NEW YORK (AP) — RBC Capital Markets raised its outlook on Yamana Gold Inc. to “Outperform” from “Sector Perform” on Wednesday, citing a positive outlook for gold and the Canadian company’s growth plans.Yamana shares closed Tuesday at $10.41. They’ve traded in a 52-week range of $9.26 to $19.93.In a note to clients, RBC analyst Michael [...]

Among the premarket stories for Wednesday, Aug. 20, from AP Financial News:NEW YORK (AP) — An analyst on Tuesday night recommended long positions on investment bank Morgan Stanley, saying it has a solid mix of business.NEW YORK (AP) — RBC Capital Markets raised its outlook on Yamana Gold Inc. to “Outperform” from “Sector Perform” on [...]

SectorWatch.biz Issues MarketStats for Gold Companies CGFI, ABX, GFI, LIHR and GGIRVINE, Calif., Aug 20, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — SectorWatch.biz announcesthe availability of MarketStats for gold-related equities in the news and drivingmarkets today. MarketStats offers a perspective on the aforementioned equitiesand the opportunity for investors to respond with articles and opinions on thesubject and [...]

Investor Confidence Index Declines from 84.0 to 77.2 in AugustBOSTON, Aug 19, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) — State Street Global Markets, theinvestment research and trading arm of State Street Corporation (STT), todayreleased the results of the State Street Investor Confidence Index(R) for August2008.Global Investor Confidence decreased by 6.8 points to 77.2 from a revised Julylevel of [...]

Surviving at a costCommentary: Merrill and Lehman will survive but lose key partsBy MarketWatchLast Update: 8/19/2008 8:52:00 AMNEW YORK (MarketWatch) - Dick Fuld, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.’s chiefexecutive, has decided to sell off one of the company’s most prized assets tosurvive.Lehman (MER) is reportedly shopping Neuberger Berman, the asset management firmit bought for $2.6 billion [...]

By Matthias Rieker Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES NEW YORK (Dow Jones)–In banking circles, convergence talk is back.Mergers between investment banks and commercial banks had become rare untilJPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) bought Bear Stearns, but falling profits and tougherfunding have hurt Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (LEH), Morgan Stanley (MS),Merrill Lynch & [...]

PARIS (Dow Jones)–Europe’s insurers remain in the hunt for small to midsizeacquisitions, with the action likely to center on promising emerging markets inthe East and South, while larger, balance-sheet-straining deals in mature marketswill likely have to wait as companies tread cautiously in the face of the globalcredit crisis.Insurance heavyweights such as Axa SA (AXA), Assicurazioni [...]

Stock Rating Reiterations: ALKS T BEC XTXI FMCNLast Update: 8/19/2008 10:30:00 AMRating reiterations for Aug. 19 from Briefing.com:Company Ticker Brokerage Firm Rating ChangeAlkermes [...]

BeaconEquity.com Issues Trade Alerts on Advertising Agency Stocks: XFML, OMC,FMCN, VISN, MNST, VCLKDALLAS, Aug 19, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — BeaconEquity.com announces theavailability of Trade Alerts on stocks making news today.Investors can view all of the daily trading notes for free by visiting:http://www.BeaconEquity.com/mToday’s Trade Alerts include: Xinhua Fin Media Ltd. (XFML), Omnicom Group Inc.(OMC), Focus [...]

Where does 54% of the budget come from? Discretionary spending for security related items will be at $730 billion for fiscal 2009, or 60% of DISCRETIONARY spending. The TOTAL BUDGET is $3.107 Trillion, meaning that the security related portion is only 23.5% of the budget outlays. The numbers for social security - $644 billion, medicare, [...]