My loss is your gain.  Less than a month ago, I told readers about the potentially strong upturn in place for carbon fiber maker Zoltek (Nasdaq: ZOLT).
Thanks to a just-released quarterly report, shares are now up a heady 67% from where I recommended them. And that's in just one month! I didn't add the stock to my $100,000 Real-Money Portfolio, awaiting a better entry point that never arrived. Hopefully, you were able to get in the action and have been able to secure a tidy gain.
Here's the odd part. This stock still has a lot more upside.

The Gold Report: What is the consensus among Haywood analysts on what 2012 will bring for mine commodities, particularly precious metals?
Joe Mazumdar: Last year, risk aversion was a common market theme. In 2012, some of the same global economic concerns, such as the ongoing Eurozone crisis and the future of the euro, will continue to draw attention. But we also believe there is potential for positive economic indicators, primarily from the U.S., where there have been upticks in manufacturing and GDP growth. Also, unemployment in the U.S. is down to 8.5%, generating some consumer confidence.

Many average investors like to think that the performance of the STOCK market is closely tied to the underlying ECONOMY. And in most normal times, that’s true. But the current market environment is anything but normal.
I say that because we’re in the midst of yet another round of money-printing-driven action. The fingerprints are everywhere …
Super-low volume rallies in stocks. Levitation in gold.

Source: Advanced Currency Markets | G10 Advancers and Decliners vs USD GBP 0.08 JPY -0.05 EUR -0.11 CHF -0.12 Yet another day goes by without a resolution to the Greek bond swap talks; meaning we are still sat with a major hurdle preventing risk appetite from accumulating or EURUSD from making further upside progress. Yesterday, the EU’s Rehn said he expects an agreement between Greece and its private sector creditors by end of this week; a comment which is only likely to increase the potential for…
Read More . . .

Facebook released their numbers in preparation for an IPO, showing 2011 revenue of $3.7 Billion and profits of $1 Billion. Speculation is the IPO will be valued as high as $100 Billion.
This would be a P/E of 100. That’s high, but then P/E’s are not as significant an indicator for young companies with a lot of growth potential. So can Facebook grow enough to justify a $100 Billion price tag?

The Energy Report: With Brent Crude trading at about US$110 per barrel (bbl) and natural gas futures trading at 10-year lows, are you leaning more heavily toward oily names than you did in 2011?
Luc Mageau: Absolutely. In fact, although gas prices have been reduced to around the $2.50 level, it still seems like the picture could get worse before it gets better. Current natural gas storage is at ~3.5 trillion cubic feet (Tcf); that’s a full 0.4 Tcf fuller than an average winter. The reason we have such a glut of gas is the winter has not been co-operating.

With post #8286 I am officially retiring  (see the post at 3:40PM before you panic).

This week we take a brief pause in our series on the choices facing the developed world to look at some items that are catching my attention. We will get back to the US next week, as somehow I think we will not solve our problems between now and next Friday, and there will be plenty left for us to talk about. So today we look at the “shift” in Fed policy, and at the balance sheets of central banks, US GDP, Portugal and the ECB, the LTRO policy, and yes, there’s even a tidbit on Greece. Plenty of ground to cover, so with no “but first,” let’s get started.

Good Saturday to all of you:) I thought the image on the right was a great way to put it. It’s an extremely difficult problem to tackle and clearly not only about changing the government but I thought it was a great simplification:) Here are some of the good reading from the past few days:

The ETF marketplace changed last month. You didn’t notice? Don’t worry, you’re not alone. Today I’ll tell you all about it.
You already know that “exchange traded funds” trade on an exchange. That’s what distinguishes them from old-fashioned mutual funds. But what exchange trades them, and where is it?
For some new iShares, the answer isn’t New York or Chicago. Their trading hub is Lenexa, Kansas. Let me explain …
Exchange Floors No Longer Needed Computers bring order to chaos like this.