Food For Thought

• Bull stampede! While it is a strong tape this morning, I find it exceedingly difficult to trust it


• Higher oil prices don't matter? More than one-third of executives in a new survey believe that their companies are vulnerable


• The breaking point for oil


• To safely play the hard-asset market, index funds are best


• I still don't like Merck!


• Mr. Bubble is worried again, and this time his focus is real-estate


• Online gamblers love real-estate and the bettors see no signs of a bursting bubble anytime soon


• "I made a tremendous amount of money on real estate. I’ll take real estate rather than go to Wall Street and get 2.8%. Forget about it." - Ivana Trump


• What will cause the next recession?


• Most investors, including yours truly, have no long-term bear experience


• My trading radar? Very few stocks of interest this morning. A few I'm casually watching here include PPCO, LANV, SYNM, PANC, HRVE, INOD, WSSI, NURO, FDRY, NGRU, XMSR, TEU, IDBE, KNDL, & RRGB


• Last week, equity inflows were just shy of $1 billion ($936 million). Meanwhile, money market funds reported inflows of $18.539 billion


• Industry groups warn consumers that heating costs will climb significantly this season


• I thought everyone already knew that shorting IBD's top ranked stock was like money in the bank


• If we do not change our direction, we are likely to end up where we are headed


• Investors consider safe-haven stocks


• Bigger cruise ships cause some trouble


• Skin cells get converted to stem cells


• How to trade in the zone!


• Trading around a low volatility index (VIX) doesn't work?


• Tim Wood finds market non-confirmations


• Why mutual fund first impressions should be ignored


• Don’t assume all S&P 500 funds are alike


• Alternatives for just sitting in cash


• IBD's 10 highest-rated stocks


• The dog that trots about finds a bone


• Vital signs for the week ahead


• China kickbacks create trouble for U.S. firms


• Prices on plasma TVs are pretty much in a free fall


• Consumer spending during the crucial back-to-school season is expected to rise +1.4% this year


• Grading back-to-school stocks


• Mark Cuban is upset over the Register.com buyout


• Google Desktop!


• Free Wi-Fi? Get ready for GoogleNet!


• America's image is in a dramatic decline just about everywhere


• Tech firms have been warning for years that the U.S. is falling behind other nations in crucial areas like math and science education


• Cramer loves Marvell Tech


• According to Barron's, in Zacks Investment Research latest survey Zacks ranks the total returns of 13 brokerage "focus lists" or "model portfolios"


• 6 good funds for the income investor


• The level of short selling rose to a record on the NYSE ending a two-month period that saw bearish investors paring their financial bets


• Is a hybrid car really good for your wallet?


• Take these five steps to reduce your financial stress


• I'm thinking about buying some fake parking tickets


• "One of the great lessons I've learned in athletics is that you've got to discipline your life. No matter how good you may be, you've got to be willing to cut out of your life those things that keep you from going to the top." - Bob Richards