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This week, the short-term rally of the last few days of the holiday season was over. While many hope the economy would start rebounding toward the end of the year, more voices are now heard saying the recession will be longer and deeper than estimates. The only thing that could help is a proper stimulus plan.

Indeed, President-elect Obama's transition team and his chosen staff have already been working on a plan, trying to push legislators to act swiftly. As investors received news of one dismal economic report after another -- from retail sales, auto sales, housing, manufacturing and employment -- the corporate side also continued to show considerable weakness with earnings warnings coming nearly daily.

The real question is whether the stimulus plan and the Federal Reserve actions, alongside similar moves taken around the world, could give the boost the economy so desperately needs. It seems several BloggingStocks contributors believe this might be the case as they looked at long-term investment ideas. Here are some of their picks from the past week:

Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ: BWLD) actually saw an increase in value of 62.3% during the quarter. It has a strong capital position and is nearly debt free. It has actually seen a third-quarter same-store sales growth of 8.3%. There has been some pressure on the stock following an earnings miss due to growth, creating an opportunity for astute investors, says Jamie Dlugosch.

I'm not sure when it happened, but I think that I've slipped into a Charles Dickens novel.

I got my first clue that something was up back in September, when Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy. Amid scandals over bailouts and backroom deals, congressional testimony and AIG retreats, one figure quickly emerged from the mass of bloated plutocrats and greedy execs clamoring for bonuses. Everything about Dick Fuld, from his cartoonishly aggressive management style, to his whining over Congress' refusal to bail out Lehman, to his striking resemblance to Rocky and Bullwinkle's Fearless Leader, made him the perfect poster boy for corporate greed. As more details leaked out, including the story about Fuld being pummeled by one of his employees, much was made of his name. In the public mind and this writer's heart, Richard Fuld was permanently transformed into a complete Dick. All in all, I was hardly surprised to see Lehman fold.

Another clue came when the story leaked out that Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain tried to collect a $10 million bonus. The fact that this bonus was, supposedly, based on Thain's performance in a year when Merrill lost billions of dollars made Thain's chutzpah almost legendary. My wife, who has had dealings with Thain in the past, noted that this aristocratic sense of entitlement permeated every single one of their interactions. I, on the other hand, couldn't help but remember the words of the witches in Macbeth, who hail the Scotsman as Thane of Cawdor, Thane of Glamis, and King hereafter. There seemed to be something ironic about an ambitious, clawing Thain who so clearly felt himself deserving of the spoils of war.

There have since been others. For example, when I first heard of Bernie Madoff, I thought nothing of his last name. However, when I learned that the proper pronunciation isn't "MAD-off" but rather "MADE-off," I couldn't help but laugh. For somebody who "made off" with billions of dollars, Bernie has a name that would put Dickens to shame. Following him, of course, there's been Joseph Forte, the Ponzi schemer who put on a "strong" front, but couldn't hide the fact that making money wasn't his forte. Frankly, punning off these guys is so easy that it's almost embarrassing.

You read that right. Bloomberg.com has reported that The bank of England has lowered it's benchmark interest rate to it's lowest point since the bank was founded in 1694. How much more proof is needed to make obvious the fact that people and businesses just aren't borrowing money any more?

Even if some stalwart soul had the inclination to borrow some money, are there banks out there which are lending it? In the face of unemployment levels which some say honest calculations put up as high as 16%, banks are becoming adverse to lending money to anyone who might actually need it. Of course I can get you credit card applications all day long, if you're willing to pay upwards of 19% interest on new money.

So you have to wonder, when is it all going to break loose. Honestly folks, if the promise of increased revenue reserves was in any way going to help us, don't you think the contraction would have slowed by now? The only way additional cash will correct anything is if that cash is put directly into the hands of the people who pay the bills. Of course, we all know that will never happen. Our government will continue to drop wads of our yet unpaid tax dollars into the laps of their corporate sponsors. That, for now, is where the buck now stops.

This post was written by anonymous Minyanville contributor Minyan Peter.

Representative Barney Frank is reported to be recommending that $50 billion of TARP money be used to "alter" loans.

While the route may be circuitous and positioned as great for Joe Q. Public, I think it is important to recognize that the ultimate beneficiary is the banks.

Like the rumored tax carry-back benefit rumored on Monday, Representative Frank's proposal represents yet another potentially "non-dilutive" injection of additional government capital into the banks.

Given the United States' position as the global "capitalist" nation - and its symbolic importance in attracting global "entrepreneurial" capital, I expect that Congress will go through enormous (albeit often convoluted) steps to avoid the overt nationalization of the banking system that we are seeing in Germany and the UK.

This doesn't mean we won't see more marienette shows like yesterday's press conference with Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C) and the Senate, but given the public outrage to the government's overt bailout of the banks, going forward (if at all possible) I expect the means used will be far less obvious to the taxpayer.

This post is part of a special annual report -- Top Stock Picks '09 -- in which TheStockAdvisors.com asked 75 leading newsletter advisors to select their favorite investment for the new year.

"We own several stocks in our portfolio that are selling for less than their book value and with a P/E ratio of less than 5 -- but the prize among bargains is Teck Cominco (NYSE: TCK), our most promising stock for 2009," says Neil Macneale.

In his 2 for 1 newsletter -- which initially buys stocks when they announce 2-for-1 splits, he says, "It would be hard to argue this company is not literally being given away."

Macneale explains, "I bought this stock for the 2-for-1 portfolio over a year and half ago and its stock price has declined by about 90% since then.

"The Canadian mining company produces copper, zinc, gold, and metallurgical coal. All assets are in North America except for most of its copper operations, located in Peru.

"With a PE ratio bouncing between 1 and 2, and a Price-to-Book ratio at around 0.3, you are getting a well-established (1906), well-run asset play for less than its book value, even if existing plant and reserve values are slashed by over 50%.

Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS) reported some pretty lousy holiday sales results yesterday, but they were good enough to send the stock up 12%. Ah the glory of low expectations! Overall sales were down 5.2% and comparable store sales fell 7.7%.

That's not so bad given the trouble that retailers and the book industry at large are facing, but the 11.0% decline in BN.com sales is more of a cause for concern.

In the press release, the company added that it had "experienced diminished traffic, and as a result, diminished sales, due to the unprecedented fall-off of retail shopping during the last quarter of the year. After a slow start to the holiday season, our store performance improved and we were able to post comparable store sales increases during the last two weeks of the season, enabling us to meet our sales guidance for the period to date."

But what about the internet sales? Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) reported record sales and according to data gathered by Geezeo's Main Street Spending Index (MSSI), a 17% increase in per customer sales.

Given that the future growth in the bookselling industry seems likely to focus on e-commerce, Barnes & Noble is going to have to do a lot better online.

Luckily, the company seems to recognize that: On the same day it released its holiday results, it named former HSN.com boss William J. Lynch president of Barnes & Noble.com.

What's another high-end stat, along with a decline in sales of apartments in the heart of New York City -- Manhattan -- that doesn't bode well for the economy? A decline in sales of performance and luxury cars.

Sales of Bavarian Motor Works' namesake brand in the United States plunged 15.2% to a 16-year low in 2008, as the credit crunch and the U.S. recession scared away even buyers for one the world's highest-quality makes, The Associated Press reported Friday.

U.S. sales declined to 249,113 vehicles, The AP reported. Global 2008 sales slumped 5.8% to 1,202,239 vehicles. BMW's shares rose 49 euro cents to 22.39 euros Friday on the Frankfurt exchange.

Economist Richard Felson said BMW's sales decline "is indicative of a pervasive economic slowdown and a loss in confidence, across society and on both sides of the Atlantic."

In the heat of the moment very often bad decisions are made. According to OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development), the decision by the U.S. Treasury to shift the TARP money away from buying toxic bank assets to simply giving money to the banks was the wrong move.

OECD outlined steps to follow to return the banking industry to a sound footing: First, bank assets must be guaranteed to avoid a run on the banks. Second, toxic assets must be removed from bank balance sheets. This is the step that was not done. According to OECD, the failure to remove toxic assets from bank balance sheets only serves to prolong the problem and make it more dangerous. These toxic assets can get worse through more defaults, thus making it necessary to inject more funds into the banking system. It's like holding a stock that keeps dropping and dropping and your margin calls become larger and larger.

So far the Fed and the U.S. Treasury have failed to clear toxic assets from bank balance sheets. This is an absolute must if our banking system is ever going to return to normal and bring back trust in the system. Just ask yourself, would you want to invest in a business when you don't even know what "bad assets" are being carried on the books? Who knows, maybe the value of the toxic assets are more than the bank is worth, in which case it should be shut down. At some point, someone will have to "bite the bullet" and clean up this mess. Congress, the Fed and the Treasury must put a stop to the practice of allowing banks to keep some of their transactions "off the books." That's what got us into this crisis in the first place. We need full transparency from here on or we will never be able to trust our banks again.

What are your thoughts on this?

Free markets are essential and they have many benefits, but they are not perfect. Many economists, including economist Peter Dawson, agree. The global financial crisis, along with those infamous, Frankenstein-like, mortgage-backed securities and the massive, publicly-funded bailouts for failed free market institutions demonstrate this.

Another example, according to Dawson: the free market and oil. The mantra is, it's best to let the market determine the price of oil. Economist Dawson is doubtful, because oil price swings create economic havoc.

Consider the predicament airline, delivery, and related executives who manage businesses that have a major fuel cost face: you know that this year the price of oil is going to be somewhere between . . . $30 and $110. "Now that clarifies things," Dawson laughs. "Piece of cake."

Also, consider what oil industry executives face: try making and managing a 5-year or 10-year exploration budget. What's the price of oil going to be in three years? $20? $50? $75? $150? "Nobody knows, and it's creating havoc in exploration circles," Dawson said.

This post is part of a special annual report -- Top Stock Picks '09 -- in which TheStockAdvisors.com asked 75 leading newsletter advisors to select their favorite investment for the new year.

For his top stock pick for 2009, market timing expert Sy Harding looks to medical products company, Zimmer Holdings (NYSE: ZMH).

In his Street Smart Report, the advisor looks at the maker of orthopedic implants, noting, "Currently trading at just 1.6 times books value, 2.3 times sales, and at 9.5 times earnings, the stock is a bargain."

Harding explains, "Zimmer designs and manufactures orthopedic implants, including joint, dental, and spinal replacements, as well as surgical instruments designed to aid in orthopedic surgery and post-operation rehabilitation.

"The company has been growing steadily from both rising sales of its own products, and from acquisitions. Its most recent acquisition was Abbott Spine, acquired from Abbott Labs for $360 million.

"The acquisition was funded from cash on hand and its already existing credit line, worth noting given how the credit crunch is causing problems for many companies. Zimmer's ratio of long-term debt to equity is only about 20% of its industry's average, and it maintains a high level of cash.

Unemployment came in at a much worse 7.2% headline number, but the loss of non-farm payrolls came in right in line at -524,000 this morning. This and this alone set the tone for the market today and everything else was just a footnote. Here are today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 8,599.18 -143.28 (-1.64%)
S&P 500 890.35 -19.38 (-2.13%)
Nasdaq 1,571.59 -45.42 (-2.81%)

Top Analyst Upgrades
Top Analyst Downgrades

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) was noted somewhat positively by Jim Cramer as one of his DJIA picks on CNBC's MAD MONEY last night. Be advised that he only wants people to buy on pullbacks rather than at the market. Shares pulled back and were down over 1% at the close.

Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) was down only about 1% late in teh day at $73.25. That is surprising since it said results would be significantly lower than its prior quarter.

Coach Inc. (NYSE: COH) was another doozy today with shares down more than 12% at $18.28 late in the day. This was after an earnings warning and a zero-visibility implication when it said it would not offer forward guidance.

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) was the subject of more news than usual. It has about $2 billion in direct exposure to Lyondell Basell Industries in that bankruptcy issue. Then came late-day reports that Bob Rubin was out of the board of directors. And to add even more fuel to the fire, a report from CNBC's David Faber called Citi close to putting Smith Barney out of the company and into a joint venture with Morgan Stanley.

Palm Inc. (NASDAQ: PALM) shares were up almost another 40% at $6.18 on exponential volume late in the day.

President-elect Barack Obama has provided the outline for his 2009 fiscal stimulus package, and a legitimate question for investors is: "Hey, how am I going to benefit from the plan as an investor?"

I'll systematically review the Obama plan as individual programs are specified, but for an overall critique, read an article by my BloggingStocks colleague Peter Cohan, who provided a good axis by which investors can evaluate the merits of Obama's stimulus plan. Cohan argued for stimulus components that serve as investments, as opposed to those that are just costs.

For example, most investors are aware of the poor condition of the nation's roads, highways, and bridges, not to mention its inadequate (and in some cases dilapidated) mass transit systems. Infrastructure work is a top priority in the Obama stimulus plan, and one can see how better highways, roads and transit systems will enhance commerce by making travel faster and safer. Further, electric grid and solar/wind power work also is included in this category: most know that the electric grid must be expanded, and made smart to meet the needs of our growing, dynamic nation, and that alternative energy source development will make the U.S. less-dependent on foreign oil.

The private education sector has been hot lately. So, it should be no surprise that Apollo Group Inc. (NYSE: APOL), which operates the University of Phoenix, announced a particularly strong quarterly report.

Net income came to $180.4 million, which is a 29% increase. Revenues were up 24.4% to $971 million.

The key driver is improved enrollments. For example, degreed enrollments were up a hefty 18% to 384,900 (this was the third consecutive quarter of solid growth).

While Apollo has invested heavily in marketing and infrastructure, the fact remains that the fragile economy is helping with the growth. Simply put, people realize they need to enhance their education to compete in the soft labor market.

It's definitely lucrative for Apollo. Quarterly cash flows were $291 million, up 61%. In all, Apollo has $1 billion in the bank.

What to do with the largesse? First of all, the company sees opportunities in foreign markets. Also, it's a good bet that Apollo will engage in some M&A to bulk things up.

Yes, it's a nice position. And, investors are cherry about things. In today's trading, the shares are up 12.60% to $86.95

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Streetsmart Guide to Short Selling: Techniques the Pros Use to Profit in Any Market. He is also the founder of BizEquity, a valuation website.

Future Hall of Famer Alex Rodriguez is having some trouble (subscription required) selling a couple homes as he and his estranged wife Cynthia divvy up their assets in preparation for their divorce. In the fall they listed their Coral Gables, Florida home at $14.9 million. Now they've slashed the price to $12.3 million -- meaning they'll be facing a hefty after-expenses loss on the home they paid $12 million for in 2004. And that's assuming they're able to get something close to the new asking price for it. If you're in the market for a Coral Gables estate, you can take a look at the listing (and schedule a showing) here.

Meanwhile, Rodriguez is also trying to sell a Manhattan apartment for $10 million. He was originally looking to get $14 million.

Few people will be wasting their tears on the highest-paid player in baseball history, but A-Rod's saga does contain an important cautionary tale for homesellers: By pricing his homes too high in a declining market, Mr. Rodriguez was forced to slash the prices -- after they sat on the market for months while the market declined. By being greedy, he's now going to end up getting less than he would have had he priced them competitively from the get-go.

Now we know why Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy. Since it did not get a taxpayer bailout like its peers, it can pay its bankers as much as it wants. I bet all those top banking executives who had to agree to no bonuses are really feeling sorry for themselves now.

How so? The Daily Beast reports -- based on three sources close the situation -- that an obscure Lehman banker, Hugh "Skip" McGee III, the former head of investment banking at Lehman Brothers, negotiated a two-year, $25-million-a-year contract to remain global head of investment banking at the British bank Barclays plc (NYSE: BCS) as part of the deal where Barclays bought Lehman Brothers' U.S. banking business out of bankruptcy. (The Daily Beast has indicated that Barclays declined to corroborate the information from the three sources).

This alleged $50-million man helped negotiate the deal in which the British bank stole -- I mean, picked up dirt cheap -- the Lehman investment banking business. U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge James Peck approved Barclays deal to buy some Lehman assets -- including paying $1.29 billion for its headquarters and two data centers -- and assume some liabilities such as the accrued bonuses for any Lehman bankers still on the Barclays payroll at the end of 2008.