By Clare Baldwin and Phil WahbaNEW YORK (Reuters UK) - Investors bet on growth in the IPOs of a Chinese hotel chain and an online education company on Friday, but were less enthusiastic about a spin-off of mining giant Rio Tinto.Rio Tinto's U.S. coal-mining spin-off, Cloud Peak Energy Inc CLD...

By Clare Baldwin and Phil WahbaNEW YORK (Reuters) - Investors bet on growth on Friday, bumping up shares in two newly listed companies with strong trajectories while remaining neutral or down on two others whose prospects are murkier.Mining giant Rio Tinto's spin-off Cloud Peak Energy Inc CLD edged down in...

A weakening of the dollar helped push commodities and stock futures higher Monday morning.

A weakening of the dollar helped push commodities and stock futures higher Monday morning.

The FTSE 100(UKX) gapped up in the morning on the back of Intels earnings beating the streets expectations.

Rising metals prices put fire in the belly of the miners this morning, with Rio Tinto(RIO) additionally helped by reports of record iron ore production in the third quarter to satisfy rising demand from China.

Oil producers also made strong gains as crude ticked up towards $75 a barrel, with BP(BP) and Shell both gaining.

Retailers and Banks certainly recovered from the sell off yesterday, especially Barclays(BARC) and Marks and Spencer(MKS).

On Thanksgiving when Americans celebrate their first bailout, the big story is that the planned “orderly” decline in the Greenback is starting to be anything but! With most US investors probably thinking more about holiday than markets, it should be no surprise that markets have traded quietly for the most part overnight. The main action has been in currency markets, where the Dollar has been sold across the board after breaking through 1.50 against the Euro and slumping to a 14 year low versus the Yen.[More...]

Markets generally adopted a slightly more defensive tone on Friday. In the US, utilities and consumer stables managed small gains, but financials, consumer cyclicals and IT fell.[More...]

Having briefly scanned the dataflow Friday before checking out the price action, your writer had thought he may be confronted with somewhat softer markets. Wrong. Rather, a combination of slightly weaker than expected GDP growth in Europe and a wider trade deficit and decline in consumer confidence in the US seems to have been trumped by a decent earnings report from Walt Disney and upped Christmas guidance from JC Penney. Indeed, in the US consumer cyclicals led the way with a 1.5% gain, versus a 0.6% gain for the S&P 500. Commodity markets were mixed.[More...]

Nearly one year ago - Oct. 27, 2008 - I recommended buying the iShares MSCI Brazil Index (EWZ). That week, the exchange-traded fund (ETF) reversed its decline and rallied 31%.  Today it is about 110% higher than our original entry point, which pretty much marked the bottom. In that article, I highlighted two ...

Nearly one year ago – Oct. 27, 2008 – I recommended buying the iShares MSCI Brazil Index (NYSE: EWZ). That week, the exchange-traded fund (ETF) reversed its decline and rallied 31%. Today it is about 110% higher than our original entry point, which pretty much marked the bottom.[More...]

Companies featured in this segment: Siemens AG (NYSE:SI), General Electric Company (NYSE:GE), RWE AG (OTC:RWEOY), E.ON AG (OTC:EONGY), Areva SA (EPA:CEI), Toshiba Corporation (TYO:6502), Rio Tinto Limited (ASX:RIO), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (BSE:500104), Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (BSE:500312), Indian Oil Corporation Limited (BSE:530965), Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BSE:500103), Steel Authority of India Limited (BSE:500113), NTPC Limited (BSE:532555)

Companies featured in this segment: General Motors Corporation (NYSE:GM), Vale (NYSE:RIO), BHP Billiton Limited (NYSE:BHP), Rio Tinto Limited (NYSE:RTP), Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), ArcelorMittal (NYSE:MT), Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX), American Electric Power Company Incorporated (NYSE:AEP), Fiat SpA (OTC:FIATY), and Technip (PINKSHEETS:TKPPY)

Companies featured in this segment: The Shaw Group (NYSE:SGR), Sasol (NYSE:SSL), Boardwalk Pipeline Partners (NYSE:BWP), Greif Incorporated (NYSE:GEF), Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (NYSE:RIO), Central African Mining and Exploration Company (LSE:CFM), Riversdale Mining Limited (ASX:RIV), Panda Ethanol Incorporated (OTC:PDAE), and RWE Power (OTC:RWEOY)

Companies featured in this segment: Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL), ArcelorMittal (NYSE:MT), Siemens AG (NYSE:SI), Vale (NYSE:RIO), Constellation Energy Group Incorporated (NYSE:CEG), ArcelorMittal (NYSE:MT), Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), China Oriental Group Company Limited (HKG:0581), E.ON AG (OTC:EONGY), Scottish and Southern Energy plc (LSE:SSE), Areva SA (EPA:CEI), GDF Suez SA (EPA:GSZ), Enel SpA (BIT:ENEL), E.ON AG (OTC:EONGY), Ispat Industries Limited (BSE:500305), JSW Steel Limited (BSE:500228), and Steel Authority of India Limited (BSE:500113)

Companies featured in this segment: Grupo Iberdrola SA (MCE:IBE), PolyOne Corporation (NYSE:POL), A. Schulman Incorporated (NASDAQ:SHLM), CEZ AS (PRG:BAACEZ), E.ON AG (OTC:EONGY), Schnitzer Steel Industries Incorporated (NASDAQ:SCHN), ArcelorMittal (NYSE:MT), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BSE:500547), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (BSE:500104), Oil and Natural Gas Corporation of India Limited (BSE:500312), Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (BSE:500109), Rio Tinto plc (NYSE:RTP), Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (NYSE:RIO), BHP Billiton Limited (NYSE:BHP), Steel Authority of India Limited (BSE:500113), Nippon Steel Corporation (TYO:5401), NMDC Limited (BSE:526371), and Mitsubishi Corporation (TYO:8058).