M onday, Jan. 11 Alcoa Inc. reports, the first major company to post its earnings for the latest quarter.

Four brokers who won a $1.1 million arbitration award against Wachovia Securities LLC last month are asking a federal court to punish the firm for what they say are misrepresentations it made in getting a temporary restraining order against them. Last week, the four reps — Frank “Buddy” Brand, Marvin “Sonny” Slaughter, Stephen Jones and George Stukes — asked a federal judge in South Carolina to confirm the arbitration award and “hold Wachovia fully accountable for the misrepresentations it has made to this court.” In 2008, federal Judge Terry Wooten granted the firm a TRO against the reps based in part on Wachovia’s claim that it had a video of the brokers removing documents from the Wachovia branch. But the arbitrators thought differently and ordered the parties to tell Mr

iShares today launched a suite of municipal bond exchange-traded funds with a planned end date. The feature allows investors to obtain targeted exposure to the municipal yield curve. Many municipal bond buyers prefer investing in individual muni bonds because the strategy allows them to lock in a specific yield, said Matt Tucker, managing director of U.S

A Low Risk, Moderately Profitable Stock Options Alternative Jan 8, 2010 Bruce Silver Bull call spreads are done by buying an at-the-money (strike price = to the underlying stock price) call option while simultaneously selling a higher strike out-of-the-money (strike price higher than the underlying stock price) call option of the same stock and the same expiration month. The expectation is to lower an investor’s exposure by selling a call option and collecting the premium. Break-Even Point, Maximum Profit, and Maximum Loss Break-even point: Strike price of bought option plus net premium paid Maximum profit: when stock goes above option selling point minus the net premium paid Maximum loss: the net premium paid for buying the call minus the premium collected by selling the call.

C hevron Corp. CVX-N declined from about $100 in May 2008 to $54 in October of the same year (A-B), rallied toward the falling 40-week moving average (40wMA) and the descending trend line (C – see dotted line), and then declined to $56 (D).

W HAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR? Canadian equity balanced funds at the top of the performance chart in 2009. Balanced funds, which own stocks and bonds, have been hot sellers as markets have rebounded

C rude prices HG-FT edged higher to end the week, despite huge supplies and tens of thousands of lost jobs in the U.S. last month.