Is Kellogg 'Great,' Or Just OK?

By Renaissance Capital IPO Research: Despite the drop-off in new issues this year, filing activity has proved surprisingly resilient in the U.S., with 259 initial submissions to the SEC, matching the number seen in 2010. With one week left in 2011, the final total for IPO filings this year could well exceed last year's. 2011 could become the third most active year for U.S. IPO filings over the last decade, trailing only 2004 (315 filings) and 2007 (299 filings).

Although payroll job growth slowed sharply in May, with only 54,000 net jobs added, job growth this year is well ahead of 2010. Note: I'll have an update to my economic outlook later.The first table below shows payroll job growth in 2010 and 2011 through May (excluding Census hires in 2010). The third column is total payroll growth for 2010.Although job growth is sluggish relative to the slack in the labor market (with the unemployment rate at 9.1%), 2011 is clearly better than 2010 through May.

Earlier ...• Case Shiller: National Home Prices Hit New Low in 2011 Q1• Real House Prices and Price-to-Rent: Back to 1999• The Excess Vacant Housing Supply• Home Prices Graph Gallery

Todd Feldman submits:Based on anecdotal evidence and behavioral finance modeling, we suggest that the US stock market in 2011 will be similar to 2004. Let's take a look at the calculated return of the S&P 500 based on data from Yahoo Finance from 2000-2002, 2003, 2008, and 2009-2010. Table 1: S&P 500 Return Comparison

Zacks.com submits: Shares of aluminum giant Alcoa Inc. (AA) advanced 3% after the company reported results for the second quarter of 2010, reversing the trend of consistent decline in the share price since its first quarter 2010 results.

Just released by Heinz. Luckily, the brand new US Secretary of State has a full conflict of interest release. H.J. Heinz Company Enters Into Agreement to Be Acquired by Berkshire Hathaway and 3G Capital H.J. Heinz Company (NYSE: HNZ) (“Heinz”) today announced that it has entered into a definitive merger agreement to be acquired by an investment consortium comprised of Berkshire Hathaway and 3G Capital.

Gary Townsend submits:There are few true growth stories in American banking today, but one mid-sized New York City-based commercial bank surely fits the description. Tuesday, Signature Bank (SBNY) reported 4Q10 operating EPS of $0.70 (GAAP EPS was $0.72), handily beating the $0.64 consensus estimate. Earnings accelerated again. In 2010, this $2.2 billion market cap company earned $2.30 per share on an operating basis, up +43.3% from $1.61 in 2009, when operating EPS grew 20.6%.

Chart showing government debt as a percentage of GDP by Curious Cat Investing Economics Blog, Creative Commons Attribution, data from OECD, Sept 2009. For 2007 most countries slightly decreased their government debt to GDP ratio – as economic growth exceeded debt growth.