Goldilocks meets the bears
Let’s get to the point. Last month was a damn good time to be in stocks. Now the question is whether the good times will continue. Unfortunately, the answer is no.

Jim Lowell: Looking for a solid floor
March’s mood has shifted from fear mongering to the prospect of a rosy outcome, but a firm floor for the market needs more than splinters of hope.

Share price swings suggest return of ‘quants’
Dramatic last-minute price swings in US stocks suggest the computer-generated strategies of so-called ‘quantitative’ traders are returning

Mark Hulbert: Trading in no man’s land
Doing nothing may not be the most exciting stock market trading strategy for the month of April, but it could be the best one.

Mortimer to leave Morgan Stanley: report
(Reuters) – Patrick Mortimer, head of Morgan Stanley’s U.S. prime brokerage business, resigned this week amid declining assets and profits of hedge fund clients that make up the division’s client base, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.

Planting a seed in agriculture plays
The devastating events of the last nine months mean it’s time to get back to basics. One good play is agriculture, but caution is required.

Todd Harrison: The first quarter in a tough year
Todd Harrison takes a look at 10 themes visited at the beginning of the year and offers a first-quarter report card on how the government, economy, Wall Street and investors are progressing.

Sun-Times files for Chapter 11
The Sun-Times Media Group, publisher of the Chicago Sun-Times and 58 smaller newspapers in the Chicago suburbs, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

Sonic Automotive, Inc. Announces Fourth Quarter and Year-End 2008 Results

Energy West, Incorporated Announces Earnings for the Transitional Year and Quarter Ended December 31, 2008 and an Increase to the Monthly Dividend to $0.045 per Share

China Agritech, Inc. Announces Financial Results for Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2008

The gadfly gets her day: Davis to ring NYSE bell (AP)

AP – Evelyn Y. Davis was raking CEOs over the coals before it was popular.

For Wall Street, March is best month since 2002 (Reuters)

Reuters – Stocks climbed on Tuesday, driving the S&P 500 to its best month since October 2002, as investors snapped up top-performing bank and technology shares as the first quarter came to an end.

The Best Time to Get Back In
If you wait until things improve, your portfolio won’t look so good.

Sohu’s book on spin-off IPO closes day early
Chinese web portal Sohu is expected to set the price for its gaming division spinoff on Wednesday after closing its order books on its Nasdaq initial public offering one day earlier than planned amid solid investor interest

If You Invest, Go It Alone
Your most trustworthy advisor is you.

How to Find a Buyout Target
Cash is candy, debt is dirt. Guess which one attracts more acquisition offers?

Got the Borrowin’ Base Blues
Some oil and gas companies’ key sources of financing are going up in flames.

Why Pay Insiders for Doing Their Jobs?
These are unprecedented times where we’re rewarding so many so much for doing so little.

Caution urged as toxic assets fail to rally
Amid the euphoria over the Geithner plan to tackle toxic assets there is one note of caution: while bank stocks have rallied strongly on the plan, the underlying toxic assets have not

Sell This Stock. Now.
A CEO reveals some terrible news.

5 All-Star Stocks on Fire
What’s better than a high quality stock? A high quality stock that’s got the wind at its back!

Intel Pulls Out the Big Guns
The biggest performance leap in 15 years puts Intel on top again. AMD is wounded, but far from dead.

US equity rally
The relentlessness of the fall in US equities has wearied even the hardiest investors. With the surge in optimism, however, come the same old fallacies about valuation

Purple(TM) Communications(TM) Announces Fourth Quarter 2008 and Year End Results

Caution urged as toxic assets fail to rally
Amid the euphoria over the Geithner plan to tackle toxic assets there is one note of caution: while bank stocks have rallied strongly on the plan, the underlying toxic assets have not

The New World Order — and How to Profit From It
The role of the G20 … and what it means for your portfolio.

Conrad Industries Announces 2008 Results

5 All-Star Stocks on Fire
What’s better than a high quality stock? A high quality stock that’s got the wind at its back!

After Hours: Apollo Group shares down following quarterly results
Apollo Group Inc. swings to a quarterly profit, but the educational services provider’s shares struggle in late trading.

SEC to enlist help on fraud
The new chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission is looking at addressing the agency’s limited resources by enlisting more private sector help to uncover fraud

California says may need U.S. to back short-term bond sales
California’s “liquidity problems” may force the state to seek federal backstops for sales of its short-term notes this summer, even though it received heavy demand from retail buyers in a recent bond sale, its state treasurer says.

Japan’s tankan sentiment index sinks to record low
The Bank of Japan’s quarterly tankan survey shows business sentiment among big manufacturing firms in the world’s second-largest economy falling to their lowest level on record.

Economic Report: All 50 states in recession for first time since 1970s
The great recession of 2008 and 2009 is likely to be not only the longest downturn since World War II, but also the most geographically widespread recession since at least the 1970s.

Latin American Markets: Equities gain ground; Brazil, others best S&P 500 in Q1
Major Latin American equity markets rise as investors pick up stocks battered in the previous session, and as they move to close the books on the month and the first quarter of 2009.

Many convertible bonds trading at deep discount, J.P. Morgan says
Convertible bonds were among the potentially valuable assets left trampled underfoot as hedge funds stampeded out of securities in the past half year, leaving bargains for investors who want to look through the rubble.

An Enriching Nuclear Play?
USEC’s moat is at risk for a meltdown.

Wall Street rally rests on data due this week (AP)

AP – The coming week may well be a turning point for the stock market and its March rally.

GM, Bristol-Myers, AK Steel are big movers (AP)
AP – Stocks that moved substantially or traded heavily Monday on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Stock Market:

Drink In Diageo’s Dividend
Like a trusty bartender, you can count on Diageo to serve up a quality dividend.

Like I Said, Google Must Buy TiVo
A better version of Google TV is just the beginning.

Fool Answers: A Plan for Getting Back in the Market
Fortunes are made during bear markets. But you have to play through the pain to profit.

FTSE closes down (AFP)

AFP – Leading stocks in London closed fractionally lower on Friday as nervous investors took profits from a rally earlier this week, analysts said.

Prosecutors Seek Madoffs’ Homes, Boats, Piano
U.S. prosecutors want swindler Bernard Madoff and his wife Ruth to forfeit more than $100 million worth of homes, cars, boats, securities, silverware and a piano following his March 12 guilty plea.

Wall St looks to end month with rally
Wall Street opened higher on Tuesday, with stocks set to end their best month since 2003 as buyers eyed up bargains after Monday’s heavy sell-off

Enterprise Mobility Investments Provide Big Payback
Top-performing companies increased their investment in enterprise mobility by 19 percent over the past two years, fueling a 36 percent jump in employee productivity, according to Aberdeen Group.

DryShips in crisis as dry bulk rates collapse
There is ’substantial doubt’ about the ability of one of the highest-profile US-listed shipping companies to continue as a going concern

ICBC secures Goldman pledge
Goldman Sachs has assured Industrial and Commerical Bank of China that it will continue to hold most of its stake in the Chinese lender for at least another year

Insight: The signals for recovery
Watch for signs of recovery, when risk assets once again consistently outperform defensives, writes Tom Elliott at JPMorgan Asset Mgt

E*Trade Accelerates Mobile Trading
Upgrading from a basic WAP app to a thick client helped drive a 139 percent increase in daily average revenue trades.

Markit Launches CDS Data Portal
Information portal intended to increase transparency in the credit default swap market.

Sybase Embeds CEP Engine into RAP Analytic Platform
Licenses Coral8 code to target real-time streaming data

Wall Street rally rests on data due this week (AP)

AP – The coming week may well be a turning point for the stock market and its March rally.

US, Iran the offstage drama at Afghan meet (AP)

AP – U.S. Sec. of State Hillary Rodham Clinton shared a conference table Tuesday with a senior Iranian diplomat at an international session on the future of Afghanistan, but did not react to the Iranian’s call for a buildup of Afghan security.

Wall Street gains as banks, tech climb (Reuters)

Reuters – Stocks rose on Tuesday despite gloomy economic data, with March on track for its best month in six years, as developments in Europe helped banks and investors scooped up shares of big-cap technology companies.

Nikkei briefly down 4 percent as autos fall (Reuters)
Reuters – Japan’s Nikkei stock average fell 4 percent on Monday after a U.S. autos task force rejected restructuring plans submitted by General Motors and Chrysler LLC, sending automakers tumbling. In a stunning reversal for management at both automakers and GM investors and creditors who had bet on a softer line, the Obama administration task force warned both firms could be put through bankruptcy to slash debts.

Oil prices fall heavily on economy concerns (AFP)

AFP – Oil prices fell heavily Monday in line with stock markets on renewed concerns for the global economy, traders said.

Oil falls nearly 6 percent on dollar, stock market (Reuters)

Reuters – Oil fell nearly 6 percent to below $50 a barrel on Monday, weighed down by the stronger U.S. dollar and a slump on global stock markets.

FTSE closes down (AFP)

AFP – Leading stocks in London closed fractionally lower on Friday as nervous investors took profits from a rally earlier this week, analysts said.

Metals Stocks: Gold rises first day in three as dollar weakens
Gold futures rise for the first session in three, moving slightly higher as a weaker U.S. dollar increases gold’s appeal as an investment alternative.

NewsWatch: Consumer confidence up from record low; job worries persist
Consumer confidence ticks up in March from a record low in February as severe worries about the economy and jobs in coming months slightly ease, according to the monthly Conference Board index reports.

Oil falls nearly 6 percent on dollar, stock market (Reuters)

Reuters – Oil fell nearly 6 percent to below $50 a barrel on Monday, weighed down by the stronger U.S. dollar and a slump on global stock markets.

European shares ending week lower (AFP)

AFP – Europe’s main stock markets fell on Friday following a late sell-off in Asia which came despite an overnight rally on Wall Street.

US equity rally
The relentlessness of the fall in US equities has wearied even the hardiest investors. With the surge in optimism, however, come the same old fallacies about valuation

Wall Street rally rests on data due this week (AP)

AP – The coming week may well be a turning point for the stock market and its March rally.

Nikkei briefly down 4 percent as autos fall (Reuters)
Reuters – Japan’s Nikkei stock average fell 4 percent on Monday after a U.S. autos task force rejected restructuring plans submitted by General Motors and Chrysler LLC, sending automakers tumbling. In a stunning reversal for management at both automakers and GM investors and creditors who had bet on a softer line, the Obama administration task force warned both firms could be put through bankruptcy to slash debts.

Safe haven dollar firmer as stock markets fall (AFP)

AFP – The dollar was firmer against the euro on Monday as a return of risk aversion buoyed the currency in the face of tumbling stock markets, dealers said.

Debt wait for GMAC and CIT
Two of the largest finance companies in the US remain unable to issue government-backed debt almost three months after they became bank holding companies to gain access to the rescue schemes

Wall Street hits the brakes on autos, bank woes (Reuters)

Reuters – Stocks tumbled on Monday as two major U.S. automakers took a step closer to potential bankruptcy, and a spate of European bank rescues heightened concerns over the financial system’s health, putting the brakes on a recent run-up.