“The suicide rate among U.S. military personnel is reaching a new high, according to official statistics.

This year to date, 116 confirmed or suspected suicides have been recorded – twenty-one more than at the same juncture last year. In July alone, thirty-eight soldiers were either confirmed or believed to have killed themselves.

The self-inflicted death rate among active duty soldiers has increased by 22 percent this year, and for the first time, there were also more suicides among soldiers ranked sergeant or higher (excluding officers ranked lieutenant and higher), a military expert told USA Today.

“Suicide is the toughest enemy I have faced in my 37 years in the Army,” Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, vice chief of staff of the Army, said in a written statement.

“That said, I do believe suicide is preventable,” he added. “To combat it effectively will require sophisticated solutions aimed at helping individuals to build resiliency and strengthen their life coping skills” 

Full article

“Doctors have discovered an incurable brain disease evident in a large number of soldiers returning from war, and estimate that as many as 250,000 US troops are at risk of being ravaged by the disorder next.

Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy cannot be diagnosed or adequately treated yet, Col. Dallas Hack of the Army’s Combat Casualty Care Research Program tells the Huffington Post, and scientists say that they think brain injuries developed during battle might bring up the likelihood of CTE occurring, which is characterized by bursts of anger and depression, and is believed to be able to impact motor skills and memory. And with 2.5 million Americans being able to call themselves veterans of the United States’ wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, an increasingly large proportion of them are showing symptoms of CTE.”

Full article

“A lot of people have been waiting,” he said. “Facebook was expected to go public a long time ago.”

Despite the sharp drop in Facebook’s market value during the past three months, the early investors can still reap huge windfalls by selling at the current price.

For instance, Thiel invested $500,000 in Facebook in 2004, the year CEO Mark Zuckerberg began the site in a Harvard dorm room.

After selling 16.8 million shares for $640 million at the time of the initial public offering in May, Thiel still owned nearly 28 million shares worth about $560 million at Thursday’s trading prices.

Accel Partners invested $12.7 million in Facebook in 2005. The firm sold nearly 58 million shares for $2.2 billion as part of Facebook’s IPO and still owned nearly 144 million shares worth about $2.9 billion.

It wasn’t known how many of those shares could have been sold Thursday, and whether any of them were.

Because those investors had put up little compared with the shares’ value today, “you can understand why they would want to take some of their money off the table now,” Maher said. “But at the same time, you have to wonder if they’re thinking that Facebook isn’t much of a bargain anymore.”

Hamadeh believes the venture capitalists who invested in Facebook realize it’s a “fool’s game” to wait for a better price on the stock.

Full Article

“China Mobile Ltd. (941), the world’s biggest phone company by subscribers, fell the most in more than a year in Hong Kong trading as profit growth cooled to the slowest annual pace in at least 13 years.

Shares closed down 5 percent, the biggest decline since Aug. 9, 2011, at HK$86.65 after the company posted second- quarter profit that missed analysts’ estimates because of rising costs to lure customers. Profit in the three months ended in June fell to 34.40 billion yuan ($5.4 billion) from 34.42 billion yuan a year earlier, according to figures derived by Bloomberg News from half-year numbers reported today.”

Full report

Thus, IBEX futures are up 39.5 basis points. Enjoy the impending rally.

Spain is about to receive an emergency disbursement from the 100 billion-euro ($123 billion) bailout of its financial system because of restrictions the European Central Bank imposed on bank borrowing, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The ECB last month imposed limits on how much it will lend banks against government-guaranteed bonds. The rule change meant Spain had to ditch a plan for nationalized lender Bankia group to get a loan from the Frankfurt-based central bank, said the person, who asked not to be named because the matter is private.

Bankia group, formed in 2010 from the merger of Spain’s troubled savings banks, will now get the first portion of the country’s European Union cash imminently, the person said. The rescue program always included a 30 billion-euro tranche to be paid out first and “mobilized in any contingency,” according to the agreement document dated July 16.

Bankia SA (BKIA), the listed unit of Bankia group, advanced 11 cents to 1.31 euros as of 10 a.m. in Madrid, valuing the lender at 2.62 billion euros, Bloomberg data show.

Full Article

Click here for tonight’s list.

Courtesy of The PPT

Courtesy of the good Dr.

 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wHYSzwwVDo&feature=player_embedded#!

PPT members can find full list here

Here are today’s hybrid movers under $1:

In Play ,

On the Wires 

Name of Issuer					Title of Class		CUSIP		Fair Market	Shares or	Investment Discretion				Managers		Voting Authority (Shares)
									Number		Value		Principal	(a) Sole	(b) Shared -	(c) Shared -			(a) Sole	(b) Shared	(c) None
											Amount		As Defined	Other

-------------------------------------       ---------------- 		--------------	 ---------	----------     ----
Apple Inc					COM			037833100	301,541 	516,338 	x				 				516,338
Bank of America Corp				COM			060505104	31,550 		3,857,008 	x				 				3,857,008
Beazer Homes USA Inc				COM			07556Q105	827 		254,614 	x				 				254,614
Boyd Gaming Corp				COM			103304101 	12,055 		1,674,323 	x				 				1,674,323
Broadcom Corp					CL A			111320107 	84,197 		2,491,023 	x				 				2,491,023
Calumet Specialty Products Partners LP		UT LTD PARTNER		131476103 	28,105 		1,181,885 	x				 				1,181,885
Celanese Corp Del				COM SER A		150870103 	5,193 		150,000 	x				 				150,000
CF Industries Holdings Inc			COM			125269100 	10,747 		55,470 		x				 				55,470
Chimera Investment Corp				COM			16934Q109	9,424 		3,993,384 	x				 				3,993,384
Citigroup Inc					COM NEW			172967424 	253,982 	9,266,022 	x				 				9,266,022
Dean Foods Co					COM			242370104 	40,909 		2,402,175 	x				 				2,402,175
Delphi Automotive PLC				SHS			G27823106	5,622 		220,466 	x				 				220,466
Delta Air Lines Inc				COM NEW			247361702 	104,283 	9,523,569 	x				 				9,523,569
EMC Corp					COM			268648102 	69,592 		2,715,261 	x				 				2,715,261
Ford Motor Co.					COM PAR $0.01		345370860 	73,406 		7,654,450 	x				 				7,654,450
Fusion-io Inc					COM			36112J107	29,705 		1,421,954 	x				 				1,421,954
General Motors Corp				*W EXP 07/10/201	37045V118	1,935 		175,561 	x				 				175,561
General Motors Corp				*W EXP 07/10/201	37045V126	1,190 		175,561 	x				 				175,561
General Motors Corp				COM			37045V100	92,947 		4,713,316 	x				 				4,713,316
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.			COM			382550101 	132,745 	11,240,072 	x				 				11,240,072
Google Inc					CALL			38259P908	520 		500 		x				 				500
Google Inc					CL A			38259P508	128,449 	221,437 	x				 				221,437
Huntsman Corp					COM			447011107 	81,781 		6,320,011 	x				 				6,320,011
International Paper Company			COM			460146103 	8,746 		302,537 	x				 				302,537
iShares DJ US Home Construction Index		DJ HOME CONSTN		464288752 	1,772 		105,499 	x				 				105,499
JetBlue Airways Corporation			COM			477143101 	4,332 		817,374 	x				 				817,374
Lam Research Corp				COM			512807108 	16,424 		435,200 	x				 				435,200
Macy's Inc					COM			55616P104	3,533 		102,865 	x				 				102,865
Marvell Technology Group Ltd.			ORD			G5876H105	26,807 		2,376,524 	x				 				2,376,524
Masco Corp					COM			574599106 	53,242 		3,838,622 	x				 				3,838,622
MFA Financial Inc				COM			55272X102	7,652 		969,783 	x				 				969,783
MGM Resorts International			COM			552953101 	22,346 		2,002,293 	x				 				2,002,293
Microsoft Corp					COM			594918104 	34,536 		1,129,000 	x				 				1,129,000
MPG Office Trust Inc				COM			553274101 	8,457 		4,207,354 	x				 				4,207,354
Mueller Water Products Inc.			COM			624758108 	31,077 		8,981,831 	x				 				8,981,831
NetApp Inc					COM			64110D104	24,673 		775,399 	x				 				775,399
Nuance Communications Inc			COM			67020Y100	6,903 		289,780 	x				 				289,780
Oracle Corp					COM			68389X105	92,004 		3,097,779 	x				 				3,097,779
Owens Corning Inc				COM			690742101 	64,391 		2,256,151 	x				 				2,256,151
Powershares QQQ Nasdaq 100			UNIT SER 1		73935A104	539,533 	8,409,182 	x				 				8,409,182
QUALCOMM Inc					COM			747525103 	128,330 	2,304,786 	x				 				2,304,786
Royal Bank Scotland Group PLC			SP ADR L RP PF		780097788 	7,202 		399,671 	x				 				399,671
Royal Bank Scotland Group PLC			SP ADR PREF M		780097796 	4,693 		267,889 	x				 				267,889
Royal Bank Scotland Group PLC			ADR PREF SER N		780097770 	23,642 		1,370,542 	x				 				1,370,542
Royal Bank Scotland Group PLC			ADR PREF SHS Q		780097754 	14,040 		779,137 	x				 				779,137
Royal Bank Scotland Group PLC			SP ADR PREF S		780097739 	8,170 		460,787 	x				 				460,787
Royal Bank Scotland Group PLC			SP ADR PREF T		780097713 	2,544 		129,450 	x				 				129,450
Sandisk Corp					COM			80004C101	24,399 		668,821 	x				 				668,821
SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust				PUT			78462F953	2,450 		50,000 		x				 				50,000
SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust				CALL			78462F903	9,300 		48,000 		x				 				48,000
The Hartford Financial Services Group		*W EXP 06/26/201	416515120 	12,946 		1,275,475 	x				 				1,275,475
The Hartford Financial Services Group		COM			416515104 	18,916 		1,072,956 	x				 				1,072,956
Two Harbors Investment Corp			COM			90187B101	28,076 		2,710,000 	x				 				2,710,000
United Continental Holdings Inc.		COM			910047109 	230,759 	9,484,558 	x				 				9,484,558
US Airways Group Inc				COM			90341W108	172,313 	12,926,695 	x				 				12,926,695
Valero Energy Corp				COM			91913Y100	55,718 		2,307,161 	x				 				2,307,161
Whirlpool Corp					COM			963320106 	43,006 		703,180 	x				 				703,180

SEC document

Here’s your nightly list, compliments of The PPT.

Click here for charts.

Here’s this morning’s list:

Monday:

• Groupon Inc    GRPN
• JA Solar Holdings Co Ltd    JASO
• LiveDeal Inc    LIVE
• Sky-mobi Ltd    MOBI
• Vringo Inc    VRNG

Tuesday:

• Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc    DKS
• Home Depot Inc    HD
• JDS Uniphase Corp    JDSU
• Michael Kors Holdings Ltd    KORS
• Saks Inc    SKS
• TJX Companies Inc    TJX

Wednesday:

• Abercrombie & Fitch Co    ANF
• Applied Materials Inc    AMAT
• Canadian Solar Inc    CSIQ
• Cisco Systems Inc    CSCO
• Deere & Co    DE
• Hot Topic Inc    HOTT
• MIPS Technologies Inc    MIPS
• NetApp Inc    NTAP
• SINA Corp    SINA
• Target Corp    TGT

Thursday:

• Aeropostale Inc    ARO
• E Commerce China Dangdang Inc    DANG
• GameStop Corp    GME
• Gap Inc    GPS
• Marvell Technology Group Ltd    MRVL
• Sears Holdings Corp    SHLD
• The Buckle Inc    BKE
• Wal-Mart Stores Inc    WMT

Friday:

• Foot Locker Inc    FL

Note: Earnings dates are subject to change, please check dates for accuracy

Calling all gear heads. A look at the ten most expensive Shelby cars ever sold.

Full article

Click here for Friday’s full list.

Tickers imported from The PPT

Almost a million of them.

Full Article

Full gallery

VirnetX (VHC) just reported it’s latest 10Q last night in after hours and we have summarized the key topics concerning investors today. As a special note: Firms in litigation like VirnetX will usually only release a 10Q like they did which is the only requirement per securities regulations. Also, no conference call is scheduled and they have never had one regarding their earnings releases.

First and foremost, we wanted to know what the balance sheet looked like and we can clearly see that they have adequate capital with $63.7 million in cash and equivalents vs. what they reported 6 months ago with $63.9 million in cash.

The expenses are another key area that we wanted to review. They are actually falling in line and there is nothing alarming there, so this is another good sign for shareholders to be aware of. Legal expenses are expected and have been budgeted for. There is nothing of concern there either. Legal expenses and hard costs are expected to wind down and decrease in the coming months. The peak of the litigation costs are behind them, especially if they experience more settlements.

The key element that we see here is that the working capital has been increased to 48 months vs. 36 months of working capital that they had reported in their previous filing. This is a positive increase. Also, the company seems to be in “great shape” because they alleviated any concerns that the working capital might have dropped. or depleted. This didn’t happen.

Full Article

Weisenthal is out with some interesting comments from Andrew Tilton.

Read the article here.