I think Starbucks sucks. They are needlessly everywhere. Even on Campgrounds (is anything left sacred anymore?). I think they are so horrible in fact; that the only reason I walk in there is to feel “frilly” with whip cream laced on top of my iced mocha. So naturally my obsession with Starbucks has led me to take a good, hard look at their stock price. And this is what I see…

The news for US retailers is grim to say the least. But Justice Litle says investors can still make profits by shorting the most vulnerable firms in the industry. He picks three retail stocks that look overvalued in today’s climate.

In 2009, investors will get a second chance at a massive growth story, says Lynn Carpenter. Starbucks (NYSE:SBUX) is down over 50% this year, but with founder Howard Schultz back in charge, it is likely to recover its momentum in the New Year. Lynn says investors could double their money with Starbucks within a year.

Forget about the office Christmas party this year, says Bill Bonner. That’s if you are lucky enough to still have a job. Throughout the country, businesses and households are cutting costs. And this is only the beginning. Bill says the Obama government will try to take up the slack in the economy. But that will just create more debt problems in the long term.

DHL Withdraws From U.S.; China ‘Stimulates’ Railway and Steel Industries; YouTube to Show Full-Length Flicks; McDonald’s October Sales Solid; DB Analysts Says GM Stock Worthless; Fannie Mae to Tap Fed Fund; Starbucks Profit Down 97%; U.S. Cotton Production Declines by a Third

We have to wait until Thursday this week for the economic calendar to get underway, and even then there isn’t too much going on outside of the Retail Sector.

A fun little bit of news out of the beautiful city of Prague today…

The first Burger King (NYSE:BKC) will open in Prague in the next few months. And it’s not only targeting the Czech Repbulic. It wants to become number one in European markets. To do that, it’s already got operations in Poland, Bulgaria and Hungary, and it planning joints in Slovakia and Slovenia.

But it’s got tough competition from McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD), who is top dog right now with 70 restaurants serving 53 million customers. It’s spent more than $172.2 million on restaurants in the Czech Republic.

When I was in Budapest, I grabbed a Whopper for a quick lunch before meeting my guide back at the hotel, Buro Panzio. It cost me 750 Forint,…

Gold prices have fluctuated wildly in the last week as jittery investors reacted to the meltdown in the financial markets and the government’s bailout proposals. Ed Bugos says gold’s fundamentals remain strong, however. He says the recent correction was a mistake by the market and that the outlook for rising inflation and a tumbling dollar makes a strong case for gold. Ed says investors should take advantage of short-term price dips to buy the shiny metal on the cheap.

It can be easy to forget that some of the world’s biggest companies started out as penny stocks. Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT), Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) to name a few. Penny Sleuth’s Jim Nelson says penny stocks may carry more risk than blue-chips, but the success stories show the rewards can be worth the extra risk.

Andrew Gordon in Investor’s Daily Edge says The Economist’s Big Mac Index shows that the most overvalued currencies are currently all European. And the world’s most undervalued currencies are mostly Asian. It also signals that the dollar is overvalued against its Asian counterparts…