New York, NY, United States (AHN) – Stocks were little changed on the open Thursday as investors keep a close eye on developments in Greece.

Just after the opening bell on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 25 points, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index and the NASDAQ were virtually flat.

United States stocks were poised to open higher as news surfaced that political leaders had reached a deal on austerity measures and reforms that are needed to prevent Greece from a default. An official announcement is forthcoming.

Investors both in the U.S. and abroad will likely keep eyes focused on Athens. European stocks were modestly higher in afternoon trading and Asian markets were mixed.

Also giving global markets some steam was news that the European Central Bank and the Bank of England both left their benchmark interest rates unchanged. In London, the BoE also announced a $ 79 billion bond purchase.

Keeping a reign on gains was a report that showed China’s inflation rate rose in January, dashing hopes that the country’s central bank will soon take more action to support economic growth there.

In U.S. corporate news, shares of the nation’s biggest banks were moving after a $ 25 billion accord was reached to help homeowners struggling with loans bigger than the values of their homes.

Yahoo shares were climbing following news that Chinese company Alibaba is looking to buy back the 40 percent stake Yahoo owns.

Shares of Oracle inched up after the company announced it is buying the cloud-based human resource management software company Taleo in a $ 1.9 billion deal.

Despite beating expectations, raising its quarterly dividend 30 percent, and guiding higher, shares of Cisco slipped lower.

In commodities, oil rose $ 1.13 and was trading just under $ 100 a barrel. Gold, meanwhile, advanced $ 20 to $ 1,751.80 a troy ounce.

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New York, NY, United States (AHN) – United States stocks edged higher Tuesday afternoon amid hopes that Greece is moving close to a deal to secure more bailout money.

Just before 1 p.m. on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had erased earlier losses and risen 30 points. The Standard and Poor’s 500 Index inched up 2 points and the NASDAQ gained 5 points.

Giving stocks the boost it needed to head into positive territory were reports that progress has been made in the Greek debt negotiations and indications that things were moving in the right direction overseas.

Greece is looking for a second bailout to receive as much as 130 billion euros from the European Union, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank. Without additional funding, it looks all but certain that Greece will default on a 14.5 billion bond redemption in March. The anticipation of such as miss has been sending shock waves throughout global markets.

Exchanges in Europe ended mixed while Asian shares ended lower.

With little economic news on the U.S. front, eyes were focused on Greece.

But there was plenty of news here in the states to keep traders busy and investors interested.

Commodities trader Glencore International agreed to buy Xstrata for $ 61.9 billion. The purchase marks the biggest mining takeover in history. The combined companies will created a $ 90 billion giant.

Meanwhile shares of Sears soared as rumors swirled that the retailer was working with investment bank Goldman Sachs to find a buyer for the ailing company.

Coca-Cola moved higher after posting better than expected earnings, and Yum Brands shares also rose after topping estimates.

In commodities, oil jumped $ 1.73 to $ 98.58 a barrel, gold gained $ 20.to $ 1744.80 a troy ounce and silver added 48 cents to $ 34.19.

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New York, NY, United States (AHN) – A deal to create the world’s largest equity and derivatives exchange has been squashed.

The European Commission has blocked the proposed $ 9 billion merger between the Deutsche Boerse and the NYSE Euronext, charging the tie-up would have created a dominant power in European exchange-traded derivatives that would have stifled competition.

The combination of the two exchanges would have created the world’s largest platform for company listings, the largest derivatives exchange, and a group with four times the revenue of the London Exchange.

It would have also combined the German and United States groups’ futures exchanges, Eurex and Liffe, handing the companies more than 95 percent of trading in benchmark short-term interest rates and German bond futures.

NYSE said it was disappointed and strongly disagreed with the EU decision, adding that it was based on a “fundamentally different understanding of the derivatives market.”

The NYSE announced it would resume a $ 550 million share repurchase program after it releases its yearend earnings on Feb.10.

Shares in Deutsche Boerse, which have fallen by almost a fifth in the past year, were up 1.5 percent Wednesday. NYSE Euronext shares, which have been trading down more than 16 percent in the past 12 months, were up 0.68 percent in morning trading following the announcement.

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NYC, NY, United States (AHN) – After a choppy morning, stocks gained some ground Wednesday afternoon following comments from the Federal Reserve that it would leave rates unchanged and does not plan any changes until late 2014.

Since August, the Fed has maintained in policy statements that it planned to keep its benchmark rate at a record low until at least mid 2013, as long as the economy remained weak. It is now certain that rates will remain at historic lows even longer.

The Dow and the S&P spent much of the morning in negative territory. But just before 2 p.m., the Dow Jones Industrial was up 54 points, and the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index gained 8 points. The tech heavy NASDAQ, boosted by blockbuster, record breaking numbers from Apple Inc., was better by 29 points.

To the disappoint of some, the Fed did not announce any future bond purchases.

The following statement ended the two day FOMC meeting, “To support a stronger economic recovery and to help ensure that inflation, over time, is at levels consistent with the dual mandate, the Committee expects to maintain a highly accommodative stance for monetary policy. In particular, the Committee decided today to keep the target range for the federal funds rate at 0 to 1/4 percent and currently anticipates that economic conditions-including low rates of resource utilization and a subdued outlook for inflation over the medium run-are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels for the federal funds rate at least through 2014.”

Low interest rates make stocks more attractive, and shortly after the Fed’s decision on interest rates, the Dow perked up.

In commodities, oil rose 83 cents to $ 99.75. Gold glistened, rising $ 38.60 to $ 1,702.90 a troy ounce and silver soared 82 cents to $ 32.87.

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Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – The U.S. Supreme Court plans to issue a ruling in a corporate tax shelter case this spring at a time of uncertainty in the tax laws.

Some tax breaks for individuals and corporations are scheduled to expire next month but Congress is still debating whether to extend them.

The United States v. Home Concrete & Supply LLC case the Supreme Court heard last week is likely to determine how much discretion the Internal Revenue Service can exercise in enforcing the tax code.

It also is expected to decide what happens to about $ 1 billion that companies commonly shelter in the bond market.

The IRS was trying to crack down on “Son of Boss” tax shelters in the case.

Boss is the acronym for “bond and option sales strategies.” In essence, corporations create paper losses by buying and selling bonds and options, then use what appears to be a loss to offset their profits.

As a result, their tax rate can be lowered significantly.

Companies that use the shelter include contact lens maker Bausch & Lomb and several homebuilders.

The lawsuit against Home Concrete & Supply is one of about 30 Son of Boss cases pending in federal courts.

Together, the cases could produce about $ 1 billion in new revenue for the federal government from taxes, interest and penalties, according to court documents.

Even then, $ 1 billion is only about one-sixth of the tax revenue the IRS says is hidden in Son of Boss shelters nationwide.

The companies say that making them pay taxes and penalties would mean the IRS is retroactively changing its own rules to make it easier to punish anyone using a tax shelter.

They say the lawsuits against them represent an unconstitutional violation of the IRS’s enforcement authority.

A judgment for the IRS would broaden the authority of many federal agencies to make up their own rules for how they enforce the laws, according to attorneys for Home Concrete & Supply.

About 1,800 people have invested in the tax shelters, according to the IRS.

The federal agency already has won other tax judgments against investors in Son of Boss shelters. However, the court judgments have been spotty and show a mix of opinion among judges.

As a result, the Supreme Court is stepping in to resolve any confusion.

The same kind of split opinions and confusion can be found in Congress as lawmakers try to decide which tax breaks for income, capital gains and estates should be extended and which should be eliminated.

The temptation for Congress to let the breaks expire is strong as lawmakers seek ways to raise new revenue.

The last time they extended the tax breaks was in 2010, but they argued the issue until mid-December.

The same arguments are arising again, this time with the added emphasis created by election year politics.

For taxpayers, the result means that any tax planning this year will be difficult, according to tax experts.

The Supreme Court docket number for United States v. Home Concrete & Supply LLC et al is 11-139.

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NYC, NY, United States (AHN) – Giant asset manager Pacific Investment Management Co. attracted more cash than any of its rivals in 2011, even as its flagship PIMCO Total Return Fund, the world’s largest bond fund, suffered its first ever calendar year of outflows.

Pimco’s actively managed bond and equity mutual funds lured more than $ 38.8 billion in net inflows for 2011.

Bill Gross serves as co-chief investment officer at Pimco, a firm he founded, which is one of the world’s biggest investment shops with more than $ 1 trillion in assets under management.

Morgan Stanley trailed Pimco and took the second spot with its investment arm attracting $ 18.1 billion in 2011, and DoubleLine Capital finished third with $ 12.5 billion in net inflows.

JP Morgan’s investment arm, with $ 12 billion finished fourth, and Dimensional Fund Advisors, with $ 9.9 billion, rounded out the top five.

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It’s an exhilarating, adrenaline rushing, risky business…

Many people go after how to buy gold stocks. For me, one of the best picks are penny stocks – they’re like my gold stock to buy. The thing is you need to be fast. Race to the top, race as the best… race to leave the rat race behind! I left it behind long ago, thanks to the good stocks to buy I had.

Once you have decided to invest in penny stocks, the next step is to research on which new company is worth investing in. Not all penny stocks are good. Some of them never seem to increase in the stock market, so you have to be careful. It’s not like you’re going to trust the first penny stock broker in salt lake city that crosses your way! Anyways, once you’ve that part you can move on to the next.

On your mark, get set, GO!

Buy as much penny stocks as you feel you can handle in case it doesn’t work out for you, and as soon as you do, never get your eye off the market. This is so because you never know when someone like you has done their own research and found out that your penny stock pick is worth buying. When this happens the value of your stocks increase. Even if its buy a few points, you’re already making big bucks! This is when you can sell those bastards and make yourself a good amount of money.

That’s how I started out and with time I learned how to differentiate between penny stocks that were worth investing in long term and those worth only buying and selling to make off a quick profit. You’ll see that in no time you’ll be able to do so also.

One thing that a penny stock investor looks for when evaluating which companys stocks to trade in is how it is expected to perform in the marketplace. Knowing how investors react to this particular stock can be the difference in making hug gains or great losses. Unless you’re interested in a monetary and emotional roller coaster ride then sound analysis is a must.

Financial forecast and growth are usually what most expectation are based on unless the company has some significant proprietary news. If news hits the market and a penny stocks value rises throughout the day, then it can be a strong projection that this penny stock is a worthwhile investment.

If a penny stock is growing in percentage slowly and gradually then this is usually a good sign that the stock has good potential to triple, quadruple, or do even better. However, if on the other hand you see a stock rise quickly as soon as the market opens then it may be wise to sit and wait until it drops again or risk becoming the victim or momentary excitement that will die soon there after.

Many times a penny stock will jump in value early on and wind up plummeting back down to its original value, if not lower than what it was on opening. This gives the wise investor the perfect opportunity to invest in this penny stock and save yourself the risk of losing your investment from hyped demand.

Though many people criticize penny stocks as gambling, many investors have a change of heart if they find a company that shows amazing promise and happens to offer penny stocks as their only trading capacity.

Penny stock investing gives you the opportunity to experience great profits using very little initial cash, which is another major factor in what makes them attractive to beginners, who may be timid at first, in the world of trading.

As unpredictable and risky as they can be, penny stocks are attractive because of the excitement and possibility that you could choose a company whose stocks result in major financial gains for you, increasing your confidence as an investor hoping to achieve financial success.

It is certainly more realistic than playing the lottery if done wisely, and millions of people habitually spend money on lottery tickets. With penny stocks, your odds are dramatically better, especially since you have control over where your money goes. You can study the factors that make a certain stock attractive and then decide based on those factors whether or not you want to take the risk. Also, you can learn from mistakes and make necessary adjustments to do better on future investments.

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Written by a recognized and well respected authority on penny stocks, Peter Leeds has a complete commitment to ethics, as well as a front-and-center admission that 95% of penny stocks are poor choices, both of which fly in the face of the industry’s conventional position.  Readers learn to find the 5% that pass proprietary Leeds Analysis, which empowers regular people (even first time investors) to find life-changing investments, which they can buy for small amoun… More >>

Invest in Penny Stocks: A Guide to Profitable Trading