Housing stocks were trading mostly higher on Tuesday after an analyst forecast modest improvement in the housing market next year and better home orders for homebuilders.

In his report, J.P. Morgan analyst Michael Rehaut said he sees the housing market stabilizing and improving modestly next year, coming off a 2010 that has seen home sales weaken in the months following the end of federal homebuyer tax credits in April.

Rehaut notes that, while demand for homes remains highly depressed, new home construction and home sales have largely stabilized over the past four months.

"We see this recent stability as critical in terms of our outlook for only modest downside for home prices, in contrast to 2006-2008, when consistently falling demand trends played a key role in declining home prices," Rehaut wrote.

The analyst anticipates home prices will trend from flat to down about 3 percent next year -- a view that he notes is more positive than other forecasts, some of which see home prices falling another 5 percent to 10 percent in 2011.

As a result of more stable price trends, builders should see minimal land-related charges and a modest increase in profit margins, the analyst said.

He also expects more builders to generate operating earnings per share next year.

Employees at the Oscar Mayer meat processing plant in Davenport, Iowa have filed a class action lawsuit seeking compensation for time they spend putting on and taking off their safety equipment.

The lawsuit claims employees are not paid while they don and doff uniforms, safety footwear, hairnets, glasses and other equipment before and after their shifts in violation of the law.

Four current employees are the plaintiffs in the case. Their attorneys are seeking to represent a class of 1,750 employees at the plant, which processes pork, beef and poultry.

The lawsuit names Oscar Mayer's parent company, Northfield, Ill.-based Kraft Foods Inc.

Kraft spokeswoman Rachel Larsen says the company believes it is in full compliance with state and federal law.

A federal judge has ruled that a class-action lawsuit can be filed against Florida over the sale of personal driver's license information to a private firm.

The lawsuit claims the state, specifically the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, improperly sold about 30 million personal records between 2005 and 2009 to Shadowsoft Inc., an Irving, Texas-based Internet marketer.

Shadowsoft then sold the information to other firms that target consumers.

An attorney representing the drivers told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel that the sales violate a federal statute banning the disclosure of personal information from driver's licenses.

Howard Bushman says addresses, dates of birth and possibly Social Security numbers were released.

The judge in Tallahassee ruled earlier this month that affected drivers can become members of the suit.

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The Securities Law Firm of Menzer & Hill, P.A., www.suemyadvisor.com, announced today it filed an arbitration claim against NEXT Financial Group (“NEXT”), for its failure to supervise one of its financial advisors who engaged in unauthorized and excessive trading within an investor’s account.

Consistent with the arbitration claim this Firm just filed, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s (“FINRA”) BrokerCheck website, on November 10, 2010, states that NEXT “did not have a reasonable system for reviewing the transactions of its registered representatives for excessive trading.”

Gary Menzer, co-founder and managing partner of Menzer & Hill, P.A., says “the $400K fine and regulatory action FINRA assessed against NEXT is not surprising considering the activity we uncovered in the account of one of our clients and customer of NEXT.”  Investors are encouraged to contact Menzer & Hill, P.A. if they believe their accounts are being excessively traded by their brokers or are subject to other abuses.

The attorneys at the Securities Law Firm of Menzer & Hill, P.A. are dedicated to pursuing claims on behalf of investors who have suffered investment losses. 

For a free case evaluation or to discuss this matter, please contact the Securities Law Firm of Menzer & Hill, P.A., at 888-923-9223, or visit us on the web at www.suemyadvisor.com

The Securities Law Firm of Klayman & Toskes ("K&T"), www.nasd-law.com, announced today that it filed a securities arbitration claim against Securities America on behalf of a 69 year old retiree from Arizona, seeking to recover $230,000 which was invested in Medical Capital Notes.

In August of this year, Montana's Commissioner of Securities filed a Notice of Proposed Agency Disciplinary Action against Securities America relating to its sales of Medical Capital Notes. According to the Notice, Securities America "withheld material information regarding heightened risks" from its registered representatives and their clients concerning Medical Capital Notes. Montana's Commissioner of Securities also alleged that Securities America "concealed these risks" from its brokers and their clients. Additionally, in 2009, Massachusetts' Securities Division filed a Complaint against Securities America relating to its sales of Medical Capital Notes. Massachusetts alleged that Securities America ignored their own due diligence analysts and sold Medical Capital Notes to unsophisticated investors without telling them about the risks involved.

While a class action lawsuit regarding Medical Capital Notes has been filed, K&T reminds investors of the benefits of filing an individual securities arbitration claim, as opposed to participating in a class action lawsuit. By participating in a class action lawsuit, an investor may only recover a nominal amount. However, if one has experienced significant losses in Medical Capital Notes, it may be more beneficial for them to file an individual securities arbitration claim. In 2003, K&T conducted a detailed study of securities arbitration versus class action. The study concluded that investors who file a securities arbitration claim traditionally obtain an overall higher rate of recovery as opposed to participating in a class action lawsuit. To view the full results of the comparison, please visit our web-site: http://www.nasd-law.com/documents/classvr.pdf

Investors who purchased Medical Capital securities from a full-service brokerage firm and sustained significant losses can contact K&T to explore their legal rights and options. The attorneys at K&T are dedicated to pursuing claims on behalf of investors who have suffered investment losses. K&T, an experienced, qualified and nationally recognized securities litigation law firm, practices exclusively in the field of securities arbitration and litigation. It continues its representation of investors throughout the world in securities arbitration and litigation matters against major Wall Street brokerage firms.

If you have information relating to this announcement or have investment losses of $100,000 or more in Medical Capital Notes, please contact Steven D. Toskes, Esquire or Jahan K. Manasseh, Esquire of Klayman & Toskes, P.A., at 888-997-9956 or visit us on the web at http://www.nasd-law.com.

The fate of the largest job bias lawsuit in the nation's history — a claim that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. shortchanged women in pay and promotions for many years — hinges on whether the Supreme Court will let the class-action case go to trial.

The court is likely to announce as soon as Monday whether it will hear the retail giant's appeal asserting that a single lawsuit cannot speak for more than 1.5 million employees.

Business lawyers and civil rights advocates are closely following the Wal-Mart case for its implications for class-action litigation.
"This may sound like just a technical, procedural issue, but because of the economics of it, class-action certification is often the most important issue to be decided," said Washington lawyer Roy T. Englert Jr.

If the high court permits the Wal-Mart case to proceed as a class action, it will put enormous pressure on the retailer to settle, he said. The plaintiffs have not specified the damages they would seek, but given the size of the class, it could mount into billions of dollars.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and several large corporations have joined with Wal-Mart, the nation's largest employer, in urging the high court to hear the appeal and to restrict the use of class-action claims.

They argue that it is unfair to permit plaintiffs' lawyers to lump together many thousands of employees from stores spread across the country and to rely on statistics to prove illegal discrimination.

Several Union City residents have filed a class action lawsuit against United Water on allegations that the company cheated customers by selling them useless warranties that do not cover repairs.

The warranties, which cost about $150 a year, are supposed to cover the repair of broken water pipes, sewer pipes and other items, the attorneys for three 18th Street plaintiffs, said. Although the application says "Guaranteed Acceptance" in large print, there are actually many exclusions, the attorneys said.

Multi-unit dwellings are actually excluded from the warranty, but that has not stopped United Water from marketing and selling the policies to the owners of multi-unit buildings, the lawsuit says.

The suit was recently filed in Bergen County Superior Court in Hackensack, where United Water is based.

Attorneys Carl Mayer and Bruce Afran held a press conference Tuesday at the courthouse. Afran estimated that if all New Jersey residents in a situation similar to the plaintiffs were to join the suit, and the suit was successful, it could cost United Water as much as $50 million.