Five Stocks To Watch For The Week Of January 28th: AMZN, PEP, GM, YHOO & NEM‏

What's happening with AMZN: Amazon.com (AMZN) stock has been on fire over the last two months. While the majority of the retail sector had a lackluster holiday shopping season, things were great for Amazon. Online sales were higher than any holiday season in the past, and Amazon was the top used e-commerce site. Amazon has emerged as one of the strongest technology companies and in addition to its thriving internet business it also finds success in the highly-competitive tablet market with the Kindle Fire. Amazon is willing to sell its Android-powered tablet a loss in exchange for gaining market share and using the device as a point of sale device to bring more users to its Amazon store. Analysts expect to see Amazon report fourth quarter earnings of $0.27 per share, down from $0.38 during the same period last year.

 What's happening with PEP: Shares of Pepsico (PEP) are trading near a 52-week high after a strong jump in the past month. Soft drink makers still see strong growth of soft drink sales in emerging markets, but the recent trend in the U.S. has been moving away from soft drinks in favor of healthier selections such as water and juice. Pepsi has been successful in building its non-soft drink brands, but is still vulnerable should the situation in the U.S. get more extreme. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is hoping to curb the amount of soda his resident drink by placing a ban on the sale of sugary drinks larger than 16 ounces in size. The ban is supposed to take effect in March, but is currently being contested in a court of law. Even if Bloomberg's ban does take effect, the impact will not be material on Pepsico, but it could encourage more major metropolitan areas to follow suit, which would start to impact Pepsi sales.

 What's happening with GM: The auto industry has been strong of late, and General Motors (GM) has been no exception. The stock has had a bit of selling pressure since hitting its 52-week high earlier this month, but this has more to do with the current economic situation in Europe than it does with the auto market in the U.S. The auto industry has been in decline in Europe for the last 15 months, and December, new car registrations in the European Union were down 16.3%, the steepest one-month decline since 2008. GM's biggest American competitor, Ford Motor (F) will report its fourth quarter results on January 29, and its results will have an impact on General Motors, especially any insight that Ford gives on the current condition in Europe.
  
What's happening with YHOO: Yahoo (YHOO) has been in a relatively flat trading pattern so far this year after experiencing a steep run up in price during the last four months of 2012. The stock accelerated in October after it closed a long-awaited deal to sell half its stake in China's Alibaba Group for $7.6 billion. The deal came shortly after Yahoo announced that it had appointed Marissa Mayer to the role of CEO. Mayer has a long history in the tech field, cutting her teeth in the industry during a 13 year stint at Google, where she rose through the ranks to become Vice President of some of Google's most valuable products, including Maps, Local, and at one point was Vice President of Search Products. Yahoo is expected to post fourth quarter earnings of $0.28 per share, up from $0.24 during the same period last year.

What's happening with NEM: Over the past year, Newmont Mining (NEM) has been in a downward trend. Despite record-low interest rates, gold has not rallied to the extent that one would have imagined. On January 28, the Federal Reserve will discuss its latest meeting, and we expect to see the Fed continue on its current path of near zero interest rates in hopes of keeping the overall economy in recovery mode. Nations across the globe are in the midst of stimulating their economies, with Japan being the latest company to announce plans to devalue their currency in order to make their exports more attractive. If the Fed announces that it will continue to keep the same policy we do not expect to see much upside to gold.