Profit taking pressures continue to sweep over global markets as investors expressed their concerns over the latest developments in the debt burdened currency bloc. Greece will host another round of elections in an effort to form a ruling coalition, although the bigger question at hand is whether or not the nation will keep its spot in the eurozone. Amidst the looming uncertainty, major equity indexes on Wall Street closed in red territory for another session, while gold futures plunged over 1% on the day, settling just below $1,545 an ounce.

The onslaught of economic data releases on the home front continues and investors will focus their attention on the health of the housing market later today. Housing starts data is expected to come out at the opening bell, and as such, our chart to watch for the day is the State Street SPDR Homebuilders ETF (XHB). This fund may see

News Corporation (NWS) helped Bona Film Group (BONA) shareholders see a fifty two week high after disclosing a stake in the Chinese filmmaker. News Corporation will own 19.9% of the company after the deal is complete. Chief Executive Officer Dong Yu, who owned 35% when the company went public, will remain a large shareholder with 27% ownership. Shares of Bona Film traded up almost eight percent after the News Corporation announcement was made.

Bona Film Group operates as a film producer, film distributor, movie theater operator, and also owns a talent agency. The company is diversified within the entertainment industry and offers great opportunities to capture China's growing film market.

Flying Swords of Dragon Gate was one of the highlights for Bona Film Group. The movie has made over $86.5 million in China. Back in December, I highlighted the movie as a bright spot for Imax (IMAX). The movie was

The driver of the capital markets today has a name: Fear. It has overwhelmed nearly every other consideration and is driving the dollar higher against all the major and emerging market currencies.

Even the Japanese yen is not match today. Despite narrow interest rate differentials and heightened anxiety, the dollar is trading at its best level against the yen since May 3. In fact, although the euro is at the epicenter, and made new lows for the move as it approaches the year's low set in January near $1.2625, it is gaining modestly today against both sterling and the yen.

Talk of a Greek exit continue to run high and contingency plans are being developed. They underscore complication and the likely costs involved. There won't be any winners. Greece will be plunged into an economic and political nightmare that may even make Argentina's experience look like a tea party.

We

Deere (DE) reported record second quarter earnings before the bell Wednesday. Given its earnings power, sales growth and outlook; the company looks like a solid buy after a 10% plunge over the last couple of weeks in the overall market downturn.

Key Highlights from the earnings report for Deere.

• Earnings rose 23% Y/Y to $2.61 a share.
• Revenues increased a healthy 12% to just over $10B for the quarter.
• The company boosted its full year earnings forecast to $3.35B
• Deere also said it expected equipment sales to now rise 15% for FY2012 and for a 25% improvement in the third quarter.

4 additional reasons Deere will reward investors from $76 a share:

• The stock now trades for 9 times forward earnings, a deep discount to its five year average (14.8). It

By Dean Popplewell

Grexit has not occurred yet, but contagion is surely here, just look at the unsustainable debt financing levels in Spain. The EUR squeeze continues, albeit painfully slow. When the Capital markets eventually go for the Greek “kill,” euro policy makers will not have had the time to put in place a structure that allows Greece to leave in an orderly fashion. The potential exit of Greece from the Euro system over the next few months could have some “catastrophic consequences.” The stresses and strains potentially being put on the periphery will again lead to dollar liquidity concerns topping most lists.

The reality is that EU sovereign issues and concerns for the health of its financial system continue to intensify. Just look at the the Spanish banking system. Many believe that the current intensity feels higher than those present after the collapse of Lehman Brothers nearly four-years ago.

By Ari Paul

The big news of the last few weeks has been out of Europe. For the past 4 years we've had loose monetary and fiscal policy in the US and relatively tight monetary and fiscal policy in Europe. I believe that is about to switch. Now is a good time to identify attractive European equities and European assets that will benefit from increased spending in the near future.

• France just elected the Socialist Francois Hollande; I think he's a moderate at heart but will reverse the relatively extreme austerity that Sarkozy was championing.
• In the past week, Greece roiled markets as voters gave support to parties that are declaring all debt agreements void.
• The unsustainable debt and unemployment situations in Spain and Italy have led to increasing bond yields and growing concern, highlighted by a major bank bailout in Spain announced last week.
• Germany's bundesbank may finally be

Prem Watsa, the founder, chairman, and chief executive of Fairfax Financial Holdings, based in Toronto, Ontario, was born in 1950 in Hyderabad, India. He has been called the "Canadian Warren Buffett" by some during successful periods of investing in the past.

After reading Benjamin Graham's book, Prem Watsa acquired an appreciation of value investing. He also admires Buffett, modeling Fairfax after Warren's Berkshire Hathaway. Another great influence on Watsa was Sir John Templeton, who passed away recently and was a large shareholder of Fairfax Financial and close friend of Watsa. He used to visit Templeton at least once a year, and today keeps a large sculpture of Sir John Templeton, in Fairfax's boardroom.

When investing I consider myself as a business analyst, not market or macroeconomic analyst. This means that I invest with the outlook of a businessperson. I look at the business holistically, analyzing all quantitative and qualitative aspects

Top Stories
J.C. Penney slumps as earnings suffer from new strategy. J.C. Penney (JCP) sank 12.15% post-market after a woeful FQ1 report in which the retailer missed expectations, and cut its $0.20 dividend and FY12 forecast, saying it won't meet EPS estimates of $1.59. In FQ1, J.C. Penney swung to a net loss of $163M from a profit of $64M as revenue slumped 20.1% to $3.15B, hurt by the strategy of abandoning regular discounts in favor of everyday low prices. Opinion: J.C. Penney's moment of truth.

Google plans revamp of Android strategy. Google (GOOG) is planning a major overhaul of its Android strategy, the WSJ reports. Instead of partnering to build a handful of devices via its Nexus line, Google will now form hardware agreements with up to five manufacturers at once. Google's objectives include creating no-compromise Android gear to better compete with the iPhone (AAPL) and limiting OS fragmentation.

by Eric Wesoff

A123 (Nasdaq: AONE) confirmed a record loss of $125 million in the first quarter of 2012 and said it would seek debt financing as it struggles with a massive battery recall that will take up its existing factory capacity for some time.

It's the latest in a string of bad news for the Waltham, Mass.-based company around the March recall of batteries from its Michigan factory, built with hundreds of millions of dollars in federal and state grants and loan guarantees. A123 reported the recall in March, and revealed that it had played a role in problems for key customer Fisker and its plug-in hybrid Karma sports cars. A123 laid off about 125 of its 850 Michigan employees in November, a move it blamed on reduced orders from Fisker, though it said it hoped to rehire the workers in the coming year.

The recall is expected to

In compiling the Dividend Champions list. I get to see which companies are nearing the anniversaries of their previous dividend increases. Since most of these firms raise their payout about the same time every year, I can say with some confidence that they are likely to do so again.

Quiet Time Again

Since many companies announced dividend increases in conjunction with their annual shareholder meetings in April or May, we typically see a drop-off in the pace of such announcements as summer approaches. Although there are still some corporations that will raise their dividend between now and the end of July (which coincides with the "forward look" of about 11 weeks for this article), we'll probably be seeing fewer in the months ahead.

I have modified the Expected Increase series to reflect a more SA-friendly format by separating the Champions, Contenders, and Challengers into distinct groupings, so please look for

[The following first appeared in the May 2011 edition of Expiring Monthly: The Option Traders Journal. I thought I would share it because of the strong positive feedback I received as well as the large number of questions I have recently fielded about hedges.]

After more than two years of a surging bull market that has seen the major stock market indices more than double, it is not surprising that many investors are becoming more concerned about protecting existing profits than finding ways to increase existing account balances.

As someone who makes a living trading options, you would think that finding a way to hedge my portfolio using options ought to be second nature by now. In fact, I have always placed more emphasis on offense than defense, not because I underestimate the importance of risk management, but because I generally find the opportunity cost of portfolio protection to be

First, he notes that this bet did not threaten either the banking system or JPMorgan. He points out that JPMorgan is a huge and highly profitable bank. Its books look to be in reasonably good shape. A $2 billion loss will be felt, but this is less than the normal profit in a quarter. It does not come close to threatening the bank's survival and certainly poses no risk to the financial system.

This is all true, but it misses the point that even in the post Dodd-Frank era, a large financial institution is still effectively able to take big risks with the taxpayers' money. If this bet, or a bigger one, had gone bad when

The market likes consistency in operations, but intelligent investors should also consider consistency in disclosures. The more consistent a corporation’s disclosures, the easier it is to make comparisons and determine the true state of the company’s performance. When companies suddenly change their disclosures without providing a concrete rationale for the change, investors should be worried that there is some bad news being covered up. Indeed, many of the accounting gimmicks covered in the excellent Financial Shenanigans: How to Detect Accounting Gimmicks & Fraud in Financial Reports (read my multi-part review here), are identifiable by those who watch for inconsistencies in disclosures, definitions and assumptions.

Consider the case of ADTRAN, Inc. (ADTN) a provider of equipment and services for communications networks. I am always concerned when looking at companies in this niches because they tend to be overly reliant on a small number of major mobile network operators. Consequently, I pay

By Scott Martin

The “Dogs of the Dow” approach is well known in U.S. large-cap investing, but global traders can find endless ideas picking through the wreckage of the worst-performing emerging market ETFs as well. At the moment, the Global X China Materials fund (CHIM) qualifies as the dirtiest dog at the table.

CHIM plays a viable role inside the Global X system of China sector funds, but the sad truth is that this particular sector — domestic Chinese companies that produce raw materials for industry — has not done well.

Year to date, CHIM is down a grim 12.5%, worse than any other non-leveraged fund focused on the BRIC group of Brazil, Russia, India and China and in the same suffering bracket as the Italy (EWI) and Greece (GREK) funds, down 9% and 16% year to date, respectively.

Problems in the portfolio are legion: A global steel glut, fierce

By Scott Grimes

(Click to enlarge)

(Click to enlarge)

These charts provide some interesting perspective on the eurozone economies. The top chart compares industrial production in the U.S. to industrial production in the eurozone economies in aggregate. Note how there has been a significant gap that has opened up since last August, and note also how closely production in the two major economic areas had tracked up until that time. But as the second chart makes clear, the sluggish performance of eurozone industrial production since August is mainly driven by the same countries that are facing rising default risk. Germany is doing quite well, and its industrial production recovery has been stronger than that of the U.S.

The second chart breaks out the behavior of industrial production across six major economies within the eurozone. It seems the eurozone is split these days between those who produce and those who don't.

Gold and silver continued their downward trend during yesterday's trading despite the slightly positive news of the higher than expected growth rate of Germany's GDP in the Q1 2012 (a growth rate of 0.5%); the news of the new elections in Greece to be held in June raised the anxiety in the markets and dragged down the Euro. This news may continue to affect the forex and commodities markets in the days to follow. As stated in the weekly gold outlook there are many items on today's agenda: the minutes of April FOMC meeting, U.S housing starts report, ECB President speaks, Euro Area Annual Inflation and BOE Inflation Report .

Gold slipped again on Tuesday by 0.25% to $1,557.1; silver also declined by 0.96% to $28.08. During the month gold fell by 6.44% and

Like most of the solar industry, JA Solar (JASO) posted sizeable losses in 2011. With average selling prices ("ASP") tanking by as much as 70% throughout last year. U.S. GAAP losses were practically unavoidable as higher carrying cost inventory needed to be worked down. Despite a 2011 annual net loss of $89.7m, JA Solar made substantial progress in evolving its operational structure, which should enable it to not only survive but thrive after the industry's latest consolidation period draws to a close.

Similar to other large U.S.-listed Chinese solar companies such as Yingli Green Energy (YGE), Suntech Power (STP), and LDK Solar (LDK), JA Solar's 2011 fourth quarter was messy at the headline level. Although JASO's end of year impairment charge on long-lived assets were considerably less than some peers, its $48.2m write down of less than two year old wafer capacity contributed to most of its U.S. GAAP $68.3m

As a prelude to a broader analysis of China’s GDP, and the accuracy of its official GDP figures, I want to start by examining the national real estate statistics for the first four months of 2012. This discussion feeds into the broader GDP picture, but the property story that has been unfolding is important and interesting enough to be worth taking a close look at on its own.

Getting an accurate view of the property sector is complicated by the fact that neither the official price index, nor the Soufun price index, nor the average price/square meter that can be calculated from the investment numbers seem to track very well with each other or with point-of-sale impressions of steep developer discounts over the past eight months. Developers and local governments also enjoy a great deal of discretion in deciding what to count as a “start” or a “completion.” Monthly data

Quick, what is the single worst-performing "anything" in the world of investments right now? If you said chocolate covered cockroaches, you would be close but still way off. Actually I think there might be a premium for those tasty tidbits these days.

Give up?

Okay, well, in my book natural gas has got to be the worst performing investment in the last few years, bar none. Of course if you have been on the other side of that trade, then obviously you have been completely correct.

I am not a commodities guy. I just have not gotten involved in it ever since the silver market was being manipulated back in 1980 by the Hunt brothers. That being said, how can anyone not see the virtual collapse in the natural gas market?

Check out this recent chart from Bloomberg Businessweek:

(click to enlarge)

Now this chart is just for one year.

Stocks discussed on the Lightning Round session of Jim Cramer's Mad Money TV Program, Tuesday May 15.

Bullish Calls

DirecTV Group (DTV): "...DirecTV is a better buy (than Dish). It is a better company."

Energy Transfer Partners (ETP): "...the MLPs are down. I'm going to send you to Energy Transfer Partners."

Bearish Calls:

McDonald's (MCD): "Someone downgraded it and it didn't go down...ordinarily, I'd say buy it, but it was an informed downgrade...let's wait and see if we can get it between a 3% and 3.5% yield."

Tractor Supply Company (TSCO): "Someone is going to say this should be sold....we are going to take this down to $92-93 as a place to buy. Not right here."

Newcastle Investment (NCT): "We've looked at this over and over again...unless they come on the show, I don't know what they

The world's largest social network, Facebook (FB) is on track to complete its long anticipated IPO this week. Facebook plans to raise $10.6 billion, making it the fifth largest US IPO ever, by offering 337.4 million shares (47% insider) at a price range of $28 to $35. At the midpoint of the range, Facebook would have a market cap of $86.2 billion. Eleven banks are joint bookrunners, including Morgan Stanley (MS), J.P. Morgan (JPM) and Goldman Sachs (GS), in what is one of three deals scheduled to price this week on the US IPO calendar.

Note: Facebook raised the proposed deal size for its upcoming IPO on Tuesday. The social networking giant now plans to raise $12.1 billion by offering 337 million shares (47% insider) at a price range of $34 to $38. At the midpoint of the revised range, Facebook would command a market value of $98.6 billion.

Business

In compiling the Dividend Champions list. I get to see which companies are nearing the anniversaries of their previous dividend increases. Since most of these firms raise their payout about the same time every year, I can say with some confidence that they are likely to do so again.

Quiet Time Again

Since many companies announced dividend increases in conjunction with their annual shareholder meetings in April or May, we typically see a drop-off in the pace of such announcements as summer approaches. Although there are still some corporations that will raise their dividend between now and the end of July (which coincides with the "forward look" of about 11 weeks for this article), we'll probably be seeing fewer in the months ahead.

I have modified the Expected Increase series to reflect a more SA-friendly format by separating the Champions, Contenders, and Challengers into distinct groupings, so please look for

In compiling the Dividend Champions list (found here) I get to see which companies are nearing the anniversaries of their previous dividend increases. Since most of these firms raise their payout about the same time every year, I can say with some confidence that they are likely to do so again.

Quiet Time Again

Since many companies announced dividend increases in conjunction with their annual shareholder meetings in April or May, we typically see a drop-off in the pace of such announcements as summer approaches. Although there are still some corporations that will raise their dividend between now and the end of July (which coincides with the "forward look" of about 11 weeks for this article), we'll probably be seeing fewer in the months ahead.

I have modified the Expected Increase series to reflect a more SA-friendly format by separating the Champions, Contenders, and Challengers into distinct groupings, so please

I have repeatedly described myself as a Euroskeptic. The current combination of politics and economics looks likely to, at worst, doom the euro to failure, at best to commit the Continent to a deep and long-lasting recession. Moreover, the pace of deterioration in Greece, combined with an economic structure that seems completely at odds with much of the rest of Europe, seems to make a 'Grexit' all but impossible.

That said, I am horrified at the ongoing willingness of European policymakers to still be playing chicken at this point. I assumed that my skepticism would ultimately be proved wrong as the European Central Bank would ultimately cave and effectively monetize national debt across the eurozone, and that Germany would come to this conclusion as necessary to save the single currency that it has long-championed. That ultimately, the eurozone would step up and take greater responsibility for this mess, understanding that

Stocks discussed on the in-depth session of Jim Cramer's Mad Money TV Program, Tuesday May 15.

No Buy Zone For Facebook (FB), Zillow (Z), Jive (JIVE), Linkedin (LNKD)

It has been announced that the Facebook IPO will be priced 14% higher than anticipated, to over $38. A huge pop on Friday is a foregone conclusion, since recent social media IPOs jumped an average of 42% the first day. While Cramer urges investors to get in on the FB deal and buy as many shares as possible, he calls Friday a "No Buy Zone" for Facebook. Even if the stock falls dramatically from its initial pop on Friday, there will be a better time to buy it than Friday. Cramer discussed other social media IPOs that have worked as long-term investments: Zillow , Jive and LinkedIn. Investors who were patient and waited for a lower entry point in ensuing weeks and

I posted Tuesday some thoughts that I tweeted right after the CPI figures were released Tuesday morning, and added a few ancillary thoughts as well. I figured that may be all that I would write, since CPI is clearly the most important release of the day and because I am hard at work on our Quarterly Inflation Outlook piece.

But then I saw a number of headlines such as this:

• "Retail Sales Edge Up, Inflation Flat as Energy Prices Fall"
• "Tame Inflation, Strong Factory Data Lift Futures"

…and I realized I had to write Tuesday.

It isn't true that core CPI was "as-expected" or that inflation was "flat." Of the 78 economists polled by Bloomberg about the monthly change in core CPI, one called for 0.0%, eight expected +0.1%, and the balance expected +0.2%. The average works out to be 0.184%. This is consistent with poll results on the question

Do you consider yourself a contrarian investor, always searching for underestimated stocks? For ideas on how to start your own contrarian search, we ran a screen.

We began by screening for stocks with bearish sentiment, with float shorts above 10%. We also screened for stocks that appear undervalued relative to earnings growth, with PEG below 1.

Then we screened for those with strong profitability compared to industry peers, with higher gross, operating, and pretax margins than their industry averages by at least 5% on each margin. This indicates that these companies are taking a greater percentage of their revenues as profits, and they also have stronger control over their cost structures.

Interactive Chart: Press Play to compare changes in analyst ratings over the last two years for up to six of the stocks mentioned below. Analyst ratings sourced from Zacks Investment Research.

Do you

by Ulysses de la Torre

Brazil's policy of weakening its currency to make exports more competitive has worked – maybe too well.

Night construction in Brazil

The real has lost 13% of its value against the dollar since March 1, to trade at just about 2:1. The Bovespa stock index has slid by almost exactly the same amount during that time, making the currency's future an all-important indicator for equity and ETF investors, but one subject to contradictory forces.

Even the president of the Brazilian Exporters Association said last week he prefers a stronger real in the 1.80-1.85 range. Yet unnamed currency speculators told Forbes they see a further nosedive to 2.2.

What's driving bearish sentiment on the real is President Dilma Rousseff's determination to push domestic interest rates lower. Earlier this month, she issued a decree removing the floor on interest paid by a popular form of savings account,