum facilities in the U.S. AA is trading at $16.24 per share.

Dillard’s (NYSE:DDS) said at the close of 2010 it will hire 300 new jobs in central Arkansas to meet the needs of its Internet orders. DDS is trading at $39.39 per share.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) announced at the start of the year it will hire more than 6,000 workers to meet to meet the needs of

Bill Gross, managing director of PIMCO who runs the world’s largest bond fund, appeared on Bloomberg Television’s “Inside Track” on Wednesday. Here’s the video and a Cheat Sheet to his comments below:

Bill Gross on Portugal

We do not blame Prime Minister Socrates for touting his market. That’s the name of the game in these days, not just in Portugal, but in other countries. They’re not like Greece, in other words. And yes, I guess we can give it to him in terms of 80% foreign participation and yes, we can give it to him in terms of a well-bid auction, but basically these auctions are prearranged sales. They are not really auctions. They are bought by domestic banks within euro land and then they’re rediscounted to the central bank. So it is internal buying. There are claims of Japan and China and so on, but they’re really looking for

The bottom line is investors, shareholders and traders love profits. Profits drive stock prices. Many who missed the stock market recovery in 2010 keep asking why the markets have been rising during a tough economic recession. The simple answer: corporate profits were rising in 2010. Here’s our preview cheat sheet to the current earnings season:

Alcoa (AA) was the first Dow component to report earnings this week. Alcoa beat earnings estimates by $.02, earnings $.21 cents per share.

American Express (AXP): The consensus analyst earnings estimate is for $.94 cents per share. AXP has beaten earnings estimates the past 4 quarters in a row by an average of 3.5%-14.1%. Can the trend continue? Earnings will be released Jan. 24th.

Boeing (BA): Analysts are expecting an average report of $1.10 per share in profit. BA has beaten earnings estimates the past 4 quarters in a

Yesterday, the perpetual earnings season kicked-off with aluminum producer Alcoa (AA). Although Alcoa blew away profit expectations by $0.02 a share ($0.21), revenues came in $59 million less than Wall Street’s desire for $5.71 billion (Thomson Reuters).

So, why are AA shares down ~2% this morning?

Citigroup has downgraded the stock to a “hold” on valuation, citing a $17 price target.

What Do We Think?

Alcoa is trading at its historical average for P/E. So, it’s not terribly expensive. Also, the company delivered the variables our Earnings Preview covered for a very strong outlook:

The company projects sales to rise another 12% this year, they see global demand for aluminum doubling by 2020, aluminum pricing continues to strengthen, and CEO Klaus Kleinfeld said inventories are declining (see conference call transcript here):

[W]e actually see that inventories are coming down on an absolute basis

By Jordan Roy-Byrne

Yesterday I came across a clip from one of the business channels. The discussion was about “king dollar” and Gold (NYSE:GLD). (The king dollar probably gives it away). Anyway, one of the guests quipped, “I’m on record that Gold is a dumb trade. It is rising based on fear and confusion and when that subsides, the Gold trade ends.”

First of all, Gold has been rising for ten years. It went down the twenty years prior. It is now in a structural bull market. This fact cannot be debated. There is no Gold “trade” unless you are trying to make a few points next week or month. It is a bull market. Repeatedly, the mainstream news makes this mistake. Moreover, find me a Gold bear that readily admits Gold is in a bull market. You can’t because every bear refers to Gold as a trade, as if

Here are five S&P mid-cap stocks with extraordinarily high short interest:

Alliance Data Systems Corp (ADS): The Plano, Texas,-based company provides data-driven and transaction-based marketing solutions and customer loyalty solutions. The company has 50.39 million shares float: 36.8% of the shares float are short, or 18.458 million are shares short.

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Boyd Gaming Corp (BYD): The Las Vegas, Nev.,-based company specializes in casino and gaming operations. The company has 54.47 million shares float: 33.3% of the shares float are short, or 18.1558 million are shares short.

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Ciena Corporation (CIEN): The Linthicum, Md.,-based company provides communications networking equipment, software and services that support the transport, switching, aggregation and management of voice, video and data traffic. The company has 85.88 million shares float: 32.7% of the shares float are short, or 28.1394 million are shares short.

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Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR)

Homebuilders are in focus today as KB Home (KBH) beat Wall Street earnings expectations. KBH shares are up over 4% on the upbeat news.

Here are 9 more homebuilding stocks and ETFs trending now:

1) SPDR Series Trust SPDR Homebuilders (XHB)

SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF is an exchange-traded fund incorporated in the USA. The Fund seeks to replicate the performance of the S&P Homebuilders Select Industry Index, an equal-weighted index.

Research: See the Chart, Fundamental Cheat Sheet, and Insider Trading Cheat Sheet >>

2) Lennar Corp. (LEN)

Lennar Corporation constructs and sells single-family attached and detached homes, and to a lesser extent multi-level buildings as well as buys and sells residential land.

Research: See the Chart, Fundamental Cheat Sheet, and Insider Trading Cheat Sheet >>

3) D.R. Horton Inc. (DHI)

D.R. Horton Inc. constructs and sells single-family homes designed primarily for the entry-level and move-up markets.

Research: See the Chart,

Holiday sales data from December is starting to trickle in. Here’s your Cheat Sheet to the current winners and losers:

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (ANF): Winner

Teen retailer Abercrombie & Fitch Co. was one of the biggest winners in December. The “cool kids” go-to clothing outlet crushed Wall Street’s expectations with a 15% increase in sales (50% higher than analyst estimates).

Limited Brands Inc. (LTD): Winner

Limited Brands Inc. was a winner with a 5% increase in sales. The clothing conglomerate was especially excited by outsized sales at the popular Victoria’s Secret.

Costco (COST): Neutral

Warehouse retailer Costco was a rare neutral. The company was expected to have same-store sales of 6.2%, but slightly under-delivered at 6%. Shares are flat as investors aren’t concerned.

Family Dollar Stores Inc. (FDO): Loser

Shares of discounter Family Dollar Stores Inc. were marked-down 8.5% yesterday after their earnings missed expectations and the company lowered

Facebook is back in the spotlight today after raising $500 million from Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) and a Russian investor. With all the hype that Facebook may go public in the near future, now is a great time to take a look at whether Facebook users are particularly valuable when compared to the competition:

(Source: Business Insider)

As we can see, Facebook still has an issue with monetizing users. I, for one, have never clicked on a single ad on Facebook or ever cracked my wallet to

oDesk today announced findings from the December “Online Employment Report,” a monthly analysis on the state of the online workforce, including in-demand skills, growth in jobs and upcoming workforce trends.

According to the report, demand for online work held steady in December, maintaining 103% growth year-over-year and outstripping slow hiring seen in local jobs. Over the past year, through oDesk, online workers have earned more than $115 million, an amount which is expected to double in 2011.

Based on a sample of nearly 60,000 postings for online jobs, there has been ongoing interest from employers in hiring for

The International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) begins this Thursday in Las Vegas. More than 130,000 attendees will be there to witness the unveiling of the hottest technology, gadgets and products slated to hit the public later this year. Everyone is anxious to see what companies like Apple Inc. (AAPL), Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), Sprint (S) and even Ford (F) have lined up for the new year ahead. This year our preview comes from Shira Lazar, who will be covering the event live. Here are 5 key trends to watch and the companies associated with the unveiling of hot product catalysts:

Tablets Galore

While the iPad still dominates the tablet market, expect to see other players trying to squeeze in. For instance, Motorola (MOT) is expected to show its 10-inch Android-based (GOOG) tablet. Microsoft’s (MSFT) chief executive Steve Ballmer, who typically gives the opening keynote might talk about the launch of

By Jordan Roy-Byrne

Heading into 2011, the consensus outlook on precious metals is slightly positive but the consensus believes that higher interest rates will ultimately support the US currency and in turn engender a move out of Gold (NYSE:GLD). The Gold naysayers are using “rising rates” as a way to dismiss Gold. Let me explain why this belief is not only false but utterly dangerous.

First and foremost, the parameters have changed in just a few short years. Government debt has increased substantially in the last few years. This debt and the debt of the last 10 years has been serviced at very low interest rates. In fact, its been serviced at historically low interest rates. When interest rates were higher in the 1990s, the overall debt load was significantly lower. John Hussman explains:

Moreover, in order to adequately evaluate the existing deficit, it is essential to recognize that this

Amidst a slower-than-usual trading session, here is a group of stocks that are trending on our radar and the reasons why:

1) The AllState Corporation (NYSE:ALL): The company is suing Bank of American (NYSE:BAC) stating its Countrywide subsidiary sold Allstate more than $700 million in mortgage backed securities that Countrywide knew were probably going to default.

2) Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE): The drug maker’s veterinary unit will acquire Synbiotics Corp., a developer of veterinary diagnostics products, as it looks to tap into a growing segment of the animal-health industry. The deal will provide Synbiotics common shareholders with $0.306 per share in cash.

3) General Electric (NYSE:GE): For the 2nd straight year, corporate bond sales globally exceeded $3 trillion as the top company was General Electric leading the offerings.

4) Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC): The tech giant launched its 310 Series of solid-state drives. Company executives said the 310 SSDs will improve overall