5 Save-Haven Stocks for a Market Crash

In late 2008 and early 2009, the stock market and American economy were
undergoing tremendous upheavals. Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers had collapsed,
and the financial system was in disarray. Washington bailed out automakers and
pledged nearly $800 billion in stimulus funds. Unemployment went from 5% to over
9% in less than a year. Those were scary times. And for many investors, we are
seemingly on the cusp of another market shock that could be equally severe. Now,
the burden of big debts could bankrupt Greece and break up the entire euro zone.
Now, President Barack Obama has proposed another $400 billion to jump-start
hiring as unemployment remains stuck at 9%. Banks still are battered, consumers
are spooked and the market is taking us for a white-knuckle ride again. How can
investors protect themselves? And what lessons did we learn from the previous
crash? One important fact to acknowledge right out of the gate is that market
timing is tremendously different than market hindsight. Yes, if you went to cash
in May 2008 as the market peaked and sat out until the dust settled, you could
have avoided a tremendous loss. And yes, if you had the expertise and foresight
to spot the bottom in March 2009, you would have enjoyed the 60% run for the
major indices across the next nine months. But be realistic. Hanging your
retirement funds on two calls like that is a dangerous business. Rather than
deciding when to stomp on the gas or slam on the brakes, I believe long-term
investors are better served by remaining invested and simply getting defensive
in times of turmoil. By focusing on stocks that weather the downturn better than
the rest of the market, you can limit your losses and still share in the
recovery when things stabilize. Think that's impossible? Well here are here
are five blue chips that both weathered the financial crisis much better than
their peers and managed to rally strongly off the market lows. It's realistic
to think that in the even of another crash, they would hang tough yet again. IBM
5/1/08 to 5/1/09 return: -19% vs. -36% for the Dow 5/1/08 to present: +36% vs.
-12% for the Dow While "Web 2.0" companies are garnering much of the
attention and tech laggards like Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO ) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:
MSFT ) are the butt of many jokes, one of the oldest tech stocks is one of the
sector's best performers during the past few years. IBM (NYSE: IBM ) is up
handily since May 2008, even though the market remains in rough shape. Big Blue
still is picking up steam, too, with blowout Q2 earnings in July that boasted
big EPS and revenue gains along with strength in all four divisions technology
services, business services, software and systems. It's a high-tech world, and
IBM continues to be a mainstay for many businesses even as the economy remains
largely sluggish. Visa 5/1/08 to 5/1/09 return: -12% vs. -36% for the Dow 5/1/08
to present: +27% vs. -12% for the Dow Lest you think Visa (NYSE: V ) is a
financial stock stuck in the mire with the big banks, investors should remember
that this credit and debit card brand is a processor of payments not a lender.
It makes its money by moving other people's money around. And as online bill
paying and mobile payments surge in the developed world and emerging markets
turn to plastic instead of cash to pay for goods and services, Visa is seeing
extraordinary growth. Total electronic payments have risen more than 30% in the
past two years. That growth helped Visa hang tough amid the market mayhem of
2008-09. And since the news that regulators wouldn't strangle Visa's revenue
stream with a draconian cap on debit card fees, the stock has been surging in
2011 up almost 25% year-to-date.

S&P 500 Barely Up as Best Buy Staggers

The Standard & Poors 500 Index gained only two points in Tuesdays morning
session to reach 1,164. Poor results from Best Buy (NYSE: BBY ) were holding
back consumer stocks. Concerns about economic growth continued to be a lag on
energy shares. Advancing stocks outnumbered declining stocks by an almost 2-to-1
ratio. Bullish and bearish sentiment was evenly split. The S&P is flat for the
past five days of trading while being down more than 7.3% for the year. Cummins
Inc. (NYSE: CMI ) rose by more than $6, or about 7%, to over $93 per share to
lead the S&P early in the day. The engine maker told analysts this morning that
it expects strong profits for 2011, and Wall Street responded accordingly.
Cummins is down about 5% for the month and more than 20% for the past six
months. Comerica (NYSE: CMA ) also was taking the S&P higher, rising more than
5.5% to over $24, picking up more than $1.25 per share. Comerica was able to
extricate itself from a bad investment in a project in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.,
though it sold at an 80%-plus loss. The bank recently was upgraded by Compass
Point. Comerica is down more than 3% for the week and about 40% for the year.
Continuing its rally was Micron Technology (NASDAQ: MU ), up by about 2.2% and
20 cents to over $6.90. For the week, Micron Technology is higher by more than
21%, but the stock is down more than 35% for the past six months. Poor
second-quarter numbers had Best Buy under $23, losing around $2, or 8%, in
morning action. Best Buy reported a drop in net income of 30% for the second
quarter, worse than the analyst community expected. Best Buy still is up almost
4% for the week but is down more than 26% for the year. Whole Foods Market
(NASDAQ: WFM ) was off by more than 70 cents, or about 1%, to around $64.95. An
analyst note from Jefferies expressed concerns about Whole Foods maintaining
profits as consumers become more price sensitive. Whole Foods is up more than 4%
for the week, 14% for the month, 20% for the quarter and almost 90% for the
year. There is a short float now of 3.3% for Whole Foods. Cabot Oil & Gas (NYSE:
COG ) fell below $69 per share in early buying and selling, dropping about 90
cents, or 1.22%. Capital One downgraded Cabot Oil & Gas on Tuesday morning. The
energy company now is off by more than 6% for the week, but its up more than
138% for the year. Jonathan Yates does not own any of the stocks mentioned in
this article.

Gold Price Closed Today at $1,826.80 up $16.90 or 0.9%

Gold Price Close Today : 1,826.80 Change : 16.90 or 0.9% Silver Price Close
Today : 41.12 Change : .96 or 2.3% Platinum Price Close Today : 1,813.50 Change
: 4.10 or 0.2% Palladium Price Close Today : 727.00 Change : 16.75 or 2.3% Gold
Silver Ratio Today : 44.43 Change : -0.64 or 0.99% Dow Industrial : 11,105.85
Change : 44.73 or 0.4% US Dollar Index : 77.11 Change : -0.04 or -0.1% Important
Note: Franklin Sanders is on vacation until the 19th of September. Franklin's
parting commentary can be viewed here :
http://silver-and-gold-prices.goldprice.org/2011/09/gold-and-silver-prices-today-proved.html

Making Sense of Cirrus Logic

Fortune has released its list of the eight fastest-growing technology
companies. Second on the list is Cirrus Logic (NASDAQ: CRUS ), which enjoyed
340% annualized earnings per share growth, thanks largely to its audio
controller chips that account for 70% of its revenues. But does rapid EPS growth
mean Cirrus Logic stock

Should You Buy the Dow: Alcoa

Today, Ill look at Alcoa (NYSE: AA ), the venerable company known for aluminum
products since 1888. Alcoa operates in four segments: Alumina, Primary Metals,
Flat-Rolled Products, and Engineered Products and Solutions. The Alumina segment
engages in mining of bauxite, which then is refined into alumina. The Primary
Metals segment produces aluminum. The Flat-Rolled Products segment engages in
the production and sale of aluminum plate, sheet and foil. The Engineered
Products and Solutions segment produces and sells titanium, aluminum and super
alloy investment castings, hard alloy extrusions, forgings and fasteners,
aluminum wheels, integrated aluminum structural systems, and architectural
extrusions. One of the key driving factors regarding Alcoa is the price of
aluminum, which is tied to multiple economic crosscurrents affecting supply and
demand. So, serious investors should do their due diligence in this area. If you
are considering investment in Alcoa, you are banking on one primary assumption:
that the world will continue to use aluminum. Most analysts in the arena not
only believe the answer is affirmative, but agree with Novelis Chief Strategy
Officer Erwin Mayr that aluminum usage will grow . Indeed, stock analysts
looking out five years on Alcoa see annualized earnings growth at an astonishing
36.4%, with the primary driver being net income soaring 125% over last year.
Beyond that, analysts project 14% growth annually thereafter. At a stock price
of $11.50, on FY 2011 earnings of $1.21, the stock presently trades at a P/E of
9.5. There are no competitors to which we can truly compare Alcoa. So, at first
glance, Alcoa appears undervalued on both a near-term and longer-term basis. We
always want to look at financials, though. The company carries $1.26 billion in
cash and $8.77 billion in debt at an interest rate of about 6.2%. Trailing
12-month cash flow was $1.36 billion, so the debt service is no problem. The
company also had three times the amount of free cash flow necessary to pay its
1% dividend. So Alcoa appeara to be on solid footing financially. There have
been three insider purchases of about 12,500 shares in the past year. Thats not
a huge endorsement, but it is better than nothing. Conclusion Placing a 14 P/E
on Alcoa, with projected 2015 earnings of $2.04 per share, gives us a price
target of $28. Alcoa certainly looks cheap today, too, giving a margin of error
on that 14% growth rate. That margin of error is large enough that retirement
accounts arent exposed to significant capital depreciation risk. I believe Alcoa
is a buy for regular accounts. I believe Alcoa is a buy for retirement accounts.
Lawrence Meyers does not own shares of Alcoa.

Rent A Center Deals; RCII Google Stock Quote Rent A Center Green; Stock Market Shares; DJIA Index DJX DJI Close review

XCSFDHG46767FHJHJF

dow2664 Rent A Center share value moved higher during the day as did other indicators. The primary index composites rallied in the U.S. today as they followed the global market indicators higher. Worries in the eurozone receded a bit today and with the recession came a boost of investor confidence. Global market indicators rose in France, Britain and Germany. Market indicators in these regions pushed into the green and this action helped stock indicators in the U.S. move into positive territory as the day’s session was wrapping up. Investors are generally still worried about the Greek default but rumors of additional financial support via China are helping put some anxieties to bed temporarily. The confidence boost is likely going to be short lived and the fear trade is likely to resume. We can see choppy trends already this week as investors try to process and predict, but are unsure of market direction. Regardless of what is to come, the primary U.S. indices managed to finish off the day green today. Just minutes prior to official close, the Dow Jones was higher by over 45 points at 11,106.38. The Nasdaq was higher by over 37 points at 2,533 and the S&P 500 was green by over 10 points at 1,174. Individual company share values did better today as well. Rent A Center Inc. stock finished the day in the green by 1.30 percent 27.95 as close was finalizing. Previous close for RCII was 27.59 according to google finance. Rent a Center is rent to own and during a time when many can’t afford to buy straight-up, rent a center is offering a service that many can’t avoid. Frank Matto

Todays Dow Jones DJIA Index DJX DJI, Nasdaq, S&P 500 Stock Market Investing News Close Review Today

XCSFDHG46767FHJHJF

dow2664 The primary index composites spent the majority of this week’s opening session struggling to find positive ground but did so in the final hour yesterday. The Dow Jones , Nasdaq and S&P 500 all turned green just prior to last session close. Prior to opening bell this morning, stocks were positioned for the lower open. Futures for all three indices were posting red across the majority of the tracking boards this morning. The Dow Jones futures posting lower by almost 100 points. Mid-Day analysis revealed a bit of a rebound for stock indices in the U.S. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 was green at this point and the Dow Jones was still just under break-even for the day. By the end of day close for Tuesday’s session, all three indices were traveling in positive territory. The worry over the credit crisis in the eurozone marketplace receded today and with that, world market indices did better. Britain’s FTSE 100 closed higher by .9 percent. France’s CAC 40 closed higher by 1.41 percent and the DAX in Germany closed higher by 1.85 percent. The U.S. indices followed and as the today’s session approached close, the primary indices were above break-even. Asian market indices ended their session mixed today. The dollar strengthened versus the British pound and the euro today and gold futures moved higher. The Dow Jones was higher by 57 points at 11,119 as close approached today. The Nasdaq was higher by over 40 points as official close approached and the S&P 500 was higher by over 10 points just minutes prior to official close for today. Frank Matto