OPEC Sec Gen says oil price rally may persist (Reuters)

Reuters – OPEC Secretary-General Abdullah al-Badri said on Friday he saw oil prices at $70 to $75 a barrel by the end of the year, making him the latest official from the group to predict the current rally will persist.

FTSE 100 shares rise (AFP)

AFP – Shares in London ended the session on firm ground Friday hoping that the worst of the global economic crisis is over.

Stock Funds Swung To Inflow In April (Investor’s Business Daily)
Investor’s Business Daily – Investors poured $12.33 billion into stock funds in April, the biggest inflow and only the second month of positive flow since last May. And signs pointed to further inflow this month.

Commodity shares, Coca-Cola lift Wall Street (Reuters)

Reuters – Stocks rose on Friday, capping their third straight monthly advance, as rising commodity prices lifted shares of natural resource companies, while a sliding dollar boosted the allure of multinationals, including Coca-Cola Co .

Linedata Upgrades Longview Trading OMS
New security types are now supported, visualization and workflow tools have been added added for traders, reporting and compliance tools have been built in for auditors and compliance officers.

ExxonMobil investors reject calls for reform
In stark contrast to rebellions at competitors, shareholders voted against requiring the world’s biggest publicly listed oil company to review its executive compensation policies – an issue taking investors by storm in Europe

Union urges UK to offer support for factories
Britain’s biggest union urged the UK government to step up financial support for Opel/Vauxhall, warning that thousands of jobs in the UK were at stake

Belgium fears for Opel’s Antwerp plant
The Opel saga has become a hot political issue in Germany, which is facing elections in September, but the situation in Flanders, the Belgian region in which Opel’s Antwerp factory is based, is perhaps more stark

Dow Jones data focus shifts to web
Dow Jones, the newswire, is revamping its enterprise media division with a focus on web-based applications

Hoping summer sheds new light on markets
Those willing to take the time and effort to find good fundamentals in a global economy that has suffered a blow and is about to resume robust expansion, this summer is as good a time as any.

Belgium fears for Opel’s Antwerp plant
The Opel saga has become a hot political issue in Germany, which is facing elections in September, but the situation in Flanders, the Belgian region in which Opel’s Antwerp factory is based, is perhaps more stark

PM says Qatar still studying stake in Porsche
DOHA (Reuters) – Qatar is still considering taking a stake in debt-laden Porsche , or other German auto companies, after the carmaker scaled down a bid for Volkswagen , the prime minister said on Saturday.

Getting a handle on volatility
The words VIX and volatility are thrown around more these days than the number of pitches in a double-header. There are two problems with this focus on volatility. The first is it desensitizes us so that we don’t overreact, which can be both good and bad. But the context in which both words are typically used are frequently incorrect and misleading.

GM to file for bankruptcy on Monday
DETROIT/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – General Motors Corp will file for bankruptcy on Monday, U.S. officials said, forcing the 100-year-old automaker once seen as a symbol of American economic might and dynamism into a new and uncertain era of government ownership.

Jumping on the inflation train
The current deterioration in the value of the U.S. dollar was not a matter of if, but when. Now the recent blow-off in the greenback to six-month lows has fund managers all over the world closing out long bond positions and rotating into floating rate bonds at a dizzying pace.

Corporate fundraising turns to feast
Conditions for corporate fundraising turned from famine to feast in May as companies exploited improving investor sentiment to tap debt and equity markets

Should You Buy Into This Rally?
Patience is the companion of wisdom.

Which Banks Will Die?
And which will win?

Oil basks in equities’ glow
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Oil rose 1 percent to hit a fresh seven-month high on Monday as stock market optimism and sustained hope for a global economic recovery supported the market’s best monthly gains in a decade.

Why You Shouldn’t Listen to Jim Cramer
Time and temperament are how you can beat the market.

UAT Launches Trading Oversight System For Investment Industry
Technology provides pre-trade compliance, real-time reporting, and lower brokerage costs for sub-advised platforms, says UAT.

TraderPlanet.com Teams Up with Barchart.com to Provide More Content for Traders
Barchart.com will provide charts and market quotes, enabling traders to remain fully informed of daily market activity through the portal, which also supplies market research and news, tutorials, commentaries and webinars.

The Dow Jones industrials’ moves since Lehman fall (AP)
AP – How far the Dow Jones industrial average has fallen or advanced each trading day since Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Sept. 15. Since Lehman’s fall, which touched off a paralysis of the credit markets and deepened the recession, the stock market has gone through an extended period of volatility that subsided during December but that has returned in 2009. The numbers are the closing levels for the Dow:

OPEC Sec Gen says oil price rally may persist (Reuters)

Reuters – OPEC Secretary-General Abdullah al-Badri said on Friday he saw oil prices at $70 to $75 a barrel by the end of the year, making him the latest official from the group to predict the current rally will persist.

NY AG wins court OK staying SEC pension case (Reuters)
Reuters – A federal judge on Friday approved New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s request to delay the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s pension kickback case, rejecting defense attorneys’ arguments that this could give the federal regulator an unfair advantage.

U.S. judge gives final OK for Qwest suit settlement
DENVER (Reuters) — A U.S. judge has given final approval to $695 million in settlements to shareholders suing Qwest Communications International Inc for securities fraud.

Belgium fears for Opel’s Antwerp plant
The Opel saga has become a hot political issue in Germany, which is facing elections in September, but the situation in Flanders, the Belgian region in which Opel’s Antwerp factory is based, is perhaps more stark

NY AG wins court OK staying SEC pension case
NEW YORK (Reuters) – A federal judge on Friday approved New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s request to delay the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s pension kickback case, rejecting defense attorneys’ arguments that this could give the federal regulator an unfair advantage.

Oil hits new seven-month highs on equities optimism
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Oil prices extended their rally to a fresh seven-month high on Monday as stock market optimism and hope for a global economic recovery supported the market’s best monthly gains in a decade.

NY AG wins court OK staying SEC pension case (Reuters)
Reuters – A federal judge on Friday approved New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s request to delay the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s pension kickback case, rejecting defense attorneys’ arguments that this could give the federal regulator an unfair advantage.

Commodity shares, Coca-Cola lift Wall Street (Reuters)

Reuters – Stocks rose on Friday, capping their third straight monthly advance, as rising commodity prices lifted shares of natural resource companies, while a sliding dollar boosted the allure of multinationals, including Coca-Cola Co .

Lawyers give closing arguments in Kmart case (AP)
AP – Saying his client is not a “crook,” the lawyer for the former head of Kmart Corp. is asking jurors to clear him of civil fraud charges in a case filed by the federal government.

Insurers Join Banks in TARP Program, as Four Win OK for Treasury Funds
At least four U.S. insurers, including The Hartford, Prudential Financial, Lincoln Financial and Principal Financial, won approval to raise billions of dollars through the government’s bank bailout plan, the U.S. Treasury Department said.

OTC, Central Clearing or Exchange-Traded: Choosing the Right Path
Increasing capital reserve requirements for OTC self-cleared products would change the economics of the marketplace and may nudge the indusrty toward an exchange-traded model.

Broder Bros., Co. Announces First Quarter 2009 Results

GM and Magna reach deal on Opel
The European arm of General Motors will be shielded from the expected insolvency of the US group after an 11th hour deal that will see Magna International, the Canadian parts supplier, take over the business with financial backing from the German government

Don’t Buy These Stocks Today
They may look cheap, but is the timing right?

Why You Shouldn’t Follow Warren Buffett
Be careful: It could be dangerous.

Should You Buy Into This Rally?
Patience is the companion of wisdom.

Growth Stocks to Keep Your Portfolio Growing
Five proven winners that are poised to prove themselves again.

ExxonMobil investors reject calls for reform
In stark contrast to rebellions at competitors, shareholders voted against requiring the world’s biggest publicly listed oil company to review its executive compensation policies – an issue taking investors by storm in Europe

Which Banks Will Die?
And which will win?

General Motors’ Word Not Its Bond
President Obama’s bankruptcy plan will gut your grandmother’s retirement.

J. Crew Group, Inc. Announces First Quarter Fiscal 2009 Results

Majority of GM bondholders agree to swap: source
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A majority of General Motors bondholders have agreed to a debt-for-equity exchange, a source familiar with the voting said on Sunday, helping pave the way for a bankruptcy filing expected on Monday.

Marvell Technology Reports Fiscal First Quarter Results

PM says Qatar still studying stake in Porsche
DOHA (Reuters) – Qatar is still considering taking a stake in debt-laden Porsche , or other German auto companies, after the carmaker scaled down a bid for Volkswagen , the prime minister said on Saturday.

Germany seals deal to save Opel
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany heaved a sigh of relief on Saturday over a deal with Canadian auto parts group Magna, General Motors and the U.S. government to save carmaker Opel from the imminent bankruptcy of its U.S. parent.

Judge pushes ruling on Chrysler’s sale to Monday
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. bankruptcy judge overseeing Chrysler LLC’s bankruptcy case said on Friday he would issue an opinion “sometime on Monday” on the automaker’s proposed sale of most assets to a new company run by Italy’s Fiat SpA.

A milder hurricane season could still juice energy
Fewer hurricanes are likely to gather over the Atlantic during the tropical storm season that starts Monday, but it would only take one or two aimed at key facilities to fan already rising oil and gas prices, analysts say.

Movers & Shakers: Friday’s biggest gaining and declining stocks
Companies whose shares are seeing active U.S. trading on Friday include General Motors, J. Crew, Office Depot and Cintas.