Its Friday May 12, 2006, and its the last day of the trading week, and what a week it was. From Gold, Silver, Copper and other metals as well as the Dow making historic highs to the Fed raising the benchmark interest rate to 5%, it was one to remember. Hopefully today the Bulls will come out and put a positive spin on the week after yesterdays decline, it was a bloody day on the screen. Traders and Investors were pulling away from equities to go where the money flowed yesterday and that was Metals and Oil, let me not forget that Crude Oil bounced over $73 as geopolitics has it on a rollercoaster ride.

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Political Front

China seems to be in a position to let the Yuan continue its upward pattern, this is on the heels of the Untied States not giving them the distinction of being a currency manipulator.

Irans President stated that the country is ready to resume nuclear talks with the UN. This back and forth situation is taking its toll on the oil market as it has put crude oil on a rollercoaster ride. So only traders on the right side of the trend have smiles on their faces, but this trend changes daily.

In Mexico, the country issued over $160 million of catastrophe bonds called the Mexican Bond in the event of an earthquake, so Mexico will get a big jolt in their finances if an earthquake should hit in the next three years, if not the cash goes back to the investors.

Movers and Shakers

Some major movers in yesterdays trading session included Koppers Holdings (NYSE: KOP) which traded up $2.52 to close at $22.82, World Fuel Services (NYSE: INT) which traded up $5.01 to close at $50.35, Biovail Corp (NYSE: BVF) which traded up $1.74 to close at $28.12, Canada Southern Petroleum (NASDAQ: CSPLF) which traded up $3.02 to close at $7.77, Remedytemp, Inc (NASDAQ: REMX) which traded up $4.33 to close at $16.53, Zoltek (NASDAQ: ZOLT) which trading up $4.60 to close at $35.59, Talx Corp (NASDAQ: TALX) which traded up $2.44 to close at $27.94 and MGP Ingredients (NASDAQ: MGPI) which traded up $2.93 to close at $34.05.

Analyst Upgrades/Downgrades

Recent Analyst upgrades include Bronco Drilling Co (NASDAQ: BRNC) they were upgraded with a Strong Buy from an Outperform by Raymond James, General Motors (NYSE: GM) was upgraded to a Buy from a Hold by KeyBanc Capital, as we stated from $19 you will see more analyst upgrades of GM in the near future, just read my article on General Motors to find out why we see this happening, The Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ: CAKE) was upgraded to an Overweight from an Equal Weight by Lehman Brothers and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) was upgraded to a Buy from a Neutral by Banc of America Securities.

Recent Analyst downgrades include Threshold Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ: THLD) they received a triple knock down as they were downgraded to a Neutral from an Outperform by Cowen & Co, Sector Performer from a Sector Outperformer by CIBC World Markets and to an Equal Weight from an Over Weight by Morgan Stanley, and the last for this morning is Agco (NYSE: AG) they were downgraded to a Neutral from an Overweight by JP Morgan.

Analyst Coverage Initiations include Alcon (NYSE: ACL) they were initiated with a Buy rating and a target price of $125.00 by Citigroup Investment Research, the stock closed at $101.62 yesterday, Other initiations by Citigroup Investment Research include Allergan (NYSE: AGN) which was initiated with a Buy rating an a target price of $118.00, stock closed at $96.04, and Advanced Medical Optics (NASDAQ: EYE) which was initiated with a Hold rating and a price target of $55.

Tid Bits

Although Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO) was in talks with Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) for some sort of working relationship, it looks like Mr. Softie puffed their chest out and wanted a stake in Yahoo, but Yahoo gave them a big fat NO. Just to give our two cents on this, Yahoo, as we have been saying is a prime takeover target for Microsoft, and whether it happens today or in 4 months, it will come to pass if both companies want to compete with the ever-expanding Google (NASDAQ GOOG).

Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) is expanding overseas as they have agreed to acquire a majority stake in Jiangsu Five Star Appliance Co., China's fourth-largest appliance and consumer electronics retailer. When the dust settles Best Buy will hold a majority ownership interest in Five Star for a price tag of US$180 million.

Movie Gallery (NASDAQ: MOVI) was in the spotlight yesterday as the stock surged over 50%, trading up $1.62 to close at $4.78. This came as a surprise when the street got wind of their earnings beating the average analyst estimate. Revenue shot up 197% to hit $694.4 million and earnings per share rose to $1.27 from a $0.58 for the same period a year earlier. So to say that most analyst were left with their jaws hanging is an understatement as they were looking at 15 cents a share based on $644 million in revenue. This growth in largely due to their acquisition of BlockBusters (NYSE: BBI) other rival Hollywood Entertainment. But just to shed some light on the situation, unless Movie Gallery dives head first into the digital age these great numbers may not last. But Movie Gallery does get an A Plus for shock factor.

Retail giants JC Penney (NYSE: JCP) and KOHLs (NYSE: KSS) reported double-digit gains for the first quarter beating the average analyst estimates. They even gave a decent outlook for the year but not good enough for analyst. Both stocks traded down yesterday and that could be partially due to the market condition that we were in yesterday. Both of these companies are in a good position to make new highs in 2006 and once investors realize this they will jump in head first.

In the Spotlight

We were going to feature the following company next week but we received a ton of emails and calls in regards to our special Investors Corner segment on National Beverage (AMEX:FIZ). So we thought it would make sense to talk about the little Seattle, Washington based Soda Company by the name of Jones Soda (NASDAQ: JSDA) in todays Investors Corner, which will be sent to subscribers later this morning.

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FURIOUS FIVE

This is the Fifth of our Furious Five companies that we see excelling in their industry in 2006. The fifth addition to this weeks Furious Five is optionsXpress Holdings (NASDAQ: OXPS) it trades on the Nasdaq under the symbol OXPS.

For our outlook, and other vital information on the companies that we feature as the "FURIOUS FIVE" on Wall Street to Main Street just subscribe for FREE at www.namcnewswire.com

We cannot stress enough that investors need to do their due diligence, call the companies, get the information, consult with your investment advisor and if you do not have one consider getting one. Put the same time into investigating these companies as you do when you go to purchase a new television, its only for your protection. When it comes to thinly traded securities stagger your orders or put a limit order in to avoid a run up.

NAMC Newswire Note

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Louis Victor
NAMC Newswire
888-463-9237

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