Warren Buffett spoke tonight (Thursday) on tape with CNBC's Julia Boorstin at Herb Allen's Sun Valley media conference.  He remains pessimistic about the economy's short-term prospects, saying the latest number from his Berkshire Hathaway companies show that consumer spending remains very weak.  This is a video clip and transcript of Julia's entire conversation with Buffett.   Read More

With the official start of earnings season kicking off after the bell today, here are some stats on Alcoa and the rest of the Dow.   Read More

Plus, the stocks to get you through.   Read More

Following are the day’s biggest winners and losers. Find out why shares of General Mills and Petrochina popped while Marriott and Myriad Genetics dropped.   Read More

The second half of 2009 kicked off with a bang with both the Dow and S&P trading higher after reports showed manufacturing began improving, albeit modestly.   Read More

Now that we closed Q2 and the first half of 2009, let's take a forward look. Here are the historical averages for the Dow, S&P and Nasdaq for July, Q3, and H2. Historically and on average, the Dow has fared best of the major indices in July, Q3 and H2.   Read More

If you have some cash to play with, this is the best way to grow it.   Read More

Worried you missed the latest run-up and now stocks are trading sideways? Don't fear—you can still get in the game. Donald Yacktman, president of Yacktman Asset Management, and Kent Croft, CIO of the Croft Value Fund, share their value plays for the second half of the year.    Read More

U.S. consumer confidence rose in June to the highest since February 2008, but the question is: When are consumers going to spend a lot more to give the economy a turnaround? John Faucher, senior analyst at JPMorgan Chase and Linda Bolton Weiser, managing director at Caris & Co. said there are consumer stocks that investors ought to own right now—and a few to avoid.    Read More

Cramer, ever the contrarian, disagrees with that sentiment. He prefers his stocks at a different temperature.   Read More