Credit Card Lowdown has created a list of The 100 Most Influential Personal Finance Bloggers and I’m pleased to say Stock Market Beat made the cut.

# Stock Market Beat: This blog’s tagline reads, “Our beat: The stock market. Our job: Beat it.” Stock Market Beat offers expert insight into the stock market and economy in general so that you can beat the stock market, too.

I appreciate the mention and the time CCL took to compile the list. I also appreciate the notice from InstantBull.com, which has compiled rankings of top investment bloggers from both Technorati (Stock Market Beat is 13th) and Alexa (18th).

The Conference Board said its index of U.S. consumer confidence rose more sharply than expected in September to 104.5, up from an upwardly-revised 100.2 in August, as energy costs fell and job prospects improved slightly. This throws a modest kink into the consumer slowdown thesis, so we took a look around to see what other anecdotal evidence might be indicating. In short, it seems like buyouts are the buzzword rather than any overall economic outlook.
TheStreet.com thinks hedgies may be looking to talk Watch List member Guitar Center (GTRC) into going private.

It’s pretty clear to me what Sageview wants management to do: Don’t go into too much debt trying to double or even quadruple the number of stores; rather, take on debt to reduce shares, cut costs and perhaps even go private.

Why go private now? The company has a $1.5 billion enterprise value and cash flow of $180 million, so it trades at a multiple of eight over cash flows and is experiencing growth, albeit not double-digit. In other words, it could take on a lot more debt and comfortably pay it down. This is perfect for an LBO firm looking to help management take it private, even at a premium of up to $50-$55 per share.

Makes sense to us.

Why can’t Valassis (VCI) and Advo (AD) just get along?

Sounds like Liberation Investments wants to “liberate” Multimedia Games (MGAM).

H&R Block shares plunge on loss provision (we warned you about those provision accruals!)

Consumers continued to spend at a stronger-than-expected pace in August as lower gasoline prices helped spur spending in other areas, pushing up retail sales by an unexpected 0.2 percent, a government report showed. Of course, Barry Ritholtz says we should read the fine print. Those strong home theater sales at Best Buy are spurred by 36-month zero-interest financing. But if you hit month 37, watch out! 24% interest – back-dated to the time of purchase!

It was a heady day for us today, resulting in the most visits of our short history.

First, over the weekend Barron’s highligted the good work of 24/7 Wall Street, to which we are frequent contributors.

Then, 24/7 Wall Street included us in their list of the 20 top financial blogs.

Finally, Charles Kirk of The Kirk Report, linked to the 24/7 post.

We are honored by all three of the mentions, which come from some of the best in the business.

Microsoft Monitor digs the DELL store.

Nokia unveils five new handsets.

SanDisk raises flash prices? In the chip world, price hikes are definitely out of the ordinary and should be a good sign.

In fact, this is more like it. LCD panels selling below cost.

I may be the only person in the world who is a long-term owner of both LGF and SBUX.

DigiTimes notes that Acer and Vodafone will partner to offer notebook computers with integrated 3G wireless technology in Europe. This move is similar to recent US deals between major carriers and notebook manufacturers. The recent proliferation of such deals highlights two important considerations for investors in wireless carriers. First, the availability of high-speed data access is now sufficient to merit manufacturing integrated notebooks. Second, 3G data plans are quite lucrative, typically $60 per month in the US in addition to voice charges.

InfoWorld reports that T-Mobile will begin offering a converged wi-fi/cellular service that allows users to switch between networks on the fly, always getting the fastest available speed.

Because of the advances discussed in the stories above, the Columbus Dispatch brings a story about businesses shifting to laptops, allowing mobile workers to take their workstation with them.

Fuel Cell Today has a story on the possibility that fuel cells offering up to nine hours of battery life will be available next year.

Digit highlights Samsung’s demonstration at Cebit of a 32GB flash drive that would make your laptop run faster, quieter and more shock-resistant. One small problem – about a $900 price premium versus a similar size hard drive.

Random Roger reviews TheFlyOnTheWall news service.

Here is something every trader wants to have: a 24-display workstation (via engadget.)

The Christian Science Monitor, Mark Thoma at Economist’s View, William J. Polley, Barry Ritholz at The Big Picture and The Angry Bear offer their takes on the employment data.

Economist’s View also notes that Greg Mankiw suggests unemployed workers relocate to where jobs are more plentiful. Consumerism Commentary notes an article on employed workers relocating to where expenses are less plentiful. Of course, relocating for financial reasons is nothing new. I’m thinking of The Grapes of Wrath and, oh, the founding of America.

Tom Evslin of Fractals of Change reviews John Batelle’s The Search, a biography of Google.

Eine Kleine Marktmusik – Collision Detection uncovers the market’s melody

Analysts say Google should issue guidance – ’cause analysts aren’t paid enough, apparently, to come up with their own estimates.

I guess the previous comment puts us in this camp.