Dick Bove loves the banks....

Dick Bove is pounding the table for bank stocks, noting many now sport market caps lower than their net cash positions; names fitting this description include BAC, JPM, C, BK, STT, NTRS, and SNV. However, Bove also believes Ireland, Portugal, and Greece will default, affecting several big-name U.S. banks with Euro exposure.

Nice Day for the market...

Dow +2.28% to 11542.
S&P +2.83% to 1210.
Nasdaq +2.86% to 2224.

Gold and silver both sold off.

Afternoon update....

At 3:15 pm the market is much higher.  All but 4 stocks in the S&P 500 are positive.

Dow +240 to 11525
Nas +75 to 2554
S&P +31 to 1207

All three indices are breaking out on the charts through the previous high.  In technical terms this is significant.

Noon update....

At noon the market is holding its earlier gains:

Dow +193 to 11477
Nas +63 to 2543
S&P +24 to 1201

Remember, 1200 is a key level to break back above for the S&P.

Hansen Natural still moving higher...

Last week we showed you the chart on Hansen Natural.  Sales of Monster Energy drinks, the high-caffeinated elixir with the neon "M" logo, are growing fast, propelling the earnings of owner Hansen Natural Corp. Energy drinks as an industry are growing as well, but Hansen says Monster is outpacing some competitors like Red Bull, NOS, AMP and Full Throttle.

Hansen said it sold $484 million worth of Monster drinks in the second quarter, a 28 percent increase over the previous year. And though the Los Angeles-area company also sells sodas, teas and smoothies, the Monster drinks accounted for 94 percent of the increase in gross sales.

Hansen is up another 2.62 to 87.25 (a new all-time high):

Travelzoo Rebounds...

Travelzoo (TZOO +9.8%) shoots higher following Friday's news that Facebook plans to shut down its daily deals program, perhaps easing competitive pressure on industry leaders. But Travelzoo also has been a rumored takeover candidate, so a fresh round of speculation could be pushing shares.

Amazon is also jumping into this arena with their daily coupon alerts.  Travelzoo is the originator of travel specials spread by email.  I would think they have a great deal of value just in their email database alone.

Here is the chart.  Kind of scary but that is because traders got into the shares and ran the stock up too quickly.  I think this could easily move 20-30% higher if the market continues to rebound :

Today's Upgrades and Downgrades...

These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research calls this Monday morning.

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) Maintained Buy with $255 target at BofA/ML.
Autodesk Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) Reiterated Hold at Argus.
Astec Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ: ASTE) named Value stock of the day at Zacks.
Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) Raised to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE: BLK) Reinstated as Buy with $216 price target at BofA/ML.
Chimera Investment Corporation (NYSE: CIM) lowered target to $3.15 at BofA/ML.
Merge Healthcare (NASDAQ: MRGE) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Pep Boys-Manny, Moe & Jack Inc. (NYSE: PBY) Maintained Buy but cut target to $13 at Argus.
Robert Half International Inc. (NYSE: RHI) Cut to Hold at Citigroup.
Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE: RY) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.
Saks, Inc. (NYSE: SKS) named as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Skullcandy Inc. (NASDAQ: SKUL) Started as Buy with $22 target at BofA/ML; Started as BUy at KeyBanc.
Universal Technical Institute Inc. (NYSE: UTI) Reiterated Buy and $20 target at Argus.
Zillow, Inc. (NASDAQ: Z) Started as Buy at Citigroup.

What happened to all the negativity???

It's amazing that we have temporarily forgotten all the negative European headlines as well as the double dip recession hype...

I still maintain that this latest correction was just that...a correction...where traders took advantage of slow trading, a political stalemate, the ridiculous downgrade of US Debt, and lack of new monies coming into the market from individual investors.  Earnings from US companies continues to be better than expected for the most part.

Dollar Tree (DLTR) up 2.50 to 73....

Dollar Tree, Inc. operates a discount variety store chain. The Company sells an assortment of everyday general merchandise. Dollar Tree sells its merchandise at the $1.00 price point. The Company operates throughout the United States.

CF Industries + 5.15 to 185.50

CF Industries Holdings, Inc. manufactures and distributes nitrogen and phosphate fertilizer products in North America. The Company’s principal products in the nitrogen segment are ammonia, urea and urea ammonium nitrate solution and its principal products in the phosphate segment are diammonium phosphate, monoammonium phosphate, and granular muriate of potash.

McDonalds Up 0.60 to 90.52

Here are a few stocks hitting 52 week highs....

Terra Nitrogen Company (TNH) Up 7 to 182. Terra Nitrogen Company, L.P., through its subsidiaries, markets and produces nitrogen, fertilizer, crop protection products, and seed and services for agricultural, turf, ornamental, and other growers. The Company also produces nitrogen products and methanol for industrial customers.

We pointed out the move on Terra Nitrogen last week.

20 minutes in....

We are getting a broadbased rally.

Dow +185 to 11469
Nas +49 to 2529
S&P +21 to 1198

Gold is selling off again.

Monsanto down $3 on WSJ report....

Monsanto Co. (MON) is down 3.00 to 67.60 this morning.  Corn plants that the agriculture products company genetically modified to thwart a voracious bug are falling prey to the pest in some Iowa fields, Wall Street Journal reported.

Looks like a buying opportunity to me.

Insurance stocks get the best case scenario...

Insurance stocks could get a boost this morning, as Morgan Stanley issues a report saying that Irene presents a perfect opportunity for insurance companies to raise premiums. Among the stocks mentioned are Travelers (TRV), ACE Limited (ACE), Axis Capital (AXS), and Chubb (CB).

Where are we anyway???

We closed on Friday with the Dow at 11284.  Looks like this morning we will open possibly 100 points higher.  Such an open would put us right around the same place we were on Wednesday, August 17, before we sold off over 400 points on the next day.  Funny thing is the media hasn't said much about that, have they???

A move above 11500 would be a breakout off the bottom made on August 9.

Hurricane fizzles out....

Well that was a whimpy hurricane.  Being from New Orleans, Irene had to be one of the lightest storms I've seen...especially considering the media's predictions that we would have a Category 4 make a direct hit on NYC.  The news media seems to be getting more out of control every year (kind of the same as we see with their reporting on the stock market).  Futures are up this morning...my guess in relief that we didn't get as much damage as expected.