Story Stocks: Ford Motor (NYSE: F), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD)

Ford Motor (NYSE: F) said it will invest 4 billion reais ($2.3 billion) to expand in the growing Brazilian market, the largest capital committment it has made in the country. The five-year plan includes boosting the capacity of the Camacari factory that makes the Fiesta small car and modernizing the Troller plant that builds utility vehicles. The Dearborn, Michigan based company also will invest in new models for Brazil. The auto industry in Brazil, South America’s largest economy, is headed for record sales this year, the country’s automakers association stated last month. Ford ranks fourth in Brazil, behind Fiat SpA, Volkswagen AG and General Motors Co. -Bloomberg

During the November dip that Computerworld declared Windows 7 a "home run" after examining the early beta release of the operating system. This is the harbinger of the tech run-up. Now it’s said that Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) already has sold more than 40 million copies of the new OS, released last month. –MarketWatch

Oil slipped nearly 1 percent to below $77 today as a stronger dollar weighed on prices and falling equities raised concern about the economy and the outlook for energy demand. U.S. crude for December delivery dropped 54 cents to $76.92 per barrel by 1:53 EST (1853 GMT), ahead of its expiration later in the session. U.S. crude for January delivery was down 36 cents at $77.69. London Brent crude slipped 24 cents to $77.40. "Oil is clearly still tied to broader financial markets and seeing losses due to a stronger dollar and a drop in stock prices," said Gene McGillian, analyst at Tradition Energy. -Reuters

Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) the world’s second-largest maker of personal computer processors, plans to sell debt as borrowing costs for high-yield, high-risk bonds fell yesterday to the lowest in almost two years. AMD plans to sell $500 million of eight-year notes to fund the purchase of as much as $1 billion of its 5.75 percent convertible senior notes, the Sunnyvale, California-based company said yesterday in a statement distributed by Business Wire. Junk-bond yields fell 1.3 basis points yesterday to 9.798 percent, the lowest since Jan. 3, 2008, according to Merrill Lynch & Co.’s High Yield Master II index. The technology company is offering bonds amid an extended period of low interest rates and a leveraged-loan market on the sidelines, as junk-rated borrowers globally may sell a record $210 billion of bonds in 2010. The Federal Reserve has kept its target overnight lending rate at zero to 0.25 percent since December. -Bloomberg