Tom Luxsox Coins

Pennies Mix

Top Penny stocks picks for 2010

Stocks Little Changed In Mid-Morning Trading

Stocks have given up the majority of their earlier gains and are little changed in mid-morning trading on Wednesday. The lack of conviction in the markets comes even as data points on both private sector employment and service sector activity surprised to the upside.

A short time ago, the Institute for Supply Management said service sector activity unexpectedly expanded at a faster pace in the month of July.

The ISM revealed that its non-manufacturing index rose to 54.3 in July from 53.8 in June, with a reading above 50 indicating continued growth in the service sector. Economists had been expecting the index to edge down to a reading of 53.0.

Earlier, payroll processor Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (ADP) said that non-farm private employment increased by 42,000 jobs in July following an upwardly revised increase of 19,000 jobs in June.

Economists had expected an increase of about 25,000 jobs compared to the addition of 13,000 jobs that had been reported for the previous month. With the increase, private sector employment rose for the sixth consecutive month.

In earnings news, PulteGroup Inc. (PHM) reported second-quarter net income of $0.20 per share, while analysts expected the company to report a loss of $0.01 per share. Total revenues for the quarter surged up to $1.31 billion from $678.58 million in the prior year quarter.

Media and entertainment giant Time Warner Inc. (TWX) said its second-quarter earnings rose to $0.49 per share, topping forecasts for $0.45 per share for the period. Revenues for the quarter grew 8 percent to $6.4 billion, while analysts expected revenues of $6.20 billion.

Additionally, Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp. (TM) said it swung to a profit in the first quarter compared to a loss in the same period last year, helped by 27 percent revenue growth on the strength of Asian sales and demand-stimulus programs in Japan.

After the markets closed for trading in the previous session, Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC) reported a narrower net loss for the second quarter, helped by increases in production and the average selling price. On adjusted basis, earnings were well ahead of the analysts' expectations.

In other corporate news, BP Plc (BP) has garnered some attention after revealing that its well in the Gulf of Mexico is in a static phase and appears to be on pace to be permanently sealed.

The major averages have seen choppy movement in recent dealing and are currently turning in a mixed performance. While the Dow is up 0.71 points at 2,284.23, the Dow is down 2.72 points at 10,633.66 and the S&P 500 is down 0.44 points at 1,120.02.

Gold stocks are among the morning's best performers, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index up by 1.7 percent. The upside in gold stocks comes amid a notable increase by the price of the precious metal, with gold currently up $14.30 at $1,201.80 an ounce.

Health insurance stocks are also moving higher on the day, with the Morgan Stanley Healthcare Payor Index up by 2.1 percent. The upward move has lifted the index to a fresh six-week intraday high.

While healthcare provider and biotechnology stocks are also posting notable gains, weakness has emerged among wireless, airline and semiconductors stocks.

Stocks Driven By Analyst Comments

Texas Capital Bancshares(TCBI) is trading higher after being upgraded at Credit Suisse to Outperform from Neutral. The broker cited share valuation as a reason for the ratings change. The stock has gained 2.3 percent, reaching its best intraday price in nearly three weeks.

Meanwhile, Navistar (NAV) is moving lower after being downgraded from Neutral to Underweight by analysts at JP Morgan Chase based on a forecast for a decline in market share. Shares are currently down by 2.7 percent, slipping to a one-month intraday low.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region ended on a mixed note. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 inched sank by 2.1 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 0.4 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets are on the upside. The German DAX Index is up by 0.8 percent, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index are both up by 0.1 percent.

In the bond markets, treasuries are little changed. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is trading at 2.923 percent, posting a gain of less than one basis point.

About the Author

Penny Stocks Chase

Pennies $5.01 The Money Matters emergent reader series introduces children to the basics of money. The spreads link text to images and discuss the meanings of the symbols on each coin and bill, and how people earn, save, and spend money. Includes glossary with pronunciation guide and an index. Also includes "To Find Out More" section that lists additional reading materials and websites that will encourage readers to learn more about money and beginning finance. This Welcome Book introduces readers to the penny. Learn what pennies are made of, what each symbol on the front and back means, and how many pennies make a dollar.

The Five Pennies $19.99 The Five Pennies - Poster

Mound of Pennies $39.99 Joel Sartore Mound of Pennies - Photographic Print

Pile of Pennies $39.99 Raul Touzon Pile of Pennies - Photographic Print

Pennies From Heaven $5.99 Pennies From Heaven

The Very Best Of The Four Pennies $4.99 The Very Best Of The Four Pennies

FIVE PENNIES, THE (DVD) $5.99 FIVE PENNIES, THE (DVD)

The Five Pennies, 1959 $34.99 The Five Pennies, 1959 - Giclee Print

Lennie's Pennies $12.99 Track Listing: 1. Lennie's Pennies, 2. Love Letters, 3. How Deep Is the Ocean?, 4. 74 Miles Away, 5. Picchi, 6. Over Lines, 7. Dear Father, 8. Peacocks, The, 9. Un des Sens, 10. Goldfish, 11. Patience

Single Quarter on a Mound of Pennies $39.99 Joel Sartore Single Quarter on a Mound of Pennies - Photographic Print

Sack of Pennies Worth $50 $79.99 Nina Leen Sack of Pennies Worth $50 - Premium Photographic Print

Mulligan's Pennies $31.94 Eddie Mulligan had a horrendous upbringing. As a fighting soldier in Northern Ireland, he lost his best friend to an Irish sniperas bullet. As a caring and loving husband, he lost his wife to cancer. As a man, he rejected and lost his God. As an intelligent human being he eventually found and followed a trail of bright, shiny pennies. And who would ever think something as small as a penny could have the greatest lure and effect on a personas life, and would mirror in color the most painful and joyful moments in Eddieas life? Grief and guilt become like a heavy chain around his neck, pulling him down further into the depths of sadness. Slowly, he is transformed, strengthened and slowly guided away from his living hell by bright, shiny pennies, to the blissful future that awaits him.

Mix $10 Mix

The Mix $12.49 The Mix

In The Mix $6.99 In The Mix

Pressed Pennies $3.95 Pressed Pennies is mainstream fiction, written from a male perspective to a female audience. A la Nicolas Sparks and Robert James Waller, it is a tale of connecting love stories, proving that the world really is a small place and that the trick is to cherish it by living each of its moments to the fullest. Amid the heart-warming romances and deceitful twists and turns, Pressed Pennies tackles the trying issues associated with living in a non-traditional family. In an era of divorce and single-parenthood, it is a story about raising children and peacefully co-existing; making it work with mutual respect and consideration. The book's underlying theme is discovered in the evolution of the 80's child. Though life begins as wholesome and innocent, technology quickly takes over. Suddenly, two parents must leave the home and go to work. Day care, fast food and a list of coveted luxuries replace long talks in porch swings, tree forts and family suppers. The price for comfort proves very expensive, though, as the American family is traded in for the American dream. Early Reviews: "Steve Manchester has a gift for expressing through his writing the complicated and transcendent beauty of the human experience with poignant clarity." -Yolanda King (eldest daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King) Higher Ground "Pressed Pennies is priceless Steve Manchester has an obvious love of words and an amazing ability to use those words to create lasting images in the reader's mind. His detail-oriented, richly drawn characters and descriptions make this story leap off the pages." - Joyce Handzo, In the Library Reviews "Pressed Pennies is a tale of love and second chances and affirms thatlove can come at any stage of life if we are just open. This is a book that is sure to warm your heart." - Roberta Austin, The Compulsive Reader

Clever Coin Trick - 16 Pennies $19.99 Clever Coin Trick - 16 Pennies - Premium Poster

Pennies for Christmas $28.47 In a small town there is a little boy who is saving every penny he has to buy his mother a gift that he found at a country store. He wants to do it all by himself for Christmas. He goes to Santa and says all he wants for Christmas is pennies, so that he may buy a gift for his mother. Santa tells the boy to work hard and keep his eyes open. Will he be able to save enough money to buy his mother the perfect gift? Sometimes you find what your looking for when you are not looking. It's a heart warming Christmas story

Handful of New Line Coated Steel Pennies, Old Pennies and Tokens $79.99 William C. Shrout Handful of New Line Coated Steel Pennies, Old Pennies and Tokens - Premium Photographic Print

No Pennies Please $3.99 Nathan Glow doesn't want to be a hero, but he just can't help himself. As he takes a circuitous route home from San Francisco to Boston that finds him digging in Native American ruins, battling blazes in the woods of Arkansas and joining a black sharecropping family in South Carolina, he just can't escape the hero business. Nathan meets archaeologist Rachel Ring and together they travel not just across America but into each others past to find secrets that they have allowed to be secrets. Set, in part, in Nathan's childhood with his band of friends, the Freaks, someone has been ringing the bell in the church tower in the middle of the night. Who is the bell ringer and what does he want? The Glow family has been disintegrating for years and the unsolved murder of Nathan's father is one of the mysteries that should not be a mystery. In "No Pennies Please," the language of the heart speaks louder than the language of the tongue.

Pick Up the Pennies (Unabridged) $12.29 By the end of this book, your pockets will be full from learning how to Pick Up the Pennies....

Woman Saves Pennies in Toy Bank $24.99 George Marks Woman Saves Pennies in Toy Bank - Photographic Print

Close View of Several Copper Pennies $39.99 Stacy Gold Close View of Several Copper Pennies - Photographic Print

People Pitching Pennies for Cigaret Prizes $79.99 People Pitching Pennies for Cigaret Prizes - Premium Photographic Print