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Growth typically trumps size for picking stock winners. But, to quote “Trading Places,” “can’t we have both?” You can. IBD’s Big Cap 20 list includes companies with top-notch fundamentals, technicals — and a market cap of at least $15 billion. Many of the stocks in the Big Cap 20 are in the IBD 100, published in Monday’s issue. This week’s Big Cap 20 only has 16 companies that make the cut. Apple (AAPL) has done alright for itself

Demand for health care continues to grow at a steady clip even in a weak economy. Add in new technology or products and business can rapidly expand. So it’s no surprise that there are several health care firms among the IBD 100 list of top-rated stocks based on fundamental and technical factors. The top five medical firms include a pair of device makers, a home health care provider, a generic drug firm and a biotech takeover target. 10. Intuitive Surgical (ISRG). The leader in robotic surgery

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday sued a well-known fortune-teller who called himself “America’s Prophet,” charging him with securities fraud for swindling investors out of $6 million with the promise that he could accurately predict market moves. (Read the lawsuit after the jump.) Sean David Morton, 51, is accused of inducing more than 100 investors into pouring money into the Delphi Investment Group through his newsletter, Web site and guest spots on a nationally syndicated radio show. Among his pitches: “I have called ALL the highs and lows of the market giving EXACT DATES for rises and crashes over...

Nikkei Jumps 3% As Gains In U.S. Stocks ReassureElaine Lies Sun Feb 21, 2010 9:43pm EST TOKYO, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei stock average jumped 3.2 percent on Monday, reassured by gains in U.S. shares after investors took the Federal Reserve's discount rate hike as a sign that the financial system is healing. The surprise hike in discount rate had pushed Tokyo shares lower on Friday on concerns that overseas markets would interpret the move as harbinger of faster-than-expected rate hikes. Sony Corp (6758.T) and other exporters rose as the dollar edged higher against the yen, extending gains made...

Citi: Sentiment Won't Stop Crashing And We're Approaching 2009 Lows Vincent Fernando Feb. 21, 2010, 5:48 AM Citi Investment Research's two sentiment measures continued to nose dive last week according to strategist Tobias Levkovich. Both the 'Panic/Euphoria' model and 'Cyclical Expectations' model are now approaching their 2009 lows. According to the firm, this implies further near-term pressure for equity markets. Citi: Our Cyclical Expectations Model (CEM) declined further this week, suggesting the equity markets may continue to face near-term pressure. Still, for long-term investors we'd read it another way -- U.S. stocks have shown resilience in the face of falling...

Global Stock Markets And General Economics 2010, When Hope Turns To Fear Stock-Markets / Financial Markets 2010 Feb 20, 2010 - 06:47 AM By: Ty Andros "Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value ZERO" - Voltaire 1729 The greatest hoax and fraud in history perpetrated by public serpents, crony capitalists and their central bank and bankster masters continues to fall to its demise. Ever since Breton Woods ii changed semi-sound money into iou's and promises to pay, this inevitable moment has loomed large. As Ponzi finance fails, so do all the investments which underpin it. This is the greatest...

The New Reality Does Not Include a Doomsday Collapse of Anything Stock-Markets / Financial Markets 2010 Feb 19, 2010 - 08:45 AM By: Mario Cavolo Let's start with a core economic premise and build a scenario of supporting premises as we ponder the new reality of our global economic future without rhetorical, crash and doomsday scenarios which almost never play out. Here is the premise: Nothing will crash or collapse. Not the Euro, not the USD, not the stock market of this or that country. Not anybody’s entire financial system. Assets will swing wildly up and down, systems will change,...

Nikkei Dips 0.7%, Mood Cautious On Fed Move (Hang Seng Down 2.3%) Thu Feb 18, 2010 9:59pm ESTBy Masayuki Kitano * Nikkei dips after Fed raises discount rate * Dollar's rise to 1-mth high vs yen supports exporters * But mood cautious with S&P futures and commodities down TOKYO, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average dipped 0.7 percent on Friday, with investors turning cautious after the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision to raise the discount rate jolted U.S. equities futures and commodities. The dollar's rise to a one-month high against the yen helped lend some support to the Nikkei,...

Banks Are Hoarding So Much Cash That You Could Cut It In Half, And It Would Still Be Way Too Much Vincent Fernando Feb. 18, 2010, 1:52 PM We probably all know by now that banks are 'hoarding' cash and not lending 'enough', which may or may not be a good thing. After all, some conservatism is warranted, and the higher their cash buffers, the easier and sooner one can make an argument for government support to be removed. Yet this graphic from the Economist Intelligence Unit to the right shows just how much cash banks have been holding in...

European Shares Pare Gains After (Unexpected) US Jobs DataDominic Lau Thu Feb 18, 2010 8:38amLONDON, Feb 18 (Reuters) - European shares pared gains on Thursday after data showed the number of U.S. workers filing new applications for unemployment insurance unexpectedly surged last week. By 1333 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index of leading European shares was up 0.1 percent at 1,016.30 points. Data also showed U.S. producer prices rose faster than expected in January as higher gasoline prices and unusually cold temperatures helped boosted energy costs. [snip]