NOTE TO EDITORS: The Following Is an Investment Opinion Being Issued by Benchmark Journal.

Finally, some good news for investors.

Don't join in the madness.

Energy Stocks Open Higher On Gains In Oil Prices

We're Still Fans of the Oil Sands

Once-stellar but highly-leveraged energy companies look like potential takeover targets in what is poised to become a new wave of consolidation in the industry.

Filed under: Exxon Mobil (XOM), Market matters, JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Altria Group (MO), Chevron Corp (CVX), Morgan Stanley (MS), Procter and Gamble (PG), BP p.l.c. ADS (BP), Nucor Corp (NUE), Wells Fargo (WFC), Stocks to Buy, Cramer on BloggingStocks

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says it's too crazy for a lot of people, and they're cashing out of this casino.

Last night, during a talk at the 92nd Street Y in New York, I fielded questions from an overwhelming group of eager and confused investors, almost all of whom are bewildered, unhappy and fed up. They don't trust stocks and they think that the day-to-day nonsense that passes as a stock market is pure manipulation, that all of the wrong people are getting money from the government and that they wish somehow they could just get back to even so they can get out of this game.

I think they are right.

To me, when I see Occidental (NYSE: OXY) (Cramer's Take) up 5 on a nothing day, when I see Chevron (NYSE: CVX) (Cramer's Take) and Exxon (NYSE: XOM) (Cramer's Take) once again up huge amounts, when I see the market double in the last 40 minutes off obvious manipulation by products that serve only to manipulate, I totally agree with them. When I see the raids on the financials, or the insurers, when I see the shorts pressing JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM) (Cramer's Take) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) (Cramer's Take) down through aggressive shorting without upticks and ETFs, what am I supposed to think? When I see the consumer product stocks get slaughtered on news that isn't new -- Procter (NYSE: PG) (Cramer's Take) says business is tough? Well, hello, they have been saying it all along -- or steel stocks rally big on orders that aren't even here, as in Nucor (NYSE: NUE) (Cramer's Take), I say, "Forget it, the mechanism's not working."

Continue reading Cramer on BloggingStocks: This market is driving the little guy away

Cramer on BloggingStocks: This market is driving the little guy away originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 11 Dec 2008 09:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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from MyHappyTrading.com by HappyTrading! ™ Sign up for FREE membership! The market traded in a tighter range today and eked out a gain.  The financials were on the weak side, but, the commodities jumped again!  Energy stocks were very strong: CVX +3.81%; XOM +2.39%; DVN +9.54%; OXY +11.07%; APA +8.75%; CHK +23.22%!  Gold and silver [...]

from MyHappyTrading.com by HappyTrading! ™ Sign up for FREE membership! The market traded slightly higher in the morning, but, faded into an accelerated drop to the close.  The energy sectors were especially weak.  Oil prices continued to fall.  Crude went below $44/barrel!  Oil services tumbled to new 52-week lows: RIG -11.18%; DO -7.09%; SLB -5.95%; NOV [...]

Filed under: Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Netflix, Inc. (NFLX), Analyst initiations, Limited Brands (LTD), BHP Billiton Ltd ADR (BHP), Rio Tinto plc ADS (RTP)

Analyst upgrades:

• Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Premiere Global (NYSE: PGI) to Outperform from Perform on valuation and believes the company's strategic initiatives will drive "healthy" top-line results in a difficult economy.
  
• Citigroup upgraded Prudential (NYSE: PRU) to Buy from Hold on valuation, as they believe the stock is oversold at current levels. Though upgraded, the firm lowered their target price to $30 from $80.
  
• Citigroup also upgraded Bankrate (NASDAQ: RATE) to Buy from Hold as they believe the company will benefit from the financial market volatility and that the risk/reward is attractive at current levels. The firm maintains a $40 target on the stock.
• Hospitality Properties (NYSE: HPT) was raised to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital.
  
• Diamond Offshore (NYSE: DO) was upgraded at Merrill Lynch to Buy from Neutral.
  
• Alcon (NYSE: ACL) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Wachovia.

Analyst downgrades:

Continue reading Analyst calls: PRU, RATE, ACL, LTD, STM, SNP, NFLX, RTP, BHP, OXY ...

Analyst calls: PRU, RATE, ACL, LTD, STM, SNP, NFLX, RTP, BHP, OXY ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 01 Dec 2008 12:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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During these tough times, in a market environment where literally no one is safe, you would assume that a company who is one of the largest one hundred components of the S&P 500 would take somewhat less of a hit when compared to its peers.  If the company also had a great ...

Companies featured in this segment: Exelon Corporation (NYSE:EXC), Foster Wheeler (NASDAQ:FWLT), SandRidge Energy (NYSE:SD), Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY), Connacher Oil and Gas (TSX:CLL), DCP Midstream Partners (NYSE:DPM), Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT), MarkWest Energy Partners (NYSE:MWE), Atlas Pipeline Partners (NYSE:APL), ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP), Emaar The Economic City (SAU:4220), Siemens AG (NYSE:SI), Emaar Properties PJSC (DFM:EMAAR), Reliance Infrastructure Limited (BOM:500390), ArcelorMittal (NYSE:MT), JSW Steel Limited (BOM: 500228), Tata Steel Limited (BOM:500470), Repsol YPF (NYSE:REP)

Tom Dorsey and Tammy DeRosier - Summer Wrap Up - International, Oil, Pairs Trading, and Utilities

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