There's money buried in that cement.

The markets retreated from early morning highs but continued to trade modestly higher with the Dow gaining 29 points to 7581 as investors searched for bargains. Nasdaq added 2 points to 1318.

USG Corporation (NYSE: USG) shares are surging this morning. The sheet rock and building products company has reported that it has entered into an agreement to sell a total of $400 million of 10 percent contingent convertible senior notes due 2018. What is more important is who they are selling it too: Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) and Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited (NYSE: FFH).

USG (NYSE: USG) opened at $7.27. So far today, the stock has hit a low of $6.50 and a high of $7.41. USG is now trading at $6.80, up $1.15 (20.35%). Over the last 52 weeks the stock has ranged...(Click the story link or go to http://www.marketintelligencecenter.com for the full story)

Visit StreetInsider.com at http://www.streetinsider.com/news.php?st=p&id=4174854 for the full story.

Wednesday morning, Electricité de France (EDF.PA) made another attempt to purchase Constellation Energy Group (CEG). EDF’s new offer of $52 a share for half of the company is almost as much as MidAmerican Energy -Warren Buffett’s subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A) - paid for the entire company in September. His $4.7 billion ...

Sadly, there was no improvement for the Fat Pitch Financials Portfolio in the month of November. The portfolio ended November 28, 2008 with a balance of $848,439.73. This is down 8.1% since the end of October. I originally started this paper portfolio at Marketocracy with a balance of $1 million back on September 21, 2004. Until this current financial [...]

With another month of market turmoil coming to an end I thought I would take a few moments to give readers a look into what I've been up to in the month of November with my two portfolios. Yield, yield and more yield was one major theme for the month as stock prices came down even further than I expected them to after a horrible September and disastrous October in equity markets. What's become immediately apparent to me while watching the markets the past few months has been the glaring distance of spreads between the bid & ask prices for equities. Investors looking for immediate liquidity have been more than happy to unload their shares at very attractive valuations for the long-term investor. Opportunities have been surprisingly swift; especially in the preferred share market with valuations of highly regarded issues yielding at times well above historical spreads. While an income investor won't want to overload their portfolio with preferred shares[More...]

Filed under: Microsoft (MSFT), Wal-Mart (WMT), Gap Inc (GPS), NIKE, Inc'B' (NKE)

Today's late rally tied to breaking news of President-elect Obama's naming Timothy Geithner as Treasury Secretary for the next administration, but there was also an end of week bargain-buying hunt. Today was also options expiration. Whatever the real determination was, at least it was not yet another miserable day of relentless selling.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

DJIA: 8,046 (+6.5%)
Nasdaq: 1,384 (+5.2%)
S&P 500: 800 (+6.3%)

Top Analyst Upgrades
Top Analyst Downgrades

Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) posted earnings at $0.35 EPS on revenue of $246 million. While other retailers are stinking up a storm, this compares to earnings of $0.30 EPS and revenue of $238 million last year. While sales did drop over 7% to $3.56 billion, analysts' estimates from Thomson Reuters (First Call) were only $0.34 EPS and $3.57 billion. Shares were up 21% at $11.62 right before the close.

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) hired Sean Suchter, the former head of search operations at Yahoo! This could give them the brains and engine behind the search business without ever having to pay Yahoo! a dime. Shares were up 8% at $19.01 shortly before the close.

Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) managed a show of force when times are tough. The sporting apparel giant raised its quarterly dividend payout by 9% to $0.25. Shares were up over 6% at $46.41 right before the close.

USG Corp. (NYSE: USG) shares surged after disclosing that Warren Buffett and Faifax invested a combined $400 million into the home building products maker. This was on top of their investments in the company in the past. Shares were up 24% at $7.04 shortly before the close.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) rallied after the board of directors elected Mike Duke to replace Lee Scott as President and CEO of Wal-Mart, effective February 1, 2008. Shares were up almost 2% at $51.55 right before the close.

Closing Bell: Torch Passing on a Friday Rally originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 21 Nov 2008 16:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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As I noted on Friday, Berkshire Hathaway (BRKa) has issued its third quarter 13F filing. This filing lists the company’s stock holdings as of September 20, 2008. I always enjoying reviewing these Berkshire Hathaway filings because they provide me with a glimpse at what Warren Buffett’s latest investment moves might be. Here are the latest changes. New Berkshire Hathaway Stocks The [...]

Investtalk Talking Points: "Taking The Long View".
~ Today's Stocks & Topics: (MPW) Medical Pptys Trust Inc., (ILMN) Illumina Inc., (SLB) Schlumberger Limited, (USG) USG Corporation, (MCGC) Mcg Capital Corp., (EIX) Edison International, (CCRT) Compucredit Corp.

Ryan Fuhrmann freelance writer for the Motley Fool. http://boards.fool.com/Profile.asp?uid=138008902 talks to Andrew Coffey from www.mn1.com about Huttig Building Products (NYSE:HBP), (HBP) St. Louis, MO Ballantyne of Omaha (AMEX:BTN), (BTN) Omaha, NE Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP), (EXP) Dallas, TX NEC Corporation (ADR) (Public, NASDAQ:NIPNY) (NIPNY) USG Corporation (Public, NYSE:USG) (USG)The SOUTHWESTERN SHOWCASE Investor Conference was held November 15-16, 2006, at the Hilton Lincoln Centre Hotel in Dallas.

Investtalk Talking Points: "Is It Time For Treasury Inflation Protected Securities?"
~ Today's Stocks & Topics: (AZ) Allianz Se, (RURL) Rural/Metro Corp., (USG) USG Corporation, Gold, Buying Stocks, (TCO) Taubman Centers Inc., (OLN) Olin Corporation.

Investtalk Talking Points: "High Hopes Abound for High Tech".
~ Today's Stocks & Topics: (URI) United Rentals Inc, (HXM) Desarrolladora Homex S A De Cv, (SIX) Six Flags Inc, (USG) USG Corporation, (GT) The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, investtalk.com, Sectors, (MEE) Massey Energy Company, 401K.

Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, Telefonica De Argentina, Verizon, Deutsche Telekom, Evergreen Solar, Peabody Energy