Shares of BP recovered over the past week. At least, BP shares recovered from 52-week oil spill low (as well as a new 14-year low) that was touched on Friday, June 25, when fears spiked that Hurricane Alex would shut down BP’s oil spill containment effort.

By far the largest block of survey votes pinned an acceptable “buy” BP value at $25, with 28% of survey respondents saying that if BP hit that mark, it would signal the time to place a long bet.

Many potential BP buyers, has even lower expectations for the stock. Approximately 17% of survey respondents said they would buy BP at $20. Another 19% of survey takers indicated that BP shares would have to dip below $20 before they became interested in the stock.

Lurking beneath all of the reluctance to step up and take a bet on BP is the view demonstrated by 17% of survey takers: hurricane fears might be overblown, these votes said, but when it comes to BP, hurricanes or no hurricanes, the stock is ultimately headed for bankruptcy.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — With the stress tests behind them, banking regulators now face the potentially thornier issue of deciding which banks, if any, should be allowed to repay government funds.

Since regulators unveiled a long-awaited blueprint for returning money from the Treasury Department’s Troubled Asset Relief Program last week, lenders have been scrambling to raise cash so they can pay back TARP funds.

Four companies that were among those included in the stress test — BB&T (BBT, Fortune 500), U.S. Bancorp (USB, Fortune 500), Capital One (COF, Fortune 500) and Bank of New York Mellon (BK, Fortune 500) — all announced plans Monday to raise capital which would go towards buying the preferred stock and warrants associated with the government’s stake.

Before they can return taxpayer funds, banks first have to prove that they can issue debt without having to rely on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’s debt guarantee program.

Even if they are able to do that, many experts contend that regulators may be tempting fate by allowing banks to carry out their TARP repayment plans.

Altira has excellent cash flow, and is the ultimate recession proof stock. During a recession, I am looking for a company that is going to maintain if not grow its earnings and provide a nice dividend. Altria does that. At its current price it has an over 8% yield, putting a good amount of cash into your pocket ever quarter. Continue reading The best stock to invest in during recession

The Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly edged above 11,000 Friday, but finished just below the mark, as promising economic data and waning Greece debt fears helped power the assent, while investors began looking to company earnings next week.

The Dow, which finished the day after adding 70 points, or 0.6%, to 10,997, crossed the 11,000-point threshold near the closing bell for the first time since September 2008. The S&P 500 improved 8 points, or 0.7%, to 1194, while the Nasdaq went ahead by 17 points, or 0.7%, at 2454.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq also led the other major averages for the week, adding 2.1%. The S&P gained 1.4% since last Thursday’s close, while the Dow picked up 0.6%.

Money market accounts

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Fannie Mae FNM  0.79, +0.05, +6.76%) posted a loss for the second quarter of $14.8 billion, or $2.67 a share, compared with a loss of $2.3 billion, or $2.54 a share in the same period last year.

Net revenues were $5.6 billion and fair value gains were $823 million, Fannie Mae said in a regulatory filing.

The mortgage entity said the $12.5 billion increase in net loss in the period was driven by a $13.4 billion increase in credit-related expenses, which “more than offset a $1.7 billion increase in net interest income.”

The results were “adversely affected by the ongoing deterioration in the housing and mortgage markets, the economic recession and rising unemployment,” Fannie Mae said.

Fannie Mae said its request submitted Thursday for an additional $10.7 billion in aid follows a $19 billion infusion from Treasury in June, and a $15.2 billion infusion in March.

Sprint Nextel Corp., Motorola Inc. and Nokia Corp. led telecommunications stocks broadly higher in Wednesday trades as the U.S. market forged ahead.

Stocks got a boost from Intel Corp., the chipmaking giant. The company reported better-than-expected results, though sales still fell sharply from the year-ago quarter and Intel reported a net loss.

In early action, Sprint climbed 3%, while Motorola  and Nokia each gained 4%.

AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. also rose about 1% each.

Lowe’s Cos.’ (LOW) fiscal first-quarter earnings fell 22% amid continued weak demand for big-ticket items.

The world’s second-largest home-improvement retailer after Home Depot Inc. ( HD) nevertheless raised its fiscal-year earnings view but narrowed its outlook for revenue.

Continue reading Stocks to Watch – Lowe’s Cos (LOW)

Wells Fargo  repeated its bailout exit strategy on Tuesday, but appeared weak next to competitors that have already repaid taxpayer funds, or are moving forward with more definite plans to do so.

Its position comes at a delicate time, when rumors about the health of financial firms are circulating in the market. Traders have become more aggressive with bearish bets against Wells shares in particular in recent days.

Pressure was building on Wells, due to a report that competitor Bank of America (BAC Quote) is moving forward with plans to pay back bailout funds. Wells CEO John Stumpf told Bloomberg late in the day that the firm would like to pay back $25 billion in funds from the Troubled Asset Relief Program in the near future, but does not plan any capital raises to do so.

“We intend to pay back the government’s investment in Wells Fargo on behalf of U.S. taxpayers in a shareholder-friendly way,” spokeswoman Richele Messick told TheStreet.com in an email message earlier in the day. “We will work closely with our regulators to determine the appropriate time to repay the funds while maintaining strong capital levels.”

New Jersey Resources(NJR) is an energy-services company that provides retail and wholesale energy services to customers in New Jersey and other states from the Gulf Coast to New England and Canada.

The numbers: Fiscal second-quarter revenue declined 20% to $938 million as net income and earnings per share surged 183% to $36 million and 83 cents, respectively. The debt-to-equity ratio remained low at 0.63, but a quick ratio of 0.43 indicates a weak cash position. Margins improved significantly, with the operating margin climbing 443 basis points to 6.2% and the net margin jumping 272 basis points to 3.8%.

The stock: New Jersey Resources has fallen 6% in 2009, in line with the performance of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The stock trades at a price-to-earnings ratio of 13 and offers an attractive 3.4% dividend yield.