While the U.S. stock market last Thursday was not patriotic, we do believe in instant gratification when it comes to investing or doing business. However, we need to give the stock market some more time for correction. Chief Market Strategist Alfred Goldman at Wells Fargo thinks so too.

In the midst of a current 1-month long rally in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, investors and analysts alike are asking themselves if we’ve in fact seen the worst that the market and economy has to offer. There have been signs as of late that signal that the economic plunge is leveling off.

The indexes all rose dramatically today following Wells Fargo's surprise earnings. The Dow was up 3.14%, S&P500 up 3.81% and NASDAQ up 3.89%.

This morning in an announcement for its investors Citigroup authorizes the board to execute reverse stock split of its common stock. With the government being a major shareholder in Citi and assuming that a maximum amount of stocks go to reverse stock split existing common shareholders would see their holdings diluted by nearly 75%, with the government becoming the largest holder at 36%, reports Dow Jones Newswire.

Many watched the Daily Show last night as John Stewart was grilling Jim Cramer for misleading the people and the investors for the past years. I have never seen Jim Cramer in such a pity situation than in this show.

The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. with securities laws violations for having inadequate policies and procedures for controlling access to institutional customer order flow. Merrill Lynch agreed to settle the SEC’s charges and pay a $7 million penalty, among other remedies.

After Bernie Madoff is pleaded guilty in a Ponzi Scheme and ordered to jail SEC has charged two others from California in a multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme type of investment fraud.

A 162 page list of the client victims of the Bernie Madoff ponzi scheme was released today following a bankruptcy hearing for the owner of Madoff Investment Securities.

Successful long term investment is not just about buying low and selling high. Stock markets rise and fall, and share prices are vulnerable to everything from political news flow to the weather. Trying to find your way around - particularly during times of high volatility and uncertainty - can feel like negotiating a minefield.

As the USA opens the first trading day of 2009 and the first trading session the stocks are headed higher. However, the reports show that the manufacturing activity declined around the globe and the Euro fell vs. the U.S. dollar and the Japanese Yen. Oil prices dropped as well.

The Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday approved a new rule to help protect seniors and other investors from fraudulent and abusive practices that can occur in the sale of equity-indexed annuities.