Existing Home Sales Up 2.9%; Malaysia’s Economy Shrinks 6.2%; Staples Beats Estimates; U.K. Millionaires Halved by Financial Crisis; Treasury Yield Spread Hits Record High; Intel Won’t Cut Dividend After Euro Fine; Moody’s: U.S. Aaa Credit Rating Stable; Oil Surges to Six-Month High

Just days after Chrysler LLC said it would be cutting one quarter of its auto dealerships, 1,100 General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) dealerships have reportedly been told not to expect a relationship with the embattled U.S. carmaker after October 2010.

The markets are digesting the latest nuggets of economic data. But a few stocks are shaking off any notion of bad news and are charging ahead. Should you be buying?

Intel Dealt $1.45 Billion Fine; WSJ: Gov’t Wants Financial Sector Pay Overhaul; Verizon Divests Access Lines for Stock; AIG Says 5 Years to Pay Back Gov’t; Foreclosures Jump to Record High; Geithner: Small Banks to Get TARP Funds; Auto Dealers Get The Axe; Ford Raises $1.4 Billion From Stock Sale

Krugman: U.S. in Danger of Lost Decade; Trichet Sees First Signs of Recovery; Plavix Could Have Serious Competitor; Intel Could Face Record Antitrust Fine; GM Open to Leaving Detroit; Microsoft in First Bond Offering; Dish Network Beats Expectations; Nortel Blows a Fuse

When a subscriber recently asked us if we were hot on any nanotech stocks, my immediate reply was, “No”. But it wasn’t because I’m not excited about the nanotech field…

Long-short investing strategies aren’t just for hedge funds anymore. Many investors believed diversified “long-only” portfolios would always serve them well, regardless of the market conditions. They expected certain asset classes would perform well even as others were struggling.

When it comes to the U.S. stock market right now, the story continues to be about earnings. And this week will be no exception.

India’s information technology industry is one of the largest operations in the world – employing millions of engineers, technicians and customer service specialists who serve the world’s second-largest population.

This promises to be a very busy week with a full calendar of economic reports and earnings announcements, so let’s dive right in and highlight some of the more important ones.