Bank Stocks: Time to Buy or Run Screaming?

By Lauren LaCapra

The big banks have gotten clobbered of late, and while Wall Street is still bullish about the group's long-term prospects, few seem courageous enough to actually buy the stocks.
'Fast Money' Recap: Hot Seats in Tech
 Enter the Dragon: ETF Sways With China
 Cramer's 'Mad Money' Recap: How to Trade Apple (Final)
 'Mad Money Lightning Round': Southern Copper Shines
 8 Stocks Rising on Monster Volume
 Markets Grind Through Monday: Dave's Daily
 Kodak's Bankruptcy Plan Slugged by InterDigital Sale Failure
 Texas Instruments Beats, Eyes Better Economy
 Tech IPOs Set for Strong 2012
 CSX Posts Slight Earnings Miss
 Your Complete Guide to Free Tax Tools
 Relaxing With a Beer at Starbucks
 Travelers, Procter & Gamble, Verizon: Dow Movers
 Bank of America: Financial Winner
 InterDigital Plunges; Strategic Review Ends Without Acquisition Offer
 Mortgage Reduction Deal 'Weeks' Away: Report (Update 1)
 VMware Jumps on Solid Earnings Beat
 FDA OKs Millennium's Velcade Injection
 Buffett Doesn't Fault Romney for 15% Tax Rate
 Gold Prices Gain on Greek Debt, Middle East Tensions (Update 1)

Today's Market

Financial: Ambac

Health: Affymetrix

Tech: Yahoo!

Small-Cap: CSK Auto

Other: Motorola


Markets

U.S. Loses Jobs, Recession Fears Gain Strength

Asia Has Mixed Session

Senate Finance Panel Defies Bush on Stimulus Plan


Tech Stocks

Google Dials Up Voice Service in Egypt

Apple TV 3 Fails to Excite Wall Street

DirecTV to Merge With Liberty Entertainment

Sprint Springs to Life Despite Wider Loss

Altera's Net Slips


Company News

Cerner Guides Under Street Estimates

Sambol to Lead BofA Mortgage Business

Alcoa Takes Stake in Rio Tinto

Beazer, Countrywide Team Up

Oil Prices Lift Chevron's Profits

Gannett's Profits Crumpled


Small Business Focus

Five Employee Motivation Myths Debunked

Five Audit Attractors to Watch Out For


INSIGHT & ADVICE
Doug Kass
Doug Kass
Kass: Tune Out Pundits,Test Your Convictions 

Of course, the truth will set you free, in life and in markets, but first it will make you miserable. 
Doug Kass
Doug Kass
Kass: Even I Can't Pass Up Cheap Cisco 

Cisco's conference call was a stinker, but the markets are restoring value. 
Doug Kass
Doug Kass
Kass: Near-Term Pros and Cons 

The negatives have a slight edge over the positives. 
James Altucher
James Altucher
Jim Cramer's Portfolios of the Week 

These are the stocks Cramer's been talking about lately. 
Featured Commentators




MORE INVESTMENT IDEAS
TSC Staff
Energy Play Makes a Land Grab$ 

The company increased its oil reserves in a resource-rich region. 
David Peltier
Stocks Under $10 Weekly Summary $ 

Amid a busy week filled with earnings and economic data reports, we trimmed three of our model portfolio positions. 
Bryan Ashenberg
TheStreet Breakout Stocks Weekly Summary$ 

The market continued to press higher this week, and we made no trades in the model portfolio. 
Jud Pyle
Wrapping Up OptionsAlerts Positions$ 

Here is some guidance for what action to take with the remaining holdings in our former model portfolio. 
David Peltier
A Final Analysis of Dividend Stocks$ 

In the concluding issue, updates on several model portfolio positions. 
Rev Shark
Wrapping Up $ 

This final issue closes out the remaining model portfolio positions and offers some tips for long-term investing success. 
Alan Farley
Awaiting the Fed Statement$ 

The next interest rate decision will be released on Wednesday, and the Fed will publish quarterly estimates as part of its new openness policy. 



ANALYSIS
By Ivy Lessner 
Microsoft's Deal Needs Time to Digest 
Assimilating Yahoo! into the fold will be the toughest task.
By Marek Fuchs 
Google, Microsoft and Yahoo! Oh My! 
Here's where the media and Maven missed on the three tech giants' news trifecta.

IN FOCUS

Microsoft, Yahoo! Await Antitrust Scrutiny 
By Alexei Oreskovic 
The proposed merger could be drawn out because of its complexity.



Apple's iPod Classic Could Be Harmful to Your Headphones 
By Gary Krakow 
Users complain that software upgrade damages equipment.



Jim Cramer's Wrap-up Jim Cramer's Wrap-up
'Mad Money' Recap
How to Trade Apple

Jim Cramer's Wrap-up



Lightning Round
Southern Copper Shines

COMMENTARY
By Brad Hall 
The Innovators: Winning the Productivity Game 
Companies need to devise an innovative strategy to bring out the best in their work force.
By Doug Kass 
Kass: Color Me More Bullish 
Even if the economic downturn is worse than feared, it will occur within an already undervalued market.

MANAGING YOUR MONEY
Gregg Greenberg
The 5 Dumbest Things on Wall Street: Jan. 20 
Straight To Hellas; Here's To You Metabolix; Deen Goes For Green; Chevron Does Shakespeare; Duncan's Gambling Goof. 

Gregg Greenberg
3 Top Dividend Stocks For 2012 
Oliver Pursche, portfolio manager for the GMG Defensive Beta fund, names his favorite high dividend paying stocks including McDonald's, Intel and Abbott Labs. 

Gregg Greenberg
Corbett Likes the Midas Touch 
Michael Corbett, portfolio manager for the Perritt Micro Cap Opportunities Fund, names his favorite micro-cap stocks including Acent Capital, CyberOptics, Midas and Century Casinos. 

Gregg Greenberg
The 5 Dumbest Things on Wall Street This Week: Jan. 13 
No Pain, No Gain for Novartis; Zynga Gets Zinged; WebMD's Acute Dumbness; Blackstone's Domain Drama; Hildebrand's Swiss Miss. 

Gregg Greenberg
5 Dumbest Things on Wall Street: Jan. 6 
MSG's Cable Clash; Verizon's Foolish Fee; Groupon's Raw Deal; Sanford & Sears; Walgreen's Woes. 

Gregg Greenberg
The 10 Dumbest Things on Wall Street in 2011 
TheStreet recaps Wall Street's most inane events of the year. 

Gregg Greenberg
Why Acacia Research, HMS Holdings Top Small Cap list for 2012 
Jim Oberweis, portfolio manager for the Oberweis Emerging Growth Fund, discusses his favorite small cap growth stocks. 

Gregg Greenberg
5 Dumbest Things on Wall Street: Dec. 16 
The Gift of Corzine; Stuffed Pantry; Best Buy Gets Scrooged; Son of a Buffett; Diamond Goes Nuts. 

Gregg Greenberg
Why Shopping for Macy's is a Super Smart Move 
Pat Dunkerley, portfolio manager of the Scout Mid Cap Fund, names his favorite mid cap stocks for 2012 including Macy's, Herbalife and CBS. 

More Managing Your Money