NOTE TO EDITORS: The Following Is an Investment Opinion Being Issued by Ridgewater Equity (RWE).

It was a very good start to the month of December as the markets rallied nicely on the back of positive earnings results and better-than-expected home sales data. Volume picked up the pace today, as we had 4.25 Billion shares traded on the NYSE and 2.08 Billion shares traded on the NASDAQ. Staples (SPLS) and Guess [...]

(Reuters) - Citigroup said there are substantial risks facing U.S. bank stocks now, but in the near term these stocks can grind higher given a combination of the Federal Reserve's accommodative stance plus a modest recovery."Since there is above-average risk, we would remain very selective focusing on banks that have...

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SunTrust Banks (NYSE: STI) ended the last trading session at $22.59. So far the stock has hit a 52-week low of $6.00 and 52-week high of $34.12. SunTrust Banks stock has been showing support around 21.56 and resistance in the 23.34 range. Technical indicators for the stock are Bullish and S&P gives STI a neutral 3 ST...(Click the story link or go to http://www.marketintelligencecenter.com for the full story)

Some healthy banks are using the distressed environment in the banking sector to buy into coveted markets at cheap prices.

Morning Highlights Our Focus For Today Is on Commodity Sector and Selected Property Stocks. Singapore stocks started firm today as following US overnight gains. STI (^STI) opens up at 2784.21 and is now retesting resistance at 2803.51. We advise to trade with caution. UOL broke high of 3.72, to wait for setups. Updates On Dubai: Dubai ...

General Electric (GE) agreed with Vivendi to acquire the latter’s 20% NBC stake for $5.8 billion, down from Vivendi’s previous valuation of $6.1 billion After yesterday’s close, Guess (GES) announced third quarter earnings of 69 cents a share, up from 67 cents a year ago, and better than the 51 cents anticipated, ...

• General Electric (NYSE:GE) agreed with Vivendi to acquire the latter’s 20% NBC stake for $5.8 billion, down from Vivendi's previous valuation of $6.1 billion

• After yesterday's close, Guess (NYSE:GES) announced third quarter earnings of 69 cents a share, up from 67 cents a year ago, and better than the 51 cents anticipated, on revenues of $522.8 million, down from $527.9 million a year ago. Same-store-sales fell 3.4%.  Nevertheless, the firm guided higher, setting fourth quarter estimates at 77-80 cents

• Luxury retailer Saks (NYSE:SKS) received an improved outlook from Standard & Poor's Rating Services to "stable" from "negative."

• Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) removed Abbott Labs (NYSE:ABT) from its Conviction Buy List, taking Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) off its Conviction Sell List as well, while maintaining "buy" and "sell" ratings on the respective stocks

• Staples (NASDAQ:SPLS) reported third quarter results one cent above estimates at 39 cents on inline revenues of $6.5 billion, up 6%

• Citigroup (NYSE:C) issued upgrades on regional banks Fifth Third (NASDAQ:FITB) and BB&T (NYSE:BBT)

• JP Morgan (NYSE:JPM) lowered its earnings projections for: Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC), Fifth Third (NASDAQ:FITB), Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) and SunTrust (NYSE:STI)

• JP Morgan (NYSE:JPM) upgraded Mentor Graphics (NASDAQ:MENT) to "overweight" from "underweight," with a price target of $10.50, up from $9.00

Zacks Investment Research

BloggingStocks: Step away from the news for a couple of minutes and J.P. Morgan decides to get out its downgrade stick and go bashing the banking sector. The ratings house feels that the slowdown in growth in securities along with rising credit costs are going to ... Read more

I hope you all had a great weekend. Well, the markets are in a tizzy over Dubai and shopping (or the lack thereof). I would not say that Dubai is the other shoe that the bears were waiting to drop. However, it has heightened the fear that if another country, for example ...

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