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The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:NDAQ) is making it easier for the army of relatively new penny stocks to maintain their listings on NASDAQ. The exchange filed with the SEC to extend its suspension of the rules requiring a minimum $1.00 bid price and its minimum market value of publicly held shares. This was initially set to expire in January, but the terms will now be extended until Monday, April 20, 2009. With as many stocks that have violated that $1.00 mark in recent weeks and months, this is hardly a surprise and it would even go against the exchange's...

These high-priced honeys might be worth every penny.

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Where there’s smoke, there may be smoke and mirrors.

CME Group (CME) has lost more than half of its market value over the past three months and the stock price has cratered by nearly three-quarters in the past year. As illustrated in the accompanying three-month chart and table of valuation parameters (click to enlarge) for the major U.S.-listed exchanges, CME is extremely oversold and trades at less than two-thirds of book value (0.66) despite its position as the world's largest futures exchange with a major new source of revenue in the form of central[More...]

I'd be the first to admit that I've made plenty of mistakes and bad predictions in my time. In most cases, I let ego or inexperience get in the way of good judgment, though sometimes it has been a matter of not having enough information. Regardless, some of the forecasts highlighted by BusinessWeek in an article entitled "The Worst Predictions About 2008" reflect more than just bad decision-making. In my view, they are in the realm of shill-dom and the criminally corrupt. See if you can figure out which ones I'm referring to: Just about everybody got wrong-footed by 2008, but some people's mistakes were truly[More...]

Trico Marine Services Inc. (NDAQ: TRMA) directors may be forced to fight for their job after an activist shareholder opposition to the company’s current plans. Kistefos AS, which owns a 22% stake, wrote a letter to the board expressing its disappointment about the extraordinary loss in value since the company emerged from bankruptcy in 2005. “I write today to express our deep concern about the extraordinary loss in value of the company’s shares and about the current operations, direction, management and governance of the company,” said the hedge fund in a letter. “Nevertheless, we believe that there is significant inherent value in the company and we wish to work with management and the Board of Directors to help restore it.” Kistefos believes that the first step in unlocking this value is to replace the[More...]

NitroMed (NDAQ: NTMD) buyout offer from Archemix received some opposition from an activist hedge fund. Deerfield Partners said that the merger overvalues Archemix and contains numerous conflicts of interest. Moreover, Deerfield, which holds a 12% stake, offered to acquire the company for $0.50 a share, liquidate the company and distribute the proceeds to shareholders. This would represent a substantially higher value than the current offer on the table. The majority of NitroMed’s value can be found in its $17.8 million in cash, equivalents and short-term investments as of September 30th. The company also stands to get an additional $26.3 million from the pending sale of heart failure drug BilDil, which was approved for African-American patients in 2005 but never gained significant market share. Assuming these sales, NitroMed would have about $44[More...]

By Martin Hutchinson Contributing Editor Money Morning Bernard Madoff, former chairman of the NASDAQ Stock Market Inc. (NDAQ), was turned into the authorities by his sons last Thursday after... Money Morning is here to help investors profit handsomely on this seismic shift in the global economy. Money moves markets. But Money Morning lets you move first. <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/USMoneyMorning?i=Hx69O"[More...]

Companies featured in this segment: Brookfield Asset Management Incorporated (NYSE:BAM), General Electric (NYSE:GE), Toshiba Corporation (OTC:TOSBF), Alstom (EPA:ALO), Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BOM:500103), Larsen & Toubro (BOM:500510), Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (TYO:7011), Total SA (NYSE: TOT), Lukoil (NASDAQ: LUKOY), NASDAQ OMX Group Incorporated (NASDAQ:NDAQ), Tata Power (BOM:500400) Reliance Energy Limited (BOM:500325) of Mumbai, Lanco Infratech Limited (BOM: 532778), Infrastructure Development Finance Company (BOM:532659)

Tom Dorsey and Tammy DeRosier talk about Shifting Gears

Mark Fightmaster takes a look back at news that drove the major market indices today.

Joseph Hargett takes a look at news on the Street before the market opens.

Ian Stansel takes a look at news currently driving the market.