Its Tuesday April 11, 2006, and Alcoa (NYSE: AA) kicked off earnings season with blockbuster numbers, the estimate was 51 cents per share for the first quarter. Alcoa posted an EPS of 69 cents beating the estimate by 18 cents. This drove the stock up in after hours trading to a new 52 week high of $35.10 up from the $32.83 closing price on Monday.

Companies of note that are scheduled to report today include General Electric (NYSE: GE) the estimate is $0.389 cents compared to an EPS of 38 cents a year ago and Universal Forest Products (NASDAQ: UFPI) the estimate is 63 cents compared to an EPS of 44 cents a year ago.

Well list the companies of note that are reporting this week as their hits and misses may have some effect on their sectors.

Readers Speak

We received an email from one of our readers/listeners in regards to yesterdays segment, where we mentioned that Mark Cuban had something to do with the movie Akeelah and the Bee, and we stand corrected, as it was LionsGate Entertainment (NYSE: LGF) and not Mark Cuban. This is why input from our readers/listeners is encouraged, so thanks for the email.

Chinese President Hu Jintao

Chinese President Hu Jintao is scheduled to visit the United States on April 18-22, 2006. This is sure to be an eventful visit as the U.S. has been putting pressure on Beijing to get their house in order ahead of the historic visit.

Some of the issues that have been brought up include copyright theft, currency rates, markets barriers and beef bans.

The question that needs to be answered during his visit is Where is the Equity in Trade?

With an over $220 billion U.S. trade deficit with China, this is a question that needs to be answered.

Metal, Metals, Metals

As most investors already know one of the big movers have been metals, last week we mentioned a few companies that we see benefiting from the upward movement, they include Silver related companies Coeur d'Alene Mines Corporation (NYSE: CDE), based in Coeur dAlene, Idaho, Apex Silver Mines (AMEX: SIL), based in Denver, Colorado and Pan American Silver Corp (NASDAQ: PAAS), based in Vancouver B.C. Canada. Gold related companies include Corp (NYSE: GG) and Crystallex International Corp (AMEX: KRY).

Gold has moved up past the $600 mark while Silver hit an quarter century high of $12.77, other metals that have been moving higher include Copper which hit $270, Palladium which moved higher to the $362 range, Zinc hit $1.33 while Aluminum hit $1.15.

Keep in mind as the demand grows for top metals you can either own the futures contracts, which should be left to the sophisticated investors or a smarter move would be to own the companies that stand to benefit.

Bausch & Lomb

Bausch & Lomb (NYSE: BOL) will feel the heat in todays trading session as they have agreed to stop shipping their ultra popular brand ReNu MoistureLoc. This comes on the heels of reports that stated that their ReNU solutions caused eye infections, this began in Singapore and Hong Kong back in February and is now here in the United States.

The FDA said 109 preliminary reports of a rare fungal infection that may cause loss of vision had been reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 17 U.S. states.

Even though the company said that they found no evidence of the claims, the company still agreed to pull the products off the shelves. This will be a very damaging situation for the company and its shareholders as you can expect for various analyst downgrades to come down the pike.

Whether the claims are substantiated or not, the negative press will hurt the company as consumer confidence in their products drops. The stock closed on Monday at $57.44 close to their 52 week low of $57.17, the stock could break the low and keep tumbling until they find support and this may come in the mid to high $40 range.

General Motors

General Motors (NYSE:GM) sells its stake in Isuzu to a couple of Japanese trading companies and a bank for approximately US$300 million. Isuzu has been its strongest ally in Japan and now that has been eliminated. This is a part of a bigger picture for General Motors as the once darling of Wall Street continues to fall from grace and faces possible bankruptcy, though its highly unlikely. The company may seek a U.S. Government bail out, even though President Bush several months ago made mention that this was not an option but this may indeed take place. The United States at this point cannot risk losing any more footing in the U.S. automobile market. One other scenario may be the injection of private equity into General Motors, one way or another something will take place as a lifesaver for GM, the only question is how low will they go before they get it.

Tidbits

Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) will be adding video clips to their Google Earth service, so if you are in your backyard taking some sun or a midnight swim be aware that big brother may be watching. eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) is looking to take their Paypal company on the road, literally, as they are looking to give consumers the ability to use Paypal anywhere anytime using their mobile units, os if you need to pay a bill and want to use Paypal to do it, well you will be able to do it from your Blackberry, Treo or your cell phone soon. JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM), as we reported a few weeks back, will be making an asset swap with Bank of New York (NYSE: BK), JPMs trust business for BNYs retail business, looks like JP Morgan is getting prepared for the upcoming Citigroup (NYSE:C) buying spree. Bain Capital goes from Dunkin Donuts to coats as they have come to terms with Burlington Coat Factory (NYSE: BCF) to acquired the established coat company.

As I repeat this every day, we cannot stress enough that investors need to do their due diligence, call the companies, get the information, consult with your investment advisor and if you do not have one consider getting one. Put the same time into investigating these companies as you do when you go to purchase a new television, its only for your protection. When it comes to thinly traded securities stagger your orders or put a limit order in to avoid a run up.

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