In this piece I will review stocks I plan on steering clear of in 2009

Eddie Lampert's Sears project has not followed the Buffett pattern, and dreams of a quick turnaround have become an investment nightmare.

Santa Claus may be hard at work as the holidays approach but he will find many Americans struggling with a troubled economy. A CNN poll on holiday shopping suggests that what many of us suspect is true: This will be the worst Christmas shopping season on record. Let's take a look.CNN Shopping PollSlow Sales And Layoffs Here for the holidays: Slow sales and layoffs. The Small Business Optimism Index fell 5.4 points in October - the third-worst reading in the history of the survey. Moreover the number of owners reporting increased sales over the past 3 months fell to ...

Cory Bortnicker: Welcome to 5 Things You Need To Know: The Podcast. I’m Cory Bortnicker and joining me is Minyanville Executive Editor Kevin Depew. Kevin Depew: Hi Cory. Cory Bortnicker: First things first. Let’s talk about the bailout a little bit. There was an article in The Wall Street Journal earlier this week on the need for additional bail-out funds. What can you tell us about that? Kevin Depew: Well The Wall Street Journal article was interesting to me because it indicated that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson will probably have to go back to Congress and ask for more ...

As the global economy continues to melt down the use of superlatives is on the rise. According to economists surveyed by Bloomberg “The drought in consumer spending may be the worst ever.” Meanwhile Best Buy (BBY) CEO Brad Anderson after reporting disappointing earnings and offering a dour forecast for profits going forward said “Since mid-September rapid seismic changes in consumer behavior have created the most difficult climate we’ve ever seen.” Not to be outdone Jeffrey Frankel of the National Bureau of Economic Research told Bloomberg Monday “We’re in for a pretty serious recession - there’s a chance it’ll be the worst ...

NOTE TO EDITORS: The Following Is an Investment Opinion Being Issued by Bridgewater Equity (BWE).

Canadian sales process is separate and ongoing