Best stocks to buy 2012|Top stocks To Buy

Cramer’s MAD MONEY Recap From Last Night

2012-01-26T10:59:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday night’s MAD MONEY on CNBC , Jim Cramer added two morefavorite stocks to his favorite stocks, and he keyed in on #5 and #3. Monday he said he was doing only 4 picks this week, but he changedand said it would be 5 picks this week.
His #3 best pick out of foreign stocks is Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS) in Canada, he calls it a cheap way to play Latin and Caribbean growth. His #4 pick in foreign stocks from Monday was CVRD (RIO); here is the logic behind his pick last night; his pick closed up 7% at $32.81 today after he touted it. His #5 pick was NTL Inc. (NTLI-NASDAQ) as a catch-up play and tied it to Virgin. Here was his logic on the rest; NTLI traded up 4% after he commented on it.
Cramer said that the IPO today AeroVironment (AVAV) was a sell at $25.00. He thinks you can buy it back at $22.00 or so. This was one we noted that seemed to high when it gapped up to $25.00 at the open, but rationale and valuations aren’t what rule IPO’s.
Cramer discussed the Tyco International (TYC) split-upcoming soon, and he thinks it could be worth 10% to 30% more in the break-up.
Cramer also called the CEO of VF Corp (VFC) after the drop today and Cramer defended the stock by saying the reaction was wrong on Wall Street.
Jon C. Ogg
January 23, 2007

Saudi prince purchases $300 million stake in Twitter

2012-01-23T08:49:00.000-08:00

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal said Monday that he and his investment firm, Kingdom Holding Company, are purchasing a $300 million stake in Twitter.
The billionaire prince said the investment was made after "several months of negotiations" and would represent "a strategic stake" in the microblogging service.
"We believe that social media will fundamentally change the media industry landscape in the coming years. Twitter will capture and monetize this positive trend," KHC executive director of private equity and international investments Ahmed Halawani said in a press release.
The prince's Twitter shares were bought on the secondary market, according to Fortune reporter Dan Primack -- which means that Twitter didn't directly recieve any of the cash.
While it's unclear how much control Alwaleed's investment will provide, the prince's investment firm looks to become long-term investors in its portfolio investments and "seeks to work closely with the management of those companies and participate in strategic decisions," according to its site.
With a reported net worth of $21.3 billion, Prince Alwaleed has topped Arabian Business's Arab Rich list for eight consecutive years.
Alwaleed's investment firm, KHC, owns a 7% stake in News Corporation (NWS) along with a host of high-profile investments, including a 29.9% stake in Saudi Research and Marketing Group. KHC's other investments include CNNMoney parent company Time Warner (TWX, Fortune 500), Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) and Citigroup (C, Fortune 500). Alwaleed also has plans to launch a privately owned news channel.
The Saudi prince invested in Citigroup in the early 1990s, when the financial services giant was reeling from a capital crunch. Since then, the billionaire has invested in a host of technology and media companies.
A significant stakeholder in News Corp., Alwaleed defended Rubert Murdoch and the company's future this year am! id accus ations that the paper had hacked into the voice mail accounts of thousands of people.
"I interact with News Corp and I see a lot of depth at the management level, and at all levels," he told CNN's Piers Morgan in July.

What's really behind Twitter's staff exodus

The Saudi prince is the latest power player to bet that fast-growing Twitter will transform itself into a profitable business.
In August, the five-year-old social media company raised a "significant" funding round led by venture firm DST Global. The company amended its certificate of incorporation forms to authorize the issuance of up to 25 million new shares, priced at just over $16 per share. That would let the company raise around $400 million in new funding. Multiple reports pegged the company's valuation at $8 billion after the funding round.
With nearly 800 employees -- and around 100 hired in the last month -- Twitter is undergoing a transformation. After management shakeups and an exodus of early employees, the company is bolstering its engineering team and focusing on expanding its reach.
Twitter, along with Facebook, is being closely watched for signs that it may look to file for an initial public offering.
Several social media firms have gone public this year, including LinkedIn (LNKD) and Groupon (GRPN) -- but both stocks cooled after their first day of trading. And last Friday, shares of social gaming company Zynga (ZNGA) fell on their first day.

The Seismic Shift from Value to Growth

2012-01-23T04:23:00.000-08:00

While Wall Street is focused on the Federal Reserve and all the talking heads are debating Ben Bernanke’s next move, I have to let you in on a secret—that’s not where the real action is. No, the really big development on Wall Street is the dramatic shift out of value stocks and into growth stocks.
Write this down because it’s going to be the leading market theme for the next several months. Institutional investors have been quietly dumping value stocks and are slowly picking up shares in many major growth stocks. Not only is this a big move, but it’s happening right under the noses of individual investors. Already this year, the Russell 1000 Growth Index is up 12.35%, which is twice as much as the Russell 1000 Value Index—and the gap is about to get much wider.

My money management firm just completed a thorough analysis of the growth and value sectors, and we still see enormous opportunities in growth stocks. Here’s what my analysts and I found: The ratio of the Russell 1000 Growth Index to the Russell 100 Value Index is at its lowest point in nearly 30 years. This tells us that despite growth’s rally this year, it’s still significantly lagged the market this cycle.
Not all growth stocks are created equal. It’s a big mistake for you to put all of your eggs in one growth basket. Our research has found that large-cap stocks are outperforming all other size sectors of the market. The market-cap phenomenon has been very dramatic through the first eight months of this year
My research team and I ranked every stock by market cap, and we then examined its one-month return. We found that the largest stocks have significantly outperformed smaller stocks on a year-to-date basis.
What’s causing this to happen? Well, for one, it’s very likely that the weak dollar combined with a strong institutional bias toward mega-caps and multinationals is accelerating t! his tren d.
We also looked at each stock’s price/earnings ratio compared with its projected earnings growth rate. This is also known as the PEG ratio. We did this for the entire universe of stocks. We then divided the market into ten groups ranked by market size. We found that the stocks in the largest market cap group had the lowest PEG ratio (meaning these are the best values). So even though large-cap stocks have had a good run, they still appear cheap relative to all other market cap ranges.
I’ll give you a great example of a large-cap growth stock that’s benefiting from the current market, especially the weak dollar. That stock is Monsanto (MON). The St. Louis-based company is one of the world’s leading multinational agriculture biotech stocks, and Monsanto loves the weaker dollar. As you might imagine, the company’s business is booming. By my estimate, earnings-per-share will be up about 50% this year.
The good news is that I don’t see Monsanto slowing down anytime soon. In fact, yesterday Monsanto predicted that it could triple the amount of farming acres planted worldwide with its genetically engineered seeds. Think about that!
According to the Biotechnology Industry Organization, biotech crop acreage increased 13% between 2005 and 2006. href="http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8RTHQK04.htm" target="_blank">Business Week notes:

Begemann said Brazil will be a hot spot for sales growth after Monsanto’s purchase of the Agroeste seed company. The acquisition boosts Monsanto’s market share in Brazil to 40 percent. That will give Monsanto the outlets it needs to introduce new strains of crops like YieldGard Corn Borer, he said.
Monsanto has increasingly invested in “advanced breeding” techniques to develop new crops without genetic engineering. Instead, the company uses gene markers and advanced computers to rapidly breed plants with desirable traits.
Subscribers to my Blue Chip Growth service have nearly tripled their money in Monsanto. Don’t think you arrived too late to the party. I currently rate Monsanto a strong buy for conservative investors up to $79 a share.
Another large-cap growth stock I favor in Blue Chip Growth is McDonald’s (MCD). This one may come as a shock to you because McDonald’s business hasn’t been very strong in the United States, but that’s not where the growth is coming. Instead, McDonald’s is incredibly popular overseas. Just like Monsanto, McDonald’s thrives in a weak-dollar environment.
McDonald’s also has another company in its sights—Starbucks. Believe it or not, some folks like the taste of McDonald’s coffee better than Starbucks’! For the past few weeks, analysts have been revising MCD’s earnings estimate higher. The consensus now sees earnings coming in at $3.05 a share. Personally, I think that might be too low since the weak dollar gives such a boost to shares of MCD. I rate McDonald’s a strong buy up to $59 a share.
My advice is to take full advantage of the market’s shift to growth stocks. This will be a major theme in 2008.
Next week is the first week of the fourth quarter. Soon the market will get a chance to digest third-quarter earnings reports. We’ll also get some initial guidance on how well the fourth quarter is shaping up. Until then, take advantage of Wall Street’s seismic shift to growth stocks.
2007 has been a fantastic year for href="/order/?pc=8UX113" target="_blank">Blue Chip Growth subscribers – look at a few of the gains we’ve locked in this year: Brookfield Asset +147%; Nucor Corp +37%; BG Group +114%; Suncor Energy +195%; Celgene +39%; PetroChina +42%; Cameco +118%; Transocean +56%. Plus, we have many more winners just like Monsanto (triplers and doublers) still on our list. Want the names of more winning s! tocks? T ry Blue Chip Growth risk free for 6 months!
2007 has been a fantastic year for Blue Chip Growth subscribers – look at a few of the gains we’ve locked in this year: Brookfield Asset +147%; Nucor Corp +37%; BG Group +114%; Suncor Energy +195%; Celgene +39%; PetroChina +42%; Cameco +118%; Transocean +56%. Plus, we have many more winners just like Monsanto (triplers and doublers) still on our list. Want the names of more winning stocks? Try Blue Chip Growth risk free for 6 months!
And don’t miss Navellier’s new book, The Little Book That Makes You Rich. It’s a steal for less than $20!

AGL Resources Inc recently showed an Exceptional Trade - NYSE:AGL

2012-01-21T15:47:00.000-08:00

AGL Resources Inc (NYSE:AGL) witnessed volume of 22.91 million shares during last trade however it holds an average trading capacity of 637,924 shares. AGL last trade opened at $39.38 reached intraday low of $38.40 and went +0.96% up to close at $39.76.
AGL has a market capitalization $3.12 billion and an enterprise value at $5.65 billion. Trailing twelve months price to sales ratio of the stock was 1.40 while price to book ratio in most recent quarter was 1.66. In profitability ratios, net profit margin in past twelve months appeared at 9.17% whereas operating profit margin for the same period at 20.74%.
The company made a return on asset of 4.00% in past twelve months and return on equity of 11.85% for similar period. In the period of trailing 12 months it generated revenue amounted to $2.21 billion gaining $28.43 revenue per share. Its year over year, quarterly growth of revenue was -14.70%.
According to preceding quarter balance sheet results, the company had $165.00 million cash in hand making cash per share at 2.10. The total of $2.70 billion debt was there putting a total debt to equity ratio 143.75. Moreover its current ratio according to same quarter results was 1.58 and book value per share was 23.68.
Looking at the trading information, the stock price history displayed that its S&P500 52 Week Change illustrated -0.41% where the stock current price exhibited down beat from its 50 day moving average price of $40.84 and remained below from its 200 Day Moving Average price of $40.39.
AGL holds 78.55 million outstanding shares with 78.15 million floating shares where insider possessed 0.58% and institutions kept 62.80%.

Market Dives Lower; Dow Drops More Than 200 Points

2012-01-20T10:23:00.000-08:00

The stock market slid steadily throughout the morning, and had dropped more than 200 points by the early afternoon, as investors digested a dire warning from Moody’s about European sovereign debt, and the financial and energy sectors registered large losses.
Moody’s appeared unconvinced that Europe could solve its debt problems, and said it will reevaluate ratings at the beginning of next year. European indexes ended the day sharply lower, with the German DAX down 3.4%.
In the U.S., financial, energy and materials stocks were taking a large hit in afternoon trading. The Dow was recently down 238 points, or about 2%. Bank of America (BAC) fell 5%. Coal and oil service stocks tumbled, with Alpha Natural Resources (ANR) falling 12% and Halliburton (HAL) falling 6%.

(ABH, GBLHF, NVE, MS) Noticeable Stock by DrStockPick.com

2012-01-18T11:13:00.000-08:00

AbitibiBowater Inc. (NYSE:ABH) plans to issue its third quarter financial results on October 31, 2011, in a press release to be issued at approximately 8:00 a.m. (ET). The Company will then hold a conference call to discuss those results at 9:00 a.m. (ET). The public is invited to join the call at 866 696-5910 (pass code 1038311) at least fifteen minutes before its scheduled start time.
AbitibiBowater Inc., a forest products company, manufactures and sells newsprint, coated mechanical and specialty papers, market pulp, and wood products.
Global Hunter (GBLHF.PK)
Copper was the first mineral that man extracted from the earth and as the ages and technology progressed the uses for copper increased. Copper has been in use at least 10,000 years, but more than 95% of all copper ever mined and smelted has been extracted since 1900.
Copper is an excellent conductor of electricity, as such one of its main industrial usage is for the production of cable, wire and electrical products for both the electrical and building industries.
Global Hunter’s focus is on strategic and base metals, with an advanced stage copper oxide project in Chile and a highly prospective molybdenum property in British Columbia, Canada. GBLHF teams are working on developing the Corona de Cobre property in Chile and the Rabbit south property in British Columbia.
Global Hunter Corp. (GBLHF.PK) is pleased to announce initial assay results from its previously announced surface sampling program. The results are encouraging with new gold showings as well as very positive copper oxide assays over wide-spread areas.
Highlights of the entire program
9 mineralized shear and/or alteration zones sampled total of 13.5 kilometers of strike ! length a long know copper bearing shear and alteration zones tested with 205 rock chip samples
Good grades of soluble copper (oxide) over a significantly large area have been identified, however they represent only about 50% of the total copper grade indicating a mixed oxide-sulphide zone. Numerous iron oxide structures have also been mapped but no iron assays have been received to date.
The Company is planning to re-assay samples for iron to determine if iron is present in significant quantities to represent another target.
For more information http://www.globalhunter.ca/homeabout.html
NV Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NVE) announced that it will redeem all of its outstanding 6 3/4% Senior Notes due 2017 (the “6 3/4% Notes”), totaling $191,500,000 in principal amount, on November 7, 2011 (the “Redemption Date”). Upon such redemption, there will not be any 6 3/4% Notes outstanding. The 6 3/4% Notes will be redeemed at a redemption price of 102.250% of the principal amount (the “Redemption Price”), plus accrued and unpaid interest up to but not including November 7, 2011.
NV Energy, Inc., through its subsidiaries, generates, transmits, and distributes electric energy in Nevada.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) plans to announce its third quarter 2011 financial results on Wednesday, October 19, 2011 at approximately 7:15 a.m. (ET). A conference call to discuss the results will be held on Wednesday, October 19, 2011 at 10:00 a.m. (ET).
Morgan Stanley, a financial holding company, provides various financial products and services to corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals worldwide. It operates in three segments: Institutional Securities, Global Wealth Management Group, and Asset Management.

Cramer’s Sell Block on Legg Mason Redemptions (LM, AIG, CFC, COF, EK, GOOG, UNH, S)

2012-01-17T05:26:00.000-08:00

On CNBC’s MAD MONEY tonight, Jim Cramer did his SELL BLOCK where he makes calls for selling winners or losers. Tonight he focused on legendary portfolio manager Bill Miller of Legg Mason (NYSE: LM). Miller had outperformed for many years but 2007 was another year of underperformance after an underperforming 2006. With mutual fund redemptions rising (investors withdrawing cash from stock funds) Cramer believes that this will hit Legg Mason (NYSE: LM) fairly hard and he thinks that is resembling a sell here.
Legg Mason shares closed up almost 2% today at $73.43, but the 52-week trading range is $68.35 to $110.17. More importantly, Cramer gave some of Legg Mason’s top holdings that could get hit hard if the redemptions come flying in:

Out of the financial sector, Cramer thinks that AIG (AIG), Capital One (COF) and Countrywide (CFC) are all large holdings of Miller and they could see added liquidations from Legg Mason.
Eastman Kodak (EK) is also vulnerable to Miller selling to meet redemptions as it is 19% held by Legg Mason, although it sounded like Cramer was positive if it pulled back too much.
Google (GOOG) could also see some selling as Legg Mason holds a 1.5% stake there, although we all know Cramer would like to assign a $1000 target on GOOG.
UnitedHealth (UNH) is one that Cramer also noted because Legg Mason is the largest holder with more than a 7% stake. Cramer has been positive on this one lately.
Lastly was Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S) with Legg Mason holding a 5.3% stake there, although he said it has gotten oversold and cheap enough that he is inclined to buy hat stock now with a manager that still might be able to acquire it.

Backward & Forward, Cramer In 2007 To 2008 is a full list of our top Cramer summaries with his 2007 calls that are pertinent or due for updates in 2008.
Jon C. Ogg
January 3, 2008

Cablevision’s Latest Effort To Reinvent Itself

2012-01-15T15:47:00.000-08:00

Before we get too carried away by the decision out of Cablevision (CVC)to spin off its sports properties – and, judging by Thursday’s 8% bulge inthe stock, it may well be too lateto rein in the animal spirits – let’s remember one thing: this is the Dolan-controlled media and sports empire we’re talking about here.
And with the Dolans, it’s all about execution. Something the Dolans haven’t demonstrated much apptitude for.
On the face of it, there’s a lot to like about the plan to off-load the Madison Square Garden properties, which would include theNew York sports venue euphemistically called – most often by Cablevision employees, it should be noted – the world’s most famous arena, as well as its associated cable sports networks and the Knicks and Rangers, the company’s professional basketball and hockey teams, respectively.
The spinoff would allow analysts and investors to analyze the value of the cable operations, without the muddle that the unprofitable sports operations have represented. The move would let the public market value the sports franchises as stand-alone operations, thus allowing investors to focus on things like asset value. The price of sports franchises has risen sharply, based on several of the recent transactions, and, as a free-standing company, investors could determine how much a professional sports team would be worth in a sale. Though Cablevision management said it didn’t plan to sell any of its sports assets.
Perhaps most importantly, the spin-off would prevent Cablevision from using the proceeds of its cable business to fund its sports business. Some investors – especially the ones who regard the sports businesses critically, seeing them as trophy assets for wealthy owners, but in this case using shareholder capital as the funding source – have been calling for this kind of breakup for some time.
The new MSG company would be an interesting ! experime nt in capitalistic engineering, as it would be one of the rare pure-plays on a sports business. Over the years, a handful of sports franchises, including the Cleveland Indians baseball team and the Florida Panthers hockey franchise, have listed and traded. But as they didn’t stay in the public domain very long, it’s difficult to determine whether the efforts proved successful or not.
Still, the lingering question – and the one that argues against the bullish response to Thursday’s announcement – surrounds the Dolans and their ability to execute on the plans. Their track record suggested this might be problematic.
Remember, the Dolans tried – three times – to take Cablevision private, but got rejected by shareholders in each initiative. The company also launched a money-losing satellite service, called Voom, whose disposition was so rancorous that it pitted family patriarch Charles Dolan, who wanted to keep the service going, against his son James, the CEO of Cablevision who wanted to shutter the service. Ultimately, James Dolan prevailed.
The Dolan’s track record certainly doesn’t improve when it comes to their stewardship of its sports franchises. The Knicks haven’t been to the playoffs since the 2000-2001 season. Even the Los Angeles Clippers – generally regarded as the worst-managed franchise in the NBA – have appeared in the playoffs more recently.

Health spa Filtration systems: All you need to Understand

2012-01-15T02:45:00.000-08:00

Spa filter systems are probably the most critical areas of your spa, whilst they are usually forgotten about. It is vital to change your filtration system regularly, due to the fact it is exactly what retains bacteria, dirt, insects, and many types of other forms regarding nasty things from your spa. The actual spa moves around every one of the water through the filtration system for you to snare these substances. The frequency of which you modify your current filtration system depends on the kind of filtration system you employ, yet normally you must put it back each year or even 2 spa filter. Below are these kinds of filter systems you can buy, it is important to seek advice from producer in regards to what form of filtration system they will suggest you need to use using your particular spa.
The most typical form of spa filtration system may be the fine sand filtration system. As the title suggests, such a filtration system runs on the specific form of fine sand (and also pea gravel) to remove ruin particles from a water. A possible problem which has a fine sand filtration system is that it won’t remove almost all particles by itself spa filter. To assist, you need to increase a thing for the water to cause the littlest particles for you to clump together in to larger particles, thereby enabling your filtration system to remove these people. It’s also advisable to remember that your fine sand in the filtration system needs to be refilled each and every number of years of regular employ. These kinds of filter systems should be backwashed being washed.
The second form of spa filtration system may be the cartridge filtration system. The actual cartridge filtration system runs on the folded rayon capable or even cardstock materials for you to snare your particles within the water. The more capable that is used as well as the far more folds up utilized, the greater carefully such a filtration system wipes the river. It is possible to obtain cartridge filter systems from p! roducer of the spa, or perhaps you can get filter systems produced by others, typically in a low price.
The 3rd form of spa filtration system may be the Diatomaceous Planet filtration system spa filter. This kind utilizes capable AND Diatomaceous Planet (DE) particles (which is simply beginning fossils). This particular filtration system works much the same way because others, holding ruin in the capable and also DE. Many places have laws and regulations overseeing removing DE, and that means you have to take that will under consideration. The actual DE filtration system should be backwashed being washed, and then a fresh coating regarding DE should be used on the idea.
To ensure the river in your spa is correctly filtered, you must work the idea Each day for at least 1 hour. That way, even if you aren’t while using the spa, the river are still being carefully washed.
Ultimately, to enhance the life of the filtration system, factors to consider that people while using the spa are usually relatively thoroughly clean prior to getting throughout. The more substances you spent, the harder your filtration system should function, as a result shorter form it’s life expectancy. These kinds of substances can include hairspray, perspire, mouthwash, hair, agents, dirt, as well as dead skin cells. Actually, folks are the key supply of spa substances. Persist that people going to make use of the spa bathtub ahead of time. This might lead to a sizable savings in spa filtration system upkeep and also substitute.

News Corporation YTD Remained Green - NASDAQ:NWSA

2012-01-12T00:15:00.000-08:00

News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) recently hit 52 week peak price $17.05, opened at $16.25 scored +6.03% closed $19.96. NWSA traded on over 29.20 million shares in comparison to average volume of 14.93 million shares.
NWSA has earnings of $2.74 billion and made $33.01 billion sales for the last 12 months. Its quarter to quarter sales remained 3.15%. The company has 2.62 billion of outstanding shares and 2.24 billion shares were floated in the market.
NWSA has an insider ownership at 0.09% and institutional ownership remained 84.28%. Its return on investment (ROI) for the last 12 month was 6.37% as compare to its return on equity (ROE) of 10.84% for the last 12 months.
The price moved ahead +13.50% from the mean of 20 days, +16.15% from 50 and went up +22.55% from 200 days average price. Company��s performance for the week was +8.79%, +13.14% for month and yearly performance remained 31.07%.
Its price volatility for a month remained 2.95% whereas volatility for a week noted as 3.88% having beta of 1.48. Company��s price to sales ratio for last 12 months was 1.35 while its price to book ratio for the most recent quarter was 1.68 and its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) remained 5.71 billion for the past twelve months.

Get An Even Better Deal On AFSI Than Director Decarlo Did

2012-01-10T09:22:00.000-08:00

There’s an old saying on Wall Street about insider buying: there are many possible reasons to sell a stock, but only one reason to buy. Back on December 22, AmTrust Financial Services Inc’s Director, Donald T. Decarlo, invested $23,800.00 into 1,000 shares of AFSI, for a cost per share of $23.80. Bargain hunters tend to pay particular attention to insider buys like this one, because presumably the only reason an insider would take their hard-earned cash and use it to buy stock of their company in the open market, is that they expect to make money.
Click here to find out which 9 other dividend bargains you can buy cheaper than insiders, at DividendChannel.com ?
In trading on Wednesday, bargain hunters could buy shares of AmTrust Financial Services Inc (NASD: AFSI) and achieve a cost basis even cheaper than Decarlo, with shares changing hands as low as $23.79 per share. AmTrust Financial Services Inc shares are currently trading up about 0.1% on the day. The chart below shows the one year performance of AFSI shares, versus its 200 day moving average:

Looking at the chart above, AFSI’s low point in its 52 week range is $17.33 per share, with $27.63 as the 52 week high point �� that compares with a last trade of $23.95. By comparison, below is a table showing the prices at which insider buying was recorded over the last six months:

Purchased	Insider	Title	Shares	Price/Share	Value
12/22/2011	Donald T. Decarlo	Director	1,000	$23.80	$23,800.00

The current annualized dividend paid by AmTrust Financial Services Inc is $0.36/share, currently paid in quarterly installments, and its most recent dividend has an upcoming ex-date of 12/30/2011. Below is a long-term dividend history chart for AFSI, which can be of good help in judging whether the most recent dividend with approx. 1.5% annualized yield is likely to continue.

AFSI operates in the Insurance Brokers sector, among companies like Hanover Insurance Group Inc (NYSE: THG) which is off about 0.2% today, and Harleysville Group, Inc. (NASD: HGIC) trading lower by about 0.4%. Below is a three month price history chart comparing the stock performance of AFSI, versus THG and HGIC.

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1 Reason Cracker Barrel Old Country Store's Earnings Aren't So Hot

2012-01-08T23:58:00.000-08:00

It takes money to make money. Most investors know that, but with business media so focused on the "how much," very few investors bother to ask, "How fast?"
When judging a company's prospects, how quickly it turns cash outflows into cash inflows can be just as important as how much profit it's booking in the accounting fantasy world we call "earnings." This is one of the first metrics I check when I'm hunting for the market's best stocks. Today, we'll see how it applies to Cracker Barrel Old Country Store (Nasdaq: CBRL ) .
Let's break this down
In this series, we measure how swiftly a company turns cash into goods or services and back into cash. We'll use a quick, relatively foolproof tool known as the cash conversion cycle, or CCC for short.
Why does the CCC matter? The less time it takes a firm to convert outgoing cash into incoming cash, the more powerful and flexible its profit engine is. The less money tied up in inventory and accounts receivable, the more available to grow the company, pay investors, or both.
To calculate the cash conversion cycle, add days inventory outstanding to days sales outstanding, then subtract days payable outstanding. Like golf, the lower your score here, the better.
Here's the CCC for Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, alongside the comparable figures from a few competitors and peers.

Company	TTM Revenue	TTM CCC
Cracker Barrel Old Country Store	$2,434	?31
Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG )	$2,155	?(8)
Chees! ecake Fa ctory (Nasdaq: CAKE )	$1,697	?2
Darden Restaurants (NYSE: DRI )	$7,636	?3

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Dollar amounts in millions. Data is current as of last fully reported fiscal quarter. TTM = trailing 12 months.

For younger, fast-growth companies, the CCC can give you valuable insight into the sustainability of that growth. A company that's taking longer to make cash may need to tap financing to keep its momentum. For older, mature companies, the CCC can tell you how well the company is managed. Firms that begin to lose control of the CCC may be losing their clout with their suppliers (who might be demanding stricter payment terms) and customers (who might be demanding more generous terms). This can sometimes be an important signal of future distress -- one most investors are likely to miss.
While I find peer comparisons useful, I'm most interested in comparing a company's CCC to its prior performance. Here's where I believe all investors need to become trend-watchers. Sure, there may be legitimate reasons for an increase in the CCC, but all things being equal, I want to see this number stay steady or move downward over time.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Dollar amounts in millions. FY = fiscal year. TTM = trailing 12 months.

Because of the seasonality in some businesses, the CCC for the TTM period may not be strictly comparable to the fiscal-year periods shown in the chart. Even the steadiest-looking businesses on an annual basis will experience some quarterly fluctuations in the CCC. To get an understanding of the usual ebb and flow at Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, consult the quarterly period chart below.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Dollar amounts in millions. FQ = fiscal quarter.

On a 12-month basis, the trend at Cracker Barrel Old Country Store looks less than great. At 30.6 days, it is 8.8 days worse than the five-year average of 21.8 days. The biggest contributor to that degradation was DIO, which worsened 14.8 days when compared to the five-year average.
Considering the numbers on a quarterly basis, the CCC trend at Cracker Barrel Old Country Store looks OK. At 31.4 days, it is 6.3 days worse than the average of the past eight quarters. Investors will want to keep an eye on this for the future to make sure it doesn't stray too far in the wrong direction. With both 12-month and quarterly CCC running worse than average, Cracker Barrel Old Country Store gets low marks in this cash-conversion checkup.
Though the CCC can take a little work to calculate, it's definitely worth watching every quarter. You'll be better informed about potential problems, and you'll improve your odds of finding the underappreciated home run stocks that provide the market's best returns.
To stay on top of the CCC for your favorite companies, just use the handy links below to add companies to your free watchlist.

Add Cracker Barrel Old Country Store to My Watchlist.
Add Chipotle Mexican Grill to My Watchlist.
Add The Cheesecake Factory to My Watchlist.
Add Darden Restaurants to My Watchlist.

The Gains Of Professional Managed Host Solutions

2012-01-07T11:11:00.000-08:00

In order to run a successful website there are many things that you need to take into account. A comprehensive website is very important for people that have businesses. Sometimes a webmaster may lack the resources they need to maximize the performance of their site. It is easier for you to get managed hosting services for the sake of the site’s performance. Anybody can enjoy these products as long as they have a standard website or dedicated server.

The minute you start using managed dedicated servers your back up issues are taken care of. The product updates the software when necessary and handles all the mechanical problems you experience. This means that you get to run the site at a ninety-nine percent uptime. Attention is provided to your customers round the clock. If any emergency arises there are measures set up to deal with it accordingly.
There are different types of options for dedicated servers. Service providers offer customized features meant to meet their client’s specific needs. Those that deal with e-commerce have diverse needs while information sites are not as demanding.
When a person is applying for the products they discuss their needs with the company. Once their needs have been established the professionals develop a system that they will appreciate. You get a site set up for you, the domain name is registered, the shopping cart options are added to the site and a real time inventory is included.
This is a product that you can get even with limited funds. The industry has been experiencing a lot of competition so the professionals are forced to offer discounts to the public in a bid to up their sales. This move is an advantage to the site owners since they are able to exploit various alternatives. In case a potential company offers high rates move on to an affordable one. You can start by looking at the top ranking companies to see if they have the kind of services that you are looking for.

Always remember that the professionals do not of! fer the same services. Some of the professionals are more productive than their counterparts. Make sure that the person hired for the job is qualified to offer you quality services.

The management degrees on offer are different. Use such information to select the ideal company to work with. It is important for you to choose the right professionals when dealing with a fully automated solution. Servers are not so different from each other but dedicated platforms offer a range of resources.

There are so many alternatives that you can choose from. Each product has its own features so you need to be careful about the selection process. Choose a product that has all the features you need in order to run an effective site.

Come up with a list of potentials during decision making. Explore all the options that are available to you before settling for specific managed hosting services. Once you do this it will give you a chance to hire qualified personnel to handle the project. These products ensure that you save on a lot of resources needed to ensure that your site is functioning at full capacity.

Managed hosting services from Vi.net has plenty of flexibility. When you have managed dedicated servers, protecting data is much more simplified

3 Predictions about 2012 best stocks to buy for This Week

2012-01-05T05:32:00.000-08:00

I went out on a limb last week and came out with mixed results.

I predicted that Red Hat (NYSE: RHT ) would close higher on Tuesday after posting quarterly results on Monday night. The provider of cost-effective enterprise software solutions did have a solid quarter. Revenue climbed 23% and adjusted earnings grew even faster. However, the market wasn't impressed, sending the shares 8% lower. I was wrong.
I predicted that KB Home (NYSE: KBH ) would post a deficit in its latest quarter. Homebuilders aren't very popular after years of crumbling real estate prices, but analysts figured that KB Home would be good for a profit of $0.03 a share. I blew this one, too. KB Home had a surprisingly robust -- and profitable -- quarter.
My final call was for Bed Bath & Beyond (Nasdaq: BBBY ) to beat Wall Street's profit targets, the way that the home-goods retailer has consistently done over the past year. I finally got one right, as the chain's quarterly net income of $0.95 a share bested the $0.88 a share that the pros were expecting.

One out of three? I know I can do better than that.
Let me once again whip out my trusty, dusty, and occasionally accurate crystal ball to make three calls that may play out over the next few trading days.
1. Mead Johnson Nutrition will bounce back
Mead Johnson Nutrition (NYSE: MJN  ) is coming off a dreadful week.
Shares of the baby-formula maker shed 10% of their value on Thursday -- and another 5% on Friday -- after its Enfamil powder was pulled from Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT  ) shelves. A 10-day-old infant died of a bacterial infection and tests are being conducted to see whether the formula caused t! he trage dy.
This is a horrible situation.
Whether Mead Johnson Nutrition's product was the cause of the fatal infection or not, Enfamil is going to have a hard road back to regaining the confidence of parents. Brands do bounce back, though. From burgers to fruit juices to peanut butter, once companies do the right thing, consumers usually come back.
Mead Johnson Nutrition's reputation may not bounce back this week, even if it's actually cleared. However, I think investors will be more forgiving. I see Mead Johnson Nutrition's stock closing out the week higher.
2. The S&P 500 will close in positive territory for all of 2011
This has been a wild year for the market, but -- 51 weeks later -- we're essentially where we started.
The S&P 500 was posting slightly negative year-to-date returns through last Thursday's close, and Friday's strong day pushed the popular index back into positive territory. The S&P 500 is now trading 0.6% higher in 2011, and my prediction here is that it will stay positive.
Does this "Santa Claus rally" have legs? A rare case of legislative compromising and stocks that are genuinely cheaper after a year of earnings gains outpacing capital gains should help close out the year on a good note.
3. Zynga will bounce back this week
It's been a rough week and change of publicly traded life for Zynga (Nasdaq: ZNGA  ) . The social gaming darling behind Words With Friends, FarmVille, and Mafia Wars 2 closed 5% below its IPO price on its first day on the market two Fridays ago. Zynga shares bucked the generally buoyant market to inch lower last week.
I'm not entirely sold on Zynga being worthy of its $7 billion valuation over the long haul, but I think reports of its demise given weakening trends at some of its marquee titles is overblown. Zynga remains a growing company despite critical reports of its corporate culture and! the fad dish nature of social gaming.
I think this week will have more opportunists taking advantage of picking up Zynga for less than the $10 a share that institutional investors were willing to pay two weeks ago than those losing confidence in the company and cashing out.
Zynga may not trade in the double digits right away, but I think this will be a good week for the company to close higher than Friday's final price of $9.39.
Well, that's three predictions right there. Let's see how I fare this week.
If you like to stay on top of what happens next -- and I'm guessing you do because you're reading this article -- how about checking out Motley Fool's top stock for 2012? It's a free report, but only for a limited time, so check it out now.

Bernanke should look for another line of work

2012-01-04T12:20:00.000-08:00

The silent investment story of the year is the collapse of the U.S. dollar against the Swiss franc, Canadian dollar and Swedish krona. The dollar’s decline has been breathtaking, and the fault, as always, lies with the Fed.
Chairman Ben Bernanke assures gullible citizens that he is not “printing the money.” But take a gander at my chart — Adjusted Monetary Base (high-powered money) and Excess Reserves. Parabolic curve comes quickly to mind.
For the Fed chairman to B.S. the citizenry with his “we’re not printing the money” is cause for Mr. Bernanke to look for another line of work. Let me be clear: The Fed’s monetary malfeasance has caused yet another catastrophic bubble.

Governments Distort Economic Stats

My theoretical monetary price for gold is now $11,226 per ounce. At such a price, central bank monetary reserves would be backed one-for-one by gold.
Is this a fair price for gold?
The market decides, as long as central banks are not manipulating gold’s price, which happens from time to time. Central governments worldwide are all about manipulation. China is conducting a campaign of deliberate undervaluation for its currency, and I do not believe official Japanese economic reports. Japan is too much of an export power to be dragging along at home like the government reports (pre tsunami).
Here at home, we torture the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to mask the true rate of price inflation. And I do not think much of the official unemployment rate. It masks the true rate of underemployment.
As for my monetary price of gold, it measures worldwide debasement of fiat money. When the compound growth rate of central bank currency reserves is an astonishing 13.5%, fiat money debasement is in the air — no ifs, ands or buts.

Payday Indicator at Re! cord Low

In order to gauge the investment climate, I use my mini payday indicator, which needs no more room than the back of a postage stamp. I simply average the Dow yield and the yield on 90-day T-bills. A good norm is 4.5%. At 4.5% or above, I am generally OK with the investment climate as long as the economy is gaining momentum and interest rates are stable or declining.
Well, my payday indicator (calculated since I got into the investment industry in the early ’60s) is now at an all-time low of 1.25%. Comfortable I am not.

Goldman vs. Goldman

How about economic momentum?
The government’s massaged GDP report indicates upside momentum. Unless one is in the Bernanke-subsidized banking business or the food and beverage industry, the truth is a little different.
The consumer is tapped out and drowning under a wave of brutish mortgage payments. I have no mortgages or debts, and my holdings of liquid assets, including gold and foreign currencies, are at an all-time high.
My charts on Consumer Confidence and New Home Sales do not support a positive view on the economy. Officially, reported job growth is better in the last couple of months, but jeez, non-farm payrolls today are at about the same level as May 2009. That’s almost two years with no net gain. And the rotten employment and new home sales readings come on the heels of a mega money printing campaign at the Fed.
What happens when the press shuts down this summer, when QE2 ends, and when the Bernanke-driven Free Money Truck exits the hood?
It is an outrage that the Fed subsidizes Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), while Mr. and Mrs. Goldman, private citizens, hunkered down in a Boca retirement condo, are getting 4 basis points of T-bill interest on their retirement savings. Are Americans paying any attention to this appalling expropriation? No wonder gold and the Swiss franc are trading at record prices.

A Brief History of Teva Pharmaceutical's Returns

2012-01-03T17:39:00.000-08:00

Despite constant attempts by analysts and the media to complicate the basics of investing, there are only three ways a stock can create value for shareholders:

Dividends.
Earnings growth.
Changes in valuation multiples.

In this series, we drill down on one company's returns to see how each of those three has played a role over the past decade. Step on up,?Teva Pharmaceutical (Nasdaq: TEVA ) .
Teva shares returned 220% over the past decade. How'd they get there?
Dividends made up only a small portion. Without dividends, shares returned 194% over the last 10 years.
Earnings growth was substantial. Teva's normalized earnings per share grew at an average rate of 22% a year from 2001 until today -- easily among the upper echelon of large-cap companies over the last decade.
But think about that for a moment. Teva's earnings grew far faster than its shareholder returns. Earnings increased over sixfold, while shares a little more than doubled.
Why? This chart explains it:

Source: S&P Capital IQ.

Like so many large-cap companies -- particularly pharmaceuticals -- Teva was vastly overvalued a decade ago. Valuations have since contracted, preventing a lot of the company's earnings growth from turning into shareholder returns. The same has been true for larger rivals Pfizer (NYSE: PFE ) and Merck (NYSE: MRK ) , both of which have seen shareholder returns wither as valuations come back to Earth.
The good news is that, at 15 times earnings, Teva shares now look reasonably valued. The past decade saw shareholder returns stifled due to falling multiples. The coming decade could see rising, even expanding multiples, allow! ing more of the company's earnings growth to turn into shareholder returns.
Why is this stuff worth paying attention to? It's important to know not only how much a stock has returned, but?where?those returns came from. Sometimes earnings grow, but the market isn't willing to pay as much for those earnings. Sometimes earnings fall, but the market bids shares higher anyway. Sometimes both earnings and earnings multiples stay flat, but a company generates returns through dividends. Sometimes everything works together, and returns surge. Sometimes nothing works and they crash. All tell a different story about the state of a company. Not knowing why something happened can be just as dangerous as not knowing that something happened at all.

Add Teva Pharmaceuticals to?My Watchlist.

The Highest-Rated Commercial Bank Stocks

2012-01-01T21:55:00.000-08:00

Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, the 10 stocks below are the highest rated in the commercial banking industry.
CAPS contains more than just the crowd's opinions. The votes of CAPS' best-performing members, known as All-Stars, count more in shaping each company's rating than do the picks of their poorer-performing peers. That way, the highest-rated companies are not just the most popular companies in the industry, in this case Wells?Fargo (NYSE: WFC ) , but are the best of the best. You can then intelligently use members' collective wisdom to?make better decisions and find hidden gems you may never have otherwise heard of.
The commercial banking industry has been struggling as the Federal Reserve's decision to pursue low long-term interest rates limits the profits banks can earn.
The highest-rated commercial bank stock is...
Looking at the aggregate data, we see that our community rates First Republic Bank (NYSE: FRC ) above the rest and for good reason. Fool contributor Rich Smith took a look at the stock this summer and decided First Republic Bank's numbers look cheap, although insider selling concerns and somewhat tepid growth made him reluctant to recommend the stock immediately.
Here are the rest of the 10 highest-rated companies in the industry along with their CAPS rating:
!

?	Company	CAPS Rating (out of 5)	Market Cap (in millions)
1	First Republic Bank	*****	$3,705
2	Southside Bancshares (Nasdaq: SBSI )	*****	$334
3	MidWest One Financial Group	*****	$128
4	First Bancorp (Nasdaq: FNLC )	*****	$137
5	Metro Bancorp	*****	$118
6	First Community Bancshares	*****	$220
7	Towne Bank (Nasdaq: TOWN )	*****	$344
8	CNB Financial (Nasdaq: CCNE )	*****	$178
9	Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania	*****	$254
10	Wilshire Bancorp (Nasdaq: WIBC )	*****	$242

Source: Motley Fool CAPS as of Nov. 7.

Use the table as a first step to help generate ideas for further research. Having a watchlist of promising companies is a great place to start. We can help you keep tabs on these beloved companies with My Watchlist, our free, personalized stock tracking service. Click?here to start now.

Oil Stock Picks 2011-2012

2011-11-22T05:40:00.000-08:00

Tag: 2012 Penny Stock Picks
2
Sep/11
Oil Stock Picks 2011-2012
by admin under best gold stock for 2012, best shares to invest in 2012, best silver stocks to buy 2012, best stocks to buy now for 2012, best stocks to hold 2012, best stocks to invest, Best stocks to invest in 2011, Best stocks to invest right now, best stocks to pick up, best way to invest in 2012, best-penny-stocks, Chinese stocks to invest in 2012, good silver stocks 2012, good stocks to invest in 2012, hot penny stocks for 2012, hot stocks for 2011

Below is a list of my latest oil stock picks for 2012. These 2012 Oil Stock Picks are my favorite stocks to buy and some of the stocks I will be trading personally. In 2011, one of my top oil stock picks was Kodiak Oil & Gas (KOG). KOG stock went from $4 to $8 from December 2010 to February 2011 and one of the best performing stocks in my portfolio. KOG still has room to run and will probably go to $8-$9 as we close out 2011. Kodiak Oil & Gas (KOG) is an up and coming oil company in the Bakken Shale.

Key Areas of Oil Exploration in 2012 – Collingwood Shale - Eagle Ford Shale – Niobrara Shale – Bakken Shale – Permian Basin – Oil Discoveries are still going on in these fields and in 2012, more Oil Discoveries will be made. Watch for drilling activity in the Chainman Shale – Cabot Oil & Gas (COG) mentioned in late 2010 that they are drilling for oil in the Chainman Shale. We also have Venoco (VQ) drilling the Monterey Shale in California. With that, here is a list of my best oil stock picks for 2012

Top Oil Stocks 2012 – Hyperdynamics (HDY) – Hyperdynamics Corp (HDY) is an international oil exploration company that has leases to drill offshore of the Republic of Guinea ( West Africa ). HDY was my 2011 stock pick that double months after I recommended it on Blackberrystocks.com. Hyperdynamics is currently trading at $5.50 in March 2011 and is gaining some institutional coverage as well as analyst coverage. HDY plans to drill two test wells in late 2011 and a 3rd oil well at the start of 2012 which may become an oil well that actually flows oil. As long as the facts remain the same, I feel HDY stock can rally up to $10-$11 at some point in 2012. If this price target is met in 2011, I will have to update my expectations. The world energy crisis will continue to get worse as oil prices soar in 2012 and 2013. Hyperdynamics could be sitting on a large, vast oil field off the coast of Africa.

#2 – Best Oil Stocks 2012 – Encana (ECA) – Encana (ECA) is best known as a Natural Gas company. However, Encana is moving quickly to position itself toward greater oil exposure. While ECA doesn’t have a position in the Bakken Shale, it has a large position in the up and coming Collingwood Shale. The Collingwood Shale is an oil & gas field located in North Michigan. Encana has discovered hydrocarbon shows there and believe they sit on a nice oil field on their acreage. Expect Encana to hit oil in the Collingwood starting in 2012 which will power the stock higher.

Kodiak Oil & Gas (KOG) – Kodiak Oil & Gas (KOG) is my third oil stock pick for 2012. KOG operates in the Bakken Shale and is actively aquiring acreage which will power growth in 2012. In my opinion, KOG is not a risky oil stock and should be a solid investment as we head into 2012 and beyond. KOG was recently upgraded to buy at Robert W. Baird with an $8 price target in March 2011. While KOG is currently trading at $6.60, I feel the stock can rally to $10+ at some point in 2012. Higher oil prices and majority oil well working interest will power this Bakken Shale stock into 2012.

Other Oil Stocks to Watch in 2011/2012

Samson Oil & Gas Limited (AMEX:SSN)
Lucas Energy, Inc. (AMEX:LEI)
Brigham Exploration (BEXP)
Tengasco, Inc. (AMEX:TGC)

Large Cap Stocks Hitting 52-Week Low Prices as Dow Jones Sets New Low

2011-11-20T04:13:00.000-08:00

best gold stock for 2012
23
Oct/11
Large Cap Stocks Hitting 52-Week Low Prices as Dow Jones Sets New Low
by admin under best gold stock for 2012, best stocks investments for 2012, best stocks to buy now for 2012, best stocks to hold 2012, best stocks to invest, Best stocks to invest in 2011, best stocks to invest in 2012, Best stocks to invest right now, best stocks to pick up, best way to invest in 2012, good stocks to invest in 2012, great stocks to invest in 2012

Wall St. Watchdog reveals information about 50 stocks that hit 52-week lows in today’s trading. Note that this list excludes all stocks with a market capitalization less than $10 billion:

1. Agilent Technologies Inc.(NYSE:A): Up 5.48% to $31.01. Agilent Technologies, Inc. provides core bio-analytical and electronic measurement solutions to the communications, electronics, life sciences and chemical analysis industries. The Company’s operations include electronic measurement, bio-analytical measurement, semiconductor and board testing.
2. ABB Ltd.(NYSE:ABB): Up 1.77% to $16.71. ABB Limited provides power and automation technologies. The Company operates under segments that include power products, power systems, automation products, process automation and robotics.
3. Archer Daniels Midland Company(NYSE:ADM): Up 1.86% to $24.61. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company procures, transports, stores, processes, and merchandises agricultural commodities and products. The Company processes oilseeds, corn, milo, oats, barley, peanuts, and wheat. Archer-Daniels-Midland also processes produce products which have primarily two end uses including food or feed ingredients.
4. Agrium Inc.(NYSE:AGU): Up 1.37% to $64.97. Agrium Inc. supplies nitrogen, potash and phosphate for agricultural, industrial, and specialty use. The Company operates throughout the America’s while it markets its products globally.
5. American International Group, Inc.(NYSE:AIG): Up 0.44% to $20.55. American International Group, Inc. is a holding company which, through its subsidiaries provides a varied range of insurance and insurance-related activities in the United States and abroad. The Company’s main activities include both general insurance and life insurance & retirement services operations as well as financial services and asset management.
6. Applied Materials Inc.(NASDAQ:AMAT): Up 4.26% to $10.27. Applied Materials, Inc. develops, manufactures, markets, and services semiconductor wafer fabrication equipment and related spare parts for the worldwide semiconductor industry. The Company’s customers include semiconductor wafer and integrated circuit manufacturers, flat panel liquid crystal displays, solar photovoltaic cells and modules and other electronic devices manufacturers.
7. America Movil S.A.B. de C.V.(NYSE:AMX): Up 1.53% to $21.83. America Movil SAB de C.V. provides wireless communications services in all regions of Mexico. The Company also participates in telecommunications joint ventures in several other South American countries as well as in the United States.
8. Apache Corp.(NYSE:APA): Up 3.03% to $78.82. Apache Corporation is an independent energy company. The Company explores for, develops, and produces natural gas, crude oil, and natural gas liquids. The Company has operations in North America, onshore Egypt, offshore Western Australia, offshore the United Kingdom in the North Sea (North Sea), and onshore Argentina, as well as on the Chilean side of the island of Tierra del Fuego.
9. Air Products & Chemicals Inc.(NYSE:APD): Up 3.57% to $76.51. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. produces industrial gas and related industrial process equipment. The Company also produces and markets polymer chemicals, performance chemicals, and chemical intermediates. Air Products recovers and distributes oxygen, nitrogen, argon, hydrogen, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, synthesis gas, and helium, as well as medical and specialty gases.
10. AngloGold Ashanti Ltd.(NYSE:AU): Down 1.2% to $40.21. AngloGold Ashanti Limited is a holding company for a group of companies which explore for and mine gold internationally. The Group has operations in the Vaal River and West Witwatersrand areas of South Africa as well as Namibia, Mali, Brazil, Argentina, Australia, Tanzania and the United States.
11. Bank of America Corporation(NYSE:BAC): Up 4.16% to $5.76. Bank of America Corporation accepts deposits and offers banking, investing, asset management, and other financial and risk-management products and services. The Company has a mortgage lending subsidiary, and an investment banking and securities brokerage subsidiary.
12. Brookfield Asset Management Inc.(NYSE:BAM): Down 1.55% to $25.96. Brookfield Asset Management Inc is a global asset management company focused on property, infrastructure and renewable power. The Company owns office buildings in major business centers. Brookfield also owns and operates power generating plants, ports, railways, utilities and timberlands, and invests on behalf of third parties.
13. Banco Bradesco S.A.(NYSE:BBD): Up 2.36% to $14.75. Banco Bradesco S.A. attracts deposits and offers commercial banking services. The Bank offers business loans, personal credit, mortgages, lease financing, mutual funds, securities brokerage, and Internet banking services. Bradesco operates in Brazil and Argentina, the United States, the Cayman Islands, and the United Kingdom. Bradesco offers credit cards, insurance, and pension funds.
14. BHP Billiton plc(NYSE:BBL): Up 4.8% to $53.76. BHP Billiton Plc is an international resources company. The Company’s principal business lines are mineral exploration and production, including coal, iron ore, gold, titanium, ferroalloys, nickel and copper concentrate, as well as petroleum exploration, production, and refining.
15. Becton, Dickinson and Company(NYSE:BDX): Up 2.12% to $72.34. Becton, Dickinson and Company manufactures and sells a variety of medical supplies and devices and diagnostic systems. The Company’s products are used by health care professionals, medical research institutions, and the general public. Becton’s products are marketed worldwide.
16. Franklin Resources Inc.(NYSE:BEN): Up 5.79% to $95.61. Franklin Resources, Inc. provides investment advisory services to mutual fund, retirement, institutional/separate accounts and high net worth investors. The Company manages various asset classes including domestic, international/global and emerging markets equity, domestic, international and municipal fixed income, money funds, alternative investments, and hedge funds.
17. BHP Billiton Ltd.(NYSE:BHP): Up 4.02% to $67.01. BHP Billiton Limited is an international resources company. The Company’s principal business lines are mineral exploration and production, including coal, iron ore, gold, titanium, ferroalloys, nickel and copper concentrate, as well as petroleum exploration, production, and refining.
18. The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation(NYSE:BK): Up 6.21% to $18.82. Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (BNY Mellon) is a global financial services company. The Company provides financial services for institutions, corporations and high-net-worth individuals, providing asset management and wealth management, asset servicing, issuer services, clearing services and treasury services.
19. BlackRock, Inc.(NYSE:BLK): Up 3.83% to $147.20. BlackRock, Inc. provides diversified investment management services to institutional clients and to retail investors through various investment vehicles. The Company offers the BlackRock Funds and Blackrock Liquidity Funds, and also provides risk management services to fixed income institutional investors.
20. Bank of Montreal(NYSE:BMO): Down 0.43% to $53.85. Bank of Montreal, doing business as BMO Financial Group, is a Canadian chartered bank which operates throughout the world. The Bank offers commercial, corporate, governmental, international, personal banking, and trust services. Bank of Montreal also offers full brokerage, underwriting, investment, and advisory services.
21. The Bank Of Nova Scotia(NYSE:BNS): Down 2% to $47.48. Bank of Nova Scotia provides retail, commercial, international, corporate, investment and private banking services and products.
22. BP plc(NYSE:BP): Up 0.57% to $35.42. BP plc is an oil and petrochemicals company. The Company explores for and produces oil and natural gas, refines, markets, and supplies petroleum products, generates solar energy, and manufactures and markets chemicals. BP’s chemicals include terephthalic acid, acetic acid, acrylonitrile, ethylene and polyethylene.
23. The Blackstone Group(NYSE:BX): Up 5.31% to $11.91. The Blackstone Group LP is a global alternative asset manager and provider of financial advisory services. The firm’s asset management businesses include the management of corporate private equity funds, real estate funds, mezzanine funds, proprietary hedge funds and closed-end mutual funds. Blackstone also provides M&A and reorganization advisory, as well as private placement services.
24. Citigroup, Inc.(NYSE:C): Up 5.54% to $24.39. Citigroup Inc. is a diversified financial services holding company that provides a broad range of financial services to consumer and corporate customers around the world. The Company’s services include investment banking, retail brokerage, corporate banking, and cash management products and services.
25. Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT): Up 2.82% to $72.54. Caterpillar Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets construction, mining, agricultural, and forestry machinery. The Company also manufactures engines and other related parts for its equipment, and offers financing and insurance. Caterpillar distributes its products through a worldwide organization of dealers.

Top Stocks of 2012 Aflac (AFL)

2011-11-18T03:02:00.000-08:00

Top Stocks of 2012
“Aflac (NYSE: AFL) is best known in the U.S. for its ‘duck ads,’ but actually earns over 75% of its money from Japan,” says Dirk Van Dijk.

In selecting the stock as his top pick for 2012, the strategist for Zacks.com, recalls “Aflac happens to be an old favorite of mine, a stock that I first recommended back in 1991.” Here’s his current update.

“In the U.S., its policies are sold through employers on a payroll deduction, as part of companies ‘cafeteria plans’. They are pretty straight forward. If you get sick and can’t work, or are in the hospital, it pays out a set mount directly to the insured.

“It is thus not at risk for rising health care costs (but is if more people get sick). The U.S. unit was under some pressure as payrolls shrank, but with some positive news on the employment front, that should turn around.

“In Japan, once people get AFL insurance they don’t drop it (which is very important in the life and health insurance industry) with a persistency rate of 95%.

“The firm has a superb track record, but came under big pressure during the crash last year due to fears about its investment portfolio. I think those fears are being assuaged over time.

“It has already realized $1.7 billion (pre-tax) in investment losses. Some of those are not going to come back, like its holdings in Lehman Brothers and WAMU, but other parts of the holdings that were written down just might come back.

“Aflac did however write down $380 million as other than temporary losses in holdings of some Ford debt, and Ford has been doing much better of late, certainly much better that it looked back at the end of the first quarter when GM and Chrysler were going down for the count.

“The company has generated an ROE of 33.4% over the last 12 months, and its five year average ROE is 20.84% (it has leveraged up a bit, from having no debt to a still very manageable and conservative 22% debt to capital. As that happens AFL should return to its historic valuations.

“How much upside potential is that? A Lot. Over the last five years (which of course included the big sell o? last year) AFL’s P/E has averaged 15.4x.

“Based on 2010 earnings estimates it is going for 9.5x now, and 8.7X 2012 consensus estimates, and those estimates have been rising.

“AFL also has a habit of beating the estimates. It has done so the last three times out, and in 17 of the last 28 quarters, with only five disappointments.

“AFL currently yields 2.4%, which is nice. It has however, increased that dividend in each of the last 27 years, and over the last 15 years it has done so at a compound annual rate of 20.7%.

“AFL happens to be an old favorite of mine, a stock that I first recommended back in 1991, and was a core holding for most of my tenure at C.H. Dean. I know the management team well from those days, and they are amongst the best I know in the industry.”

3 Undervalued Tech Stocks to Buy Now

2011-11-15T11:00:00.000-08:00

When investors see the words “undervalued tech stocks,” the first companies that jump to mind are probably the mega-cap giants like Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT). The large-cap space certainly has more than its share of cheap tech stocks, but a look into mid- and small-cap territory reveals other, less talked-about opportunities. Computer Sciences (NYSE:CSC), Lexmark International (NYSE:LXK), and China Digital TV (NYSE:STV), are three such stocks that deserve more attention than they receive.

Computer Sciences

Shares of CSC, an IT-outsourcing company, have been pummeled from a February high above $56 to $37.20 on Wednesday. The stock has been hit by less-than-stellar earnings results and concerns that the U.S. government’s perilous fiscal situation will weigh on the 39% of CSC’s business that comes from federal contracts. That’s undoubtedly a legitimate worry, but also one that is well-known at this point. At 7.3 times 2012 estimates (and a price-to-earnings-to-growth ratio of 0.9) and a share price sitting at 0.8 times book value, it appears that the bad news is fully discounted in the stock. Two other key points regarding CSC: first, the stock yields 2.2% – much better than you’ll find with the average large-cap tech stock. Second, the company is cash-rich and is frequently mentioned as a target of a buyout. Betting on a takeover is always a dicey proposition, but CSC offers investors a solid risk-reward tradeoff even without the benefit of a buyout.

Keep in mind: The last time CSC’s P/E was at this level, the stock traded up 25% in less than two months.

Lexmark International

A maker of printers, ink, and imaging products, Lexmark has seen its shares come under heavy selling pressure since late 2010 – a trend that wasn’t helped by its May earnings miss. While the printing business is indeed in gradual decline, it may finally be time to say “enough is enough” regarding the downturn in Lexmark’s share price. After hitting a high above $47 in mid-October, the stock now stands at $28.62. At this level, the stock trades at forward P/E of less than 7x, and removing the net cash of $7 a share (about a quarter of its market cap) on its balance sheet brings the P/E below 5.5x. A low P/E can be a trap when growth is slowing, of course, but the company’s core ink business continues to generate substantial free cash flow. And like CSC, Lexmark has the added benefit of being a strong candidate for an eventual takeover.

Keep in mind: The recent selloff has driven LXK’s valuation to its lowest level in history.

China Digital TV

The smallest of the three companies discussed here, China Digital could offer big potential to patient investors. The company makes smart cards that allow the conversion of an analog signal to digital. A boring business perhaps, but consider that China is the world’s largest TV market with 377 million viewing households. Of these, 187 million have cable and only 90 million currently have a digital signal. This adds up to a stellar growth opportunity for a company with no debt and over 70% of its market cap accounted for by the $214 million of cash on its balance sheet. The stock trades for less than 7x 2012 earnings estimates and a PEG of just over 0.4. Chinese stocks are not without risk, as 2011 has taught us, but patient investors who tune into STV may be in for quite a show.

Keep in Mind: Like LXK, CSC trades at an all-time low P/E.

Technology investing has been no picnic for investors thus far in 2011, but these stocks provide a compelling margin of safety in the event of further volatility in the months ahead.

After the Cloud: Top Tech Trends for 2012

2011-11-12T09:00:00.000-08:00

Last year belonged to Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL). The company’s share price rose to almost $350 over the course of 2010, making the company the most valuable tech entity on the planet.

Even more significantly, Apple’s touchscreen portable devices defined the industry. Even as the iPhone continued to grow and the iPad’s popularity spurred competitors to build their own tablet PCs, Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) was able to surpass Apple in at least one regard: More people bought Android phones than other kind. That wealth was spread across multiple manufacturers like HTC and Motorola (NYSE:MMI), but it showed that smartphone technology was now a mass-market force.

If 2010 was the year of smartphones and tablets, 2011 is proving itself to be the year of so-called cloud-based services (accessing applications via the Internet) for those devices. Google Music, Amazon’s (NASDAQ:AMZN) CloudPlayer, and Apple’s iCloud are just three of the new cloud businesses that will open before the year is out, each one of them allowing access to whatever entertainment or stored information, like documents and pictures, without the need of a hard drive.

The question now: What technology trends will define 2012? Here are three contenders:

The smaller, cheaper smartphone

AT&T (NYSE:T) and Verizon (NYSE:VZ) may be talking about how faster data transfer speeds will keep the smartphone market humming over the next 18 months, but the real hot commodity will be feature-light, cheap smartphones that can compete with the best iPhone and Android devices available now. AT&T and retailers like Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) have had tremendous success selling older model iPhones for $50 with new contracts. A smaller iPhone intended for teenagers that sells for $99 and runs as smoothly as the current iPhone model will be even more popular. Unsurprisingly, Apple is said to be working on just such a device.

Internet Television

Google bet big on its Google TV service being one of its biggest hits in 2010, but poor reviews of the service itself and complete consumer disinterest in the two major devices it came packed in, Sony’s (NYSE:SNE) Internet HD TV and the Logitech (NASDAQ:LOGI) Revue, put the kibosh on the company’s ambitions. Google plans to take another shot, though, and cable providers like Time Warner (NYSE:TWX) and Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) are exploring multiple ways to allow access to the same content over mobile devices that people can get in the living room. Whether it’s as a service or a new type of living room TV set-top box like the kind made by Google and Roku, Internet TV will come into its own in 2012.

Hybrid PCs

The PC market has had a rough 2011 so far, with PC sales dropping more than 1% over the first quarter. That doesn’t mean the industry is done for, however — it’s merely in a state of transition. Next year will bring the introduction of more low-cost PCs like Google’s Chromebook as well as PCs that offer more functionality in line with those in the iPad. Hewlett-Packard (NASDAQ:HPQ) has had modest success with its all-in-one touch screen Omni PCs. Apple will likely introduce its own version of the Omni next year. The industry-changer will be the company that introduces an affordable hybrid that can act as both a portable tablet and a feature-rich PC.

Where To Buy Penny Stocks

2011-11-11T01:21:00.000-08:00

Tips On Where To Buy Penny Stocks
For those not acquainted with what penny stocks are, these would be stocks offered at under $5 a share. The goal here is to procure the stocks at reasonable prices and sell them for over what they cost to buy. Some will purchase these stocks for long-term investments but most of the people wondering where to buy penny stocks will look towards trading.

Daytrading is the method of selling and purchasing stocks in the exact same day. It’s no secret that such an enterprise includes great jeopardy. Nevertheless many have conclusively proved that huge profits can be generated thru such stocks which are why they’re perennially commended to those hunting for something more dynamic in their trading ventures.

Again, this all does raise issues concerning where to buy penny stocks. The fast answer will be to get them from a trusty service that trades in penny stocks. The majority already know this. What they want is a suggestion for a service that trades in such stocks. These are 3 of the most well-known brokers that handle this type of :

E*Trade : Is there a rather more well-liked online trading site than E*Trade? The solution to that question can be discussed for hours. There are scores of glorious trading firms out there. Having said that, few have the ability to deliver the top quality service this company is understood to supply.

Again, there are lots of corporations on the market that confess the facility to offer low cost, high volume trades but few deliver at the same quality level as E*Trade.

Scottrade : you might say that Scottrade gives E*Trade a run for its cash so far as renown goes. Scottrade has definitely merited its reputation as a quality trading service. This is a trading service that takes many further steps to be certain that clients have accessibility to the trades they want to make at costs which will prove reasonable to them. Such a combo is surely a noble one and Scottrade definitely is merited of its positive reputation.

Zecco : Zecco won’t be as well called the other 2 trading services it is unquestionably a top resource for those wondering where to buy penny stocks. What drives folks to get penny stocks from this actual broker? Low transaction costs and prime quality shopper service would be among the 2 most cited reasons.

Naturally, there are much more than 3 brokerages which handle penny stocks. The key is to get a service that charges a fair rate mixed with top quality shopper service. Such a twin approach will definitely evoke and excite folks into making the required trades that may yield major returns on their investments.

Best Stocks (multibaggers) to invest in 2011-2012

2011-11-08T00:58:00.000-08:00

low PE, high EPS indian stocks 2011-2012, best Stocks to invest in 2011-2012, best penny stocks, best fundamental stocks, fastest growing companies,multibaggers of year 2011-2012

Below are the multibaggers of year 2011-2012 with good fundamentals and trading on low price and PE. Investor can keep the stocks for 18-24 months perspective.

1. Choksi Imaging Ltd

cmp – 55.00
PE ratio 4.52
EPS (Rs) 12.28 till Mar, 10
Sales (Rs crore) 38.61 Jun, 10
Face Value (Rs) 10
Net profit margin (%) 3.35 Mar, 10
Last dividend (%) 20

2. Diana Tea Company Ltd

cmp – 23.00
PE ratio 4.82 14/09/10
EPS (Rs) 4.72 Dec, 09
Sales (Rs crore) 11.02 Jun, 10
Face Value (Rs) 5
Net profit margin (%) 13.03 Dec, 09
Last bonus 3:2 14/07/05
Last dividend (%) 10 31/03/10

3. Zenith Birla (India) Ltd

cmp – 16.00
PE ratio 6.83 14/09/10
EPS (Rs) 2.23 Mar, 10
Sales (Rs crore) 129.83 Jun, 10
Face Value (Rs) 10
Net profit margin (%) 2.36 Mar, 10
Last bonus 1:5 24/06/10
Last dividend (%) 20 25/06/10

4. Shalimar Paints Ltd

cmp – 380
PE ratio 13.77 14/09/10
EPS (Rs) 26.44 Mar, 10
Sales (Rs crore) 82.73 Jun, 10
Face Value (Rs) 10
Net profit margin (%) 2.70 Mar, 10
Last bonus 3:10 11/09/82
Last dividend (%) 75 03/06/10

5. Alfa Transformers Ltd

cmp – 37.00
PE ratio 26.84 13/09/10
EPS (Rs) 1.41 Mar, 10
Sales (Rs crore) 3.66 Jun, 10
Face Value (Rs) 10
Net profit margin (%) 3.52 Mar, 10

6. DMC Education Ltd

cmp – 11.50
PE ratio 13.22 13/09/10
EPS (Rs) 0.81 Mar, 10
Sales (Rs crore) 3.21 Jun, 10
Face Value (Rs) 5
Net profit margin (%) 14.99 Mar, 09
Last bonus 1:1 14/05/07

7. Disa India Ltd

cmp – 1400
PE ratio 21.59 13/09/10
EPS (Rs) 65.30 Dec, 09
Sales (Rs crore) 18.57 Jun, 10
Face Value (Rs) 10
Net profit margin (%) 13.30 Dec, 09
Last dividend (%) 2000 20/02/08

8. MVL Industries

cmp – 31
PE ratio 5.17 14/09/10
EPS (Rs) 6.34 Jun, 10
Sales (Rs crore) 134.60 Jun, 10
Face Value (Rs) 10
Net profit margin (%) 2.71 Jun, 09

9. Medi-Caps Ltd

cmp – 83
PE ratio 7.41 14/09/10
EPS (Rs) 11.34 Mar, 10
Sales (Rs crore) 6.29 Jun, 10
Face Value (Rs) 10
Net profit margin (%) 16.48 Mar, 09
Last dividend (%) 15 27/08/10

10. N R Agarwal Industries Ltd

cmp – 76
PE ratio 6.02 14/09/10
EPS (Rs) 12.71 Mar, 10
Sales (Rs crore) 113.87 Jun, 10
Face Value (Rs) 10
Net profit margin (%) 5.52 Mar, 10
Last dividend (%) 18 30/07/10

Invest 2012: Best Energy Companies to invest in

2011-11-06T11:53:00.000-08:00

El Paso Pipeline Partners are a growth-oriented Delaware limited partnership formed by El Paso Corporation to own and operate natural gas transportation pipelines, storage and other midstream assets. Their initial assets consist of Wyoming Interstate Company, Ltd., or WIC, a wholly-owned interstate pipelinetransportation business primarily located in Wyoming and Colorado and ten percent general partner interests in two interstate pipeline transportation businesses: Colorado Interstate Gas Company, or CIG, which is located in the U.S. Rocky Mountains, and Southern Natural Gas Company, or SNG, which is located in the southeastern United States.

Best Energy Companies to invest 2012: Dresser-Rand Group Inc. (DRC)

Dresser-Rand Group is among the largest global suppliers of rotating equipment solutions to the worldwide oil, gas, petrochemical and process industries. Their services and products are used for a wide range of applications, including oil and gas production, high-pressure field injection and enhanced oil recovery, pipelines, refinery processes, natural gas processing, and petrochemical production.

Best Energy Companies to invest 2012: Delta Natural Gas Co. Inc. (DGAS)

Delta Natural Gas Company, Inc. is a regulated public utility. As a result of acquisitions and expansions of its customer base within its existing service areas, Delta provides retail gas distribution service to customers in central and southeastern Kentucky and, additionally, provides transportation service to industrial customers and interconnected pipelines located in the area.

Best Energy Companies to invest 2012: Linn Energy, LLC (LINE)

Linn Energy, LLC is an independent oil and gas company focused on the development and acquisition of long-lived properties which complement its asset profile in producing basins within the United States. Its goal is to provide stability and growth in distributions to our unitholders through a combination of continued successful drilling and acquisitions.

The best stocks to invest in 2011

2011-11-04T08:52:00.001-07:00

Despite the market’s recent resuscitation, many stocks are still trading at fire-sale prices-no surprise given the immense decline that preceded the advance. But which stocks to invest in 2011?
Between March 9 and May 4, Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index surged 34%. Beaten-down “value” stocks and stocks of smaller companies have been the best performers during the recovery. Examples of revived value stocks are Citigroup (symbol C), which tripled from an intra-day low of 99 cents on March 9 to $3.20 at the May 4 close, and Bank of America (BAC), which skyrocketed from $3 to $10.38. Meanwhile, Morningstar’s small-company-value index rose 22% in April, and its large-company-growth index gained just 8%.

I’m not jumping on the bandwagon. Given the fragility of the markets, the financial system and the economy, I don’t think stocks of small companies or companies with huge problems are the ones to buy. Instead, I think you should put most of your money into the highest-quality blue chips (companies with little or no debt and the ability to generate a lot of cash).
If you’re looking for ideas, Morningstar StockInvestor ($119 annually) is a great resource. According to the authoritative Hulbert Financial Digest, the newsletter’s stock picks returned an annualized 2.6% from the end of 1999 through last February, a period in which the broad-based Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 stock index lost an annualized 5.0%. What’s more, the Morningstar letter is less risky than the index and tends to do little trading; on average, the letter holds stocks for about three years.

Editor Paul Larson says he looks for companies with competitive advantages over their rivals: “My strategy is fairly simple. I focus on high-quality companies, and I buy them when they’re cheap.”
Morningstar’s 100-plus stock analysts estimate “intrinsic value” for every company they cover. They compare intrinsic value to a company’s share price to arrive at a star rating. Larson then draws up two lists — a “tortoise” portfolio and a “hare” portfolio-consisting of about 25 highly rated stocks each.
Larson’s favorite is Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B)(best stocks to invest in 2011). At $3,114.90 a share on May 4, the stock has shed more than one-third of its value in the past year. But Larson believes that Berkshire’s collection of more than 70 businesses, dominated by insurance, is dirt-cheap. Says Larson: “For a long time, people have been pricing Berkshire as though Buffett were no longer around. But he’s still alive and kicking-and adding value. And the balance sheet is still one of the strongest around, even though the company no longer carries a triple-A debt rating.”
The world’s largest and most diverse health-care company, best stocks to invest in 2011 -Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), is another favorite. Larson says that the company is largely insulated from economic downturns. “People need to take their medicines regardless of what the economy is doing,” he says. J&J is well-managed, has little debt and generates a staggering $1 billion in free cash flow per month (free cash flow is the money left after a company makes the capital expenditures needed to maintain the business). The stock closed at $53.76 on May 4.
Defense giant best stocks to invest in 2011- General Dynamics (GD) is another company that’s built to withstand recessions. It builds ships and armored vehicles, as well as information-technology systems for the military. “The government has a vested interest in maintaining the health of this company,” Larson says. “It came through the Defense Department budget cuts relatively unscathed.” The company boasts a rock-solid balance sheet. The stock closed at $54.00.
Wal-Mart Stores (WMT), the world’s largest retailer, has increased its market share during the economic slump. Its sales of consumer staples at discount prices have been increasing as other retailers have been going out of business. The company’s managers are focusing on cutting costs and satisfying customers. Wal-Mart, one of only two stocks in the Dow industrials to climb last year, closed at $50.84.
As employee benefits grow ever more complex, The best stocks to invest in 2011-Automatic Data Processing (ADP) benefits. It provides such services as payroll processing and benefits administration. Its large scale and respected brand, and the high cost of switching to another vendor, give it a big competitive advantage. The share price: $34.86.
When competitors were spending enormous sums to build up oil-and-gas reserves during last year’s bubble in oil prices, ExxonMobil (XOM) stayed focused on increasing profit margins. Because of that, Exxon can continue to buy back shares, raise its dividend and increase capital spending (at a price of $68.20, the stock yields 2.5%). It’s the world largest integrated oil-and-gas company, and participates in almost every facet of the business.

Cleantech: How China Sizzles and U.S. Diddles

2011-06-23T23:09:00.000-07:00

The United States is rarely referred to as a silver-medal nation. But that's exactly what we're becoming with respect to the race for clean energy.

There's been progress on domestic soil to be sure. Installed wind capacity has grown over 900% since 2000. Solar installations have kept similar pace.

But there's an unexpected place where clean technology is being deployed at a more rapid rate. A place often condemned for its perverse pollution; a country often decried as the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases (GHGs): China.

Enter the Dragon

As the U.S. continues its polarized debate around cleantech policy — diddling with implementing some type of carbon pricing, a federal renewable energy standard (RES), and a way to streamline large projects — the Chinese have quickly lept to a leadership position in the industry.

In 2006, they passed an RES calling for renewables to comprise 15% of the energy mix by 2020. But Shang Xiaoqiang, vice chairman of the country's National Development and Reform Commission (NRDC), recently said capacity could grow to 20% by that time.

Studies also show that by 2020, China could actually install three times its 30 gigawatt (GW) wind target. And they'll meet their 2020 solar target of 1.8 GW next year.

The U.S. hasn't even set national targets, so meeting or beating them is a moot point.

And when it comes to government investment, the Chinese have long pulled away. Our Recovery Act called for $80 billion to be invested in the sector. China has announced $217 billion for the next five years, and could invest upward of $650 billion in the next decade.

One recent report claimed they're spending $12 million per hour ensuring they emerge on top.

For the U.S., 'losing' could quickly turn into 'lost.' Fortunately for investors, stock exchanges are border agnostic.

The Cleantech Arms Race

In a very real way, democracy is hindering the States' deployment of cleantech assets. The infamous Cape Wind project has been stymied because it'll "ruin the view." Massive utility-scale solar installations in southwestern states have been delayed on behalf of reptiles.

And that's without mentioning the see-sawing in Congress as lobbyists on both sides of the issue wield their well-funded swords. A recent Reuters report succinctly noted:

Beijing's top leaders have made clear their intention to have their nation dominate this new industry, up and down the value ladder. And in their quest for the prize, they are not burdened by concerns facing their Western counterparts — such as the impact of wind turbines on landscapes, higher energy prices for consumers, or investor returns.

Our leaders' inaction has not only delayed development of what could be a trillion-dollar domestic market — not to mention energy independence — but they've forced companies within that market to tread water by providing inconsistent incentives and policy guidance.

The evidence of this is abundant. But the issue really came to the fore when a Chinese company, A-Power Generation (NASDAQ: APWR), was selected to provide turbine parts for a $1.5 billion U.S. stimulus-funded wind farm in Texas.

Politicians on both sides cried foul before A-Power announced it would build a manufacturing facility in the U.S. that will employ 1,000 workers while cranking out parts for wind turbines.

So it's not only difficult for U.S. cleantech companies to get ahead, it's increasingly easier for China-based companies to row their boats ashore.

Made by China

China's laser-like focus on cleantech has thrust them squarely into a global leadership position.

Last year, Chinese companies produced about 50% of the world's solar cells. And that's likely to rise to 70% in the next few years, as costs continue to fall more quickly there than in Europe or the U.S. In fact, firms based in Germany — the cradle of the modern solar industry — have been finding it's cheaper to buy from the Chinese than it is to make their own solar cells.

And they're not just ramping up production; solar installations are also on the upswing. China will meet its 2020 target of 1.8 GW next year, and Greentech Media is forecasting installed solar capacity could actually hit 10 GW in the next decade, implying a 450% expansion.

Wind energy is witnessing a similar scenario. The Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) has reported that China "doubled its entire installed capacity each year since 2005." Last year, they became the largest wind market in the world, installing 13 GW compared to 10.5 GW in Europe and 9.9 GW in the U.S.

That growth is largely due to a booming Chinese wind manufacturing market. Producers like Sinovel and Goldwind are already top ten globally, and could soon threaten companies like GE and Suzlon that currently inhabit the top five.

The Chinese cleantech production model is so robust that it's now being exported around the globe, in much the same way that other Asian countries have taken automobile manufacturing abroad.

A-Power — the company awarded part of a U.S. stimulus-induced wind project — is already setting up manufacturing on U.S. soil. Yingli Green Energy (NYSE: YGE) has announced plans to build a solar manufacturing facility on U.S. Turf; so has Suntech Power (NYSE: STP).

And, in the most revelatory example of all, the Wall Street Journal has reported that "Duke Energy Corp.(NYSE: DUK) is in talks with State Grid Corp., China's biggest electricity distributor, over a joint venture that may involve cooperating on power transmission lines in the U.S."

While we were distracted by health care, Tea Parties, and executive pay, China quickly pounced on what is proving to be the most vital and valuable industry of the 21st century. They've mastered the production side and, as the Duke example highlights, they're moving on transmission as well.

Our energy assets of tomorrow may not be made in China, but it looks like they'll made by China. And, as you can imagine, Chinese cleantech success is also apparent in public markets.

Rated to Outperform

Here in the States, First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR) is by far the most recognizable solar name. The company still boasts one of the lowest costs per watt and highest efficiencies for thin film solar. But First Solar, too, is losing ground as Chinese firms continue making inroads. The best stock to buy is down nearly $200 from its 2008 high over $300.

The same holds true for Germany's Q-Cells, one of the largest solar cell producers in the world. The growing Chinese advantage in both cost and scale have led to a huge discrepancy in prices for top stocks that share the same peer group, as companies like Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL) and Canadian Solar (NASDAQ: CSIQ) have pulled investors away from traditional solar stocks.

Stocks" alt="China Solar Stocks 2010" src="http://images.angelpub.com/2010/07/3930/china-solar-stocks-2010.png" border=0> That trend is being mirrored in the wind industry, where protectionism has forced billion-dollar development costs to remain on the balance sheets of Chinese companies. Though industry stalwarts like Vestas (COP: VWS) and Gamesa (MCE: GAM) are knocking hard on the door, failure to penetrate the Chinese market has caused investors to look elsewhere for wind-blown returns.

Stocks" alt="Chinese Wind Stocks 2010" src="http://images.angelpub.com/2010/07/3931/chinese-wind-stocks-2010.png" border=0> Most analysts and industry insiders — myself included — don't see this trend abating anytime soon. Feed-in tariff (FiT) cuts for cleantech in Europe, though a sign of industry maturation, are driving sales higher in China as installers race to buy turbines and panels at the lowest cost before subsidies are cut later this year.

And the lack of long-term policy guidance in the U.S. is forcing cleantech companies here into a holding pattern, hesitant to invest in new manufacturing capacity or asset deployment with uncertainties still rampant with respect to the tax code and incentives. With price parity still not reached, renewable energy developers sometimes don't even know if there will be an end buyer for their electricity.

China, on the other hand, passed a law last year requiring grid operators to buy all the electricity produced by renewable resources. What's more, the Chinese cost advantage is leading to rebranding, wherein a company like GE buys solar panels from a second-tier Chinese company and sells them as their own.

This is paving the way for many companies you've never heard of to emerge as global players. Yingli, JA Solar (NASDAQ: JASO), Renesola (NYSE: SOL) and others are already becoming household names. Yingli is even sponsoring this year's FIFA World Cup.

The initial public offering (IPO) market is also flooded with Chinese entrants. Blade maker HT Blade, polysilicon producer Daqo, and wafer maker JinkoSolar have all already filed.

Indeed, it looks like the global cleantech game will be dominated by Chinese players for the foreseeable future. And that's a vast departure from standard practice, where China has typically trailed European and U.S. companies in entering nascent industries.

In a recent talk at an industry conference in Washington D.C., President of GCL Solar Energy Hunter Jiang didn't mince words about his country's position. His company is now the third largest producer of polysilicon in the world. After ruminating on China's laggard position throughout modern history's industrial revolutions and commenting on how automobiles and computers were cradled elsewhere, he said, "Today we are the leader."

Top 10 Stocks For 2010

2011-06-23T15:09:00.000-07:00

Looking for a shopping list of new top 10 stock ideas for 2010? Each year for 27 years, TheStockAdvisors.com has turned to the nation's most respected and well-known newsletter advisors and asked them for their single favorite stock or fund ideas for the coming 12 months. With 10 advisors participating in this year's survey, there's something for every type of investor, from high quality blue chips to speculative home runs. While past performance is never a guarantee of future results, we would note that the stocks chosen by the 75 advisors participating in last year's report outperformed the general market by nearly 80%. Specifically, the 75 stocks and funds selected for our 2009 Top Picks report recorded an average year-to-date gain of 34%, versus a 19% gain by the broad market over the same period. Gainer's Today tracks stock picks and ranks the accuracy of 120 investment research firms. As of 12/23/09, our 2009 Top Picks report was ranked #1 for the past year. Kudos to all the participating advisors. The stocks and funds chosen for this report are the best ideas of the nation's top advisors at this current time. However, company fundamentals and market conditions change, and a stock that is considered a strong buy today can become a sell based on future events. As always, we caution all investors to only use these ideas as a starting place for your own research and only buy top stocks that meet you personal investing criteria, risk parameters, and investment time horizon. To keep updated on the ongoing favorite stocks of the leading advisors, please visit us daily at thestockadvisors.com, a free website that brings you the very best investment ideas of the nation's very best financial experts. You can also sign up for our Daily Digest and have each day's new stock ideas sent directly to your email. We wish you the best of success for your investing in 2010! AECOM (ACM): Geo?rey Seiler's "Our top pick for 2010 is engineering and construction (E&C) firm AECOM Technology (NYSE:ACM)," says Geo?rey Seiler. In his BullMarket.com the advisor explains, "AECOM, unlike some better-known E&C names, o?ers a relatively low-risk business model. It performs no construction work at all and thus has none of the lump-sum, fixed-rate contracts that other companies might sign. "The Los Angeles-based company focuses on a broad range of services that includes planning, design, environmental impact studies, project management, logistics and other jobs in the facilities, transportation, environmental, and energy and power segments. "Transportation is the company's largest end market, representing 28% of the business, followed by environmental at 25%, facilities work at 24%, and Management Support Services (MSS), which delivered 17% of its revenues in fiscal 2009. "Energy and power is the company's smallest segment, representing about 6% of its total revenues, but the company does view it as a growth opportunity. It is particularly strong in hydroelectric projects. "The MSS business is 100% dedicated to working directly for the U.S. government, but government spending of all types -- either from federal state and local governments and foreign governments -- accounts for 70% of the company's revenue. The remainder comes from the private sector. "AECOM has been under some pressure toward the end of the year, despite initially rallying following a strong fiscal Q4 earnings report in November. The culprit was some weak reports from fellow E&C firms and the Dubai debt debacle. "However, AECOM isn't subject to the same type of energy sector cancellations that some other E&C companies experienced, and its exposure to Dubai is negligible. "Impressively, AECOM is one of the few E&C firms to grow its backlog sequentially last quarter. Total backlog stood at a record $9.5 billion on September 30th, a 10% increase year over year and a 3% increase quarter over quarter. "Meanwhile, AECOM is well positioned to be a beneficiary of increased government stimulus spending in 2010, as well as the possible passage of a substantial highway bill late next year. "AECOM guided for fiscal year 2010 EPS to be in the range of $1.90 to $2.00. The midpoint of this range reflects 15% growth in earnings per share. We think the guidance is relatively conservative. "In summary, we like AECOM's position in the marketplace, its consistent growth, and sound low-risk strategy. With a pristine balance sheet, trading at under 14x the midpoint of conservative guidance, and an over 15% expected 5-year growth rate, AECOM is undervalued and our top pick for 2010." AOL (AOL): Bernie Schae?er's "AOL (NYSE: AOL), formerly America Online, is one of the most storied – and bloodied – names in the Internet sector," says Bernie Schae?er. Referring to skepticism surround its early December spin-o? from Time Warner, the editor ofSchae?er's Research chooses AOL as his top pick for 2010, noting, "From a contrarian perspective, the current pessimism could have positive implications. "AOL's merger with Time Warner in 2001 was hailed (by some) at the time as an innovative marriage of old and new media. But AOL's dial-up Internet access model was already under pressure by the time of the merger, and the AOL and Time Warner cultures never meshed. "The merger is now regarded as one of the most disastrous in U.S. corporate history, losing more than $100 billion in market value. Steve Case, the deal's architect , resigned the chairmanship of the combined company two years later and left the board in 2005. "Time Warner has been looking to rid itself of AOL ever since. So it was no surprise that Time Warner's spin-o? of AOL in early December 2009 was met with a heaping armful of skepticism. "We have seen multiple media outlets weigh in negatively on AOL, perhaps an indication of how Wall Street is currently viewing the best stock to buy. In fact, the shares were initiated at 'underperform' by a major brokerage house in December. "Moreover, Zacks reports that the stock has earned one 'strong buy' rating, one 'hold,' and two 'strong sells.' Therefore, we view the upgrade potential on AOL favorably. "But AOL, with a market cap of only $2.5 billion, argues that it remains a strong brand. Its 80-plus Web sites attract 100 million unique visitors each month. It still generates cash through its Internet access business. AOL has a new management team led by former Google exec Tim Armstrong. Armstrong wants AOL to di?erentiate itself from competitors by creating original content. Yahoo, Google and others are largely aggregators of others' content ; AOL generates 80% of its own content. "Although we emphasize that we are no in way comparing AOL to Google, the skepticism greeting the spin-o? is eerily reminiscent of what we saw around Google just prior to its initial public o?ering in 2004. hen the shares of GOOG quickly outperformed their low expectations, the bears quickly jumped on the stock's bandwagon, pushing it even higher. "OL's shares so far are bucking the widespread pessimism as they hover above short-term support at the 23 level. From a contrarian perspective, this pessimism could have positive implications if skeptics succumb to better price action." ETF (NYSE: BRF). The ETF remains our top stocks pick for 2010. "Brazil, as its place on the cover of Economist magazine recently confirmed, was the flavor of the month in emerging markets. Brazil had recently won the right to host the Olympics in 2016, raising its profile much like the Beijing Olympics did for China. Investors were pouring in. "Its currency, the real, gained 50% against the U.S. dollar since the prior December, with the economy firing on all cylinders, posting an 8%-10% growth in Q3. My forecast has been that, overall, Brazil's economy will grow by 5% in 2010. "In December, the Inter-American Development Bank approved a $3-billion conditional credit line with Brazilian small and mid-sized businesses on Thursday. Around 75% of the new jobs created in Brazil this year were created by small and mid- sized businesses. "With the market already up 76.9% in local currency terms at the time, betting on Brazil was clearly a momentum play. That's also why I recommended a small cap ETF, which had outperformed its large cap ETF counterpart this year. "Looking ahead, Brazil's biggest enemy is likely to be its own hubris -- getting too cocky for its own good. But before it does, I'm betting the market has further to go. After all, it went up almost 6-fold in dollar terms during its last bull run starting in 2003. "This is the reasoning behind my recommendation for Market Vectors Brazil Small- Cap ETF. For a potentially bigger upside, I recommended the April $45 call options. For full disclosure, this is a position that I hold on behalf of my clients at Global Guru Capital." ChemTrade Logistics (CGIFF): Roger Conrad's Roger Conrad, editor of The Canadian Edge, is a leading specialist in the niche investment area of high-income Canada-based trusts. For his top investment idea for the company year, he turns to chemical company, ChemTrade Logistics (TSX: CHE-U, OTC: CGIFF). "ChemTrade Logistics is a major producer of specialty chemicals, particularly sulphuric acid. It's also a Canadian income trust yielding over 12% with most of its operations overseas. That adds up to a unique triple play for investors in 2010. "First, is the high yield, paid monthly. Even with the market for specialty chemicals chronically weak in 2009, Chemtrade was able to generate cash flow to cover its distribution by a healthy margin. ":Second, cash flow is set to surge as demand from industry rebounds for sulphuric acid. Second half results already show improvement and that trend is set to continue into the new year. "Third, Chemtrade management expects to pay the same level of distribution in 2011, when Canada's trust tax kicks in. If it succeeds, investors will receive a windfall capital gain, since a big cut is already priced in. "At a recent conference call, CEO Mark Davis stated 'the e?ect of the new tax would not be significant' since 'Chemtrade receives a large portion of its earnings from non- Canadian sources. "Accordingly, in 2011 we believe that the new SIFT tax will apply to less than one-third of the Fund's income, resulting in an e?ective tax rate of less than 10 percent.' Buy ChemTrade up to $11." China Adv. Construction: (CADC): Keith Fitz-Gerald's "China is spending $200 billion over the next few years to upgrade its rail system; and those new projects will be literally laying on a bed of cement,' says Asia expert Keith Fitz-Gerald. The editor of The New China Trader adds, "This could lead to enormous growth potential for any cement company that Beijing involves in the process -- such as China Advanced Construction Systems (NASDAQ: CADC). "CADC produces and supplies specialized ready mixed concrete for use in all kinds of infrastructure projects including railways, roads, airports, bridges, tunnels, and dams. The company has already benefitted from over 9 new railway contracts from Beijing this year alone, totaling over $19.7 million. "That may not sound like much, but realize that CADC is a small cap stock ($49.28 million market cap) so $19.7 million of new railway orders represents 39.9% of the company's total market cap. That means we could see CADC's earnings explode in 2010. "In fact, if Beijing continues to pile money into railways, CADC could truly undergo some transformational events that lead to a double or more in 2010 – and more in the next few years. "Meanwhile, China's massive $586 stimulus package has rocketed the Chinese economy back on track – and the result can be seen across the board from government sponsored infrastructure projects to consumer spending. "By the end of 2009, the China is expected to have used 1.54 billion tons of cement on transportation infrastructure and logistics and warehousing projects, according to the country's top economic planning agency. "In the transportation, logistics, and warehousing sectors alone, China is expected to have increased 2009 cement demand by 27% from the previous year, according to Guo Wenlong, a researcher with the Institute of Integrated Transportation, a?liated with the National Development and Reform Commission. "China is literally building what amounts to an entire new country's worth of infrastructure and commercial projects. "Economists are forecasting that China will use 40% of the entire global supply of cement in 2010. That basically makes China the world's largest construction site –something I see every time I am there. "While concrete isn't sexy or glamorous, the industry's growth is far from boring. China's concrete market has maintained an average growth rate of 25% over last ten years. "That adds up to a 931% compounded growth over the last 10 years. Compared to most investments, that sounds pretty glamorous to me. As for its rail expansion, China plans on laying more track in the next five years than the rest of the world combined. That makes China's current railway plans the largest railway expansion in the last 100 years. "The buttresses on which China's railway projects will be built are forecasted to require as much as 117 million tons of concrete alone – and that doesn't even begin to account for cement demand tied to China's other infrastructure projects. "Basically all of China's growth, whether it's railways, roads, bridges, power-plants, dams, or commercial and residential real estate projects sit on a foundation of cement – and that means dynamic small-cap companies like CADC have plenty of room to grow and enormous profit potential moving into 2010 and beyond." Dollar Tree (DLTR): Michael Vodicka's "Discount retailers are in high fashion right now, and 2010 could be a good time to capitalize on the macro-level trend toward value-driven consumption as consumers battle too much debt and a weak labor market," says Michael Vodicka. To benefit from this trend, the momentum stock strategist for Zacks.com looks to Dollar Tree(NASDAQ: DLTR) as his top pick for the coming year. "2009 was a year of surprises. Stocks ended up logging a monumental rally that kicked o? in March, most of the major domestic banks have freed themselves from TARP restrictions and the housing market has shown signs of stability. "But in spite of all these incredible gains, consumers are still struggling with too much debt and high unemployment. This is the ideal consumer environment for an extreme discounter like Dollar Tree. "Dollar Tree isn't a new name, the company's been around since 1986, has a market cap of $4.26 billion and operates more than 3,600 stores in 48 states. "It carries a wide range of consumer and household products like paper towels, cleaning goods and beauty supplies, all for less than $1. "The company's strategic advantage was on full display in 2009, beating the consensus estimate in each quarter by an average of 11%. Its Q4 results from late November, heading into the holiday season included sales growth of 12% from last year. "The top line growth goes well with gross and operational margin expansion, both on the upswing due to lower commodity costs and process evaluation. "Dollar Tree bought back 3.5 million shares in 2009, with $300 million remaining from a $500 million Board approval. The company has been committed to taking advantage of the value-driven consumer environment, opening 94 new stores this year and expanding or relocating another 74. "But in spite of these moves, Dollar Tree balance sheet still looks strong, with cash and equivalents totaling $342 million against a debt load of $267.5 million, with just $17.6 million current. "Looking forward, analysts are optimistic about the company's prospects in 2010, targeting full-year earnings of $3.84 per share. With shares trading at $48, this stock has a forward P/E of just 12.5, a nice discount to the overall market." Electronics Arts (ERTS): Karim Rahemtulla's "I've been tracking the companies I feel are best positioned to sustain the market's upward momentum into next year," says Karim Rahemtulla. The options expert with Investment U suggests, "One such company is Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:ERTS) – a major player in the video game industry. ERTS is one of the largest creators and sellers of multi-platform content in the industry and it finally o?ered some guidance for the year ahead. "Expectations for earnings for 2010 are 87 cents per share with revenues of $4.26 billion. EA came out and said that revenues should fall between 4.2 and $4.4 billion with earnings ranging from $0.70 to $1. "That type of wide range never sits well with Wall Street, which likes much narrower ranges and more specific guidance. "There are three reasons to buy EA now: "First, share prices do not usually wait for numbers to come through before they move higher. They move higher in anticipation of better earnings ahead. This should happen after the company reports numbers for the first and second quarter of next year. Second, if this economy and market are really recovering, one of the prime beneficiaries will be a company like EA, which is solidly in the consumer discretionary space. "Third, EA has been the subject of many takeover rumors, specifically by the likes of Microsoft. Currently the shares are trading at $16.50 per share, down from highs of more than $50 just over a year ago. It is flush with cash, very little debt and a dominant market position. "While a takeover would be the least likely outcome, there still is that chance and in the current climate of mergers and acquisitions, I wouldn't be surprised to see a bid made for EA. "While shares themselves look to be a good buy, I prefer to play this one using the Electronic Arts January 2012 $20 LEAPs." Vivo Participacoes: Bill Wilton's top 10 stocks for 2010 "Vivo Participacoes (NYSE: VIV), a Brazilian telecommunication company that provides cellular services, is my top investment pick for 2010," says Bill Wilton. The growth stock strategist for Zacks.com, explains, "Analysts continue to raise full-year estimates for the company." Here's his bullish review. "The company operates through a number of subsidiaries and is headquartered in Sao Paulo, Brazil. In November, VIVO reported third-quarter results that included over 2,000 more customers, up 16% year-over-year. Overall the company's market share is now just under 30%. "Service revenues increased 4% since last year to R$3.8 billion. Higher revenues translated to a 154% increase in net profits, to R$636 million. "There is not a regular flow of quarterly estimates for the company, but VIVO has received several upward revisions for full-year 2009 and 2010. "Forecasts for this year are up 19 cents over the past 2 months, to $1.14. Next year's Zacks Consensus Estimate is now $2.11, up from $1.59, an 85% growth rate. "VIVO is trading at attractive valuations, especially given the popularity of emerging markets. The forward P/E is about 17 times earnings with a PEG ratio of just over 0.5. Its price-to-sales ratio is above 1.3 times." Vodafone (VOD): Amy Calistri's top s10 tocks for 2010 "Even in these di?cult economic times, people are upgrading their cell phones," says Amy Calistri, who selects Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) as her top pick for 2010. The editor of Stock of the Month, adds, "Smartphone sales have been robust throughout the recession, as people want to access the latest technologies and features. "Every one of those latest generation cell phones taps into a wireless service provider. And as essential as we consider it here in the U.S., cell phone service means everything to emerging and developing countries where landline infrastructure barely exists. "Africa is actually the fastest growing wireless market in the world. With little landline infrastructure and an average population that is still some distance from computer ownership, cell phones have become Africa's link to the world. "So where can you find a company that has the loyalty of the stable U.S. wireless market but also has inroads into the fast-growing African subscriber base? ""Vodafone is the largest wireless communications company in the world, with operations in Europe, the U.S., the Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific. Its owns a 45% stake in the largest U.S. wireless communications operator, Verizon Wireless. "Along with its stable Verizon U.S. subscriber base, VOD also owns an interest in the growing base of African subscribers. Vodafone has a 65% stake in South Africa's Vodacom. Vodacom currently has 41.6 million subscribers, but that is expected to grow. ""I especially like dividend-paying stocks in challenging markets. After all, capital gains can ebb and flow, but cash in hand is yours to keep forever. "Vodafone's dividend yield is approximately 6% at current prices. While other companies are throwing their dividends under the bus, VOD management seems committed to keep the income flowing. "Vodafone has instituted a 'progressive' dividend policy that boosts the dividend based on rising free cash flows, even if earnings fall. "And of course because the dividends are first determined in British pounds and then converted to U.S. dollars, a continuation of the U.S. dollar's declining value will boost the payout to U.S. investors." Powershares US Dollar Bullish (UUP): Alex Green's top ETF for 2010 "When extreme valuations are accompanied by unbridled optimism or abject pessimism, it virtually always marks a turning point – and an opportunity; and this is no exception," says Alex Green, referring to the US dollar. Here, the senior investment advisor to The Oxford Club and InvestmentU looks to PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bullish ETF (NYSE: UUP) as a favorite idea for the coming year. "We all know the dollar is in the cellar right now and also know why it is expected to continue right through the basement floor: 1) Massive budget and trade deficits 2) Ultra-low interest rates. (Zero on the short end.) 3) $59 trillion in unfunded liabilities for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. 4) Bernanke conjuring extra trillions out of thin air to buy Treasuries and mortgage- back securities and patch various holes in the U.S. economy. "There is no reason to believe any of these problems will vanish in the months ahead. Yet the dollar will soar in 2010. Why? Two reasons: "First, all of the problems mentioned above are already well recognized and priced into the greenback. Second, dollar psychology is overwhelmingly bearish. "Just as 10 years ago investors couldn't imagine internet top stocks for 2010 doing anything but soaring higher and five years ago they couldn't imagine real estate doing anything but barreling down the same one-way street, record lows for the dollar are coinciding with enormous confidence that the dollar has nowhere to go but down. "Commentators seem to forget that all currency values are contingent. You can't just look at fundamentals here. You have to look at them abroad, too. And there isn't much out there right now that's terribly positive. "In the third quarter, for example, the 16-nation euro-zone grew at a 1.5% annual rate. The U.S economy, by comparison, grew at 3.5%. "European consumers and most business sectors are still feeling the pain from the deepest recession since the 1930s. The continent is likely to be the weakest region for global expansion next year, according to Julian Callow, chief European economist at Barclays Capital in London. "The U.K. is no bastion of strength, either. Europe's biggest economy outside the euro zone is still in recession due to overly indebted British households and tight credit. British GDP contracted at an annualized 1.6% in the third quarter. "How about Japan? It has its own problems. At 172% of gross domestic product, Japan's government debt is by far the largest among rich nations. "The ratio is expected to reach 200% next year – and hit 300% within a decade. Rising social security costs and the weak economy are the primary culprits. "The new government there is trying to prevent a double-dip recession by spending even more. But with government debt soaring to records, talk of new stimulus measures is already pushing up long-term rates and threatening to curtail the impact of fresh spending. "Recognize that Europe and Japan are hardly experiencing heady economic growth and great fiscal probity. Most are bogged down economically and running fiscal deficits as bad as ours. "And, personally, when the whole world is in this big a mess, I'll take the greenback over the euro, the pound or the yen. My bet is in 2010 so will most world currency investors. "Virtually no one is expecting it, but the dollar is likely to climb 20% against the euro and the pound next year and 15% against the yen. "Given that, shares of the PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bullish ETF will appreciate in price, accordingly. "Hedging is fine, of course, too. But if you have too much exposure to foreign-currency denominated bonds, CDs or bank accounts, rein it in."

Top Stocks For 2011

2011-06-23T07:09:00.000-07:00

Looking for a shopping list of new top stock ideas for 2011? Each year for 27 years, TheStockAdvisors.com has turned to the nation's most respected and well-known newsletter advisors and asked them for their single favorite stock or fund ideas for the coming 12 months. With 80 advisors participating in this year's survey, there's something for every type of investor, from high quality blue chips to speculative home runs. While past performance is never a guarantee of future results, we would note that the stocks chosen by the 75 advisors participating in last year's report outperformed the general market by nearly 80%. Specifically, the 75 stocks and funds selected for our 2009 Top Picks report recorded an average year-to-date gain of 34%, versus a 19% gain by the broad market over the same period. Gainer's Today tracks stock picks and ranks the accuracy of 120 investment research firms. As of 12/23/09, our 2009 Top Picks report was ranked #1 for the past year. Kudos to all the participating advisors. The stocks and funds chosen for this report are the best ideas of the nation's top advisors at this current time. However, company fundamentals and market conditions change, and a stock that is considered a strong buy today can become a sell based on future events. As always, we caution all investors to only use these ideas as a starting place for your own research and only buy stocks that meet you personal investing criteria, risk parameters, and investment time horizon. To keep updated on the ongoing favorite stocks of the leading advisors, please visit us daily at thestockadvisors.com, a free website that brings you the very best investment ideas of the nation's very best financial experts. You can also sign up for our Daily Digest and have each day's new stock ideas sent directly to your email. We wish you the best of success for your investing in 2011! No.1 From Kelley Wright : (Altria ) "My definition of safe is to avoid cyclical companies that can be derailed by unexpected economic events or a sudden change in Fed policy," says dividend expert Kelley Wright. In Investment Quality Trends, he suggests, "Additional requirements are a long history of increased earnings and dividends, broad institutional sponsorship, and ample outstanding shares for trading liquidity. One such company that fits that bill is Altria Group (NYSE: MO), my top pick for 2011. "As attention turns toward 2011, the annual dilemma of 'what do I do now' moves front and center. With the Fed ostensibly sticking to its 'for an extended perio'" mantra, the conventional wisdom is that the recession is behind us and all will remain well as long as interest rates remain low and liquidity plentiful. "While the recession may indeed be over, under the technical definition anyway, and it is investment suicide to try and fight the Fed, the ever-ubiquitous Wall of Worry is steep enough to approach the new investment year with caution. In that vein, my instincts and experience are to play it safe. "My definition of safe is to avoid cyclical companies that can be derailed by unexpected economic events or a sudden change in Fed policy. "Altria Group is a holding company whose operating companies include Philip Morris USA, U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company, John Middleton and Ste. Michelle Wine Estates. The company's brand portfolio consists of successful and well-known brand names such as Marlboro, Copenhagen, and Skoal. "Trailing twelve months earnings for MO are $1.53 per share, and, based on the recent price of $19.15 per share, the P/E is in the mid-12 range. The cash dividend of $1.36 per share provides an outstanding dividend-yield of 7.10%. "With a payout ratio of about 88% ($1.36 of the $1.58 ttm earnings are paid out in dividends), some investors who have seen some dividends slashed or eliminated over the past year may balk at such a high dividend-yield. "The key to a healthy dividend though is free cash flow and a high return-on-equity (ROE). Altria Group converts about 16% of its revenue into free cash and its ROE is well above average. "The IQ Trends Profile of Value for Altria Group is dividend-yield extremes of 7.0% and 4.0% respectively. Accordingly, whenever the dividend-yield for Altria Group is within 10% of 7.0%, the stock represents good historic value and is appropriate to purchase. "When the dividend-yield declines to 4.0% ($34 based on the current dividend), the top stock has reached its historically repetitive area of overvalue and profits should be harvested." No.2 From: Melvin Pasternak : Amdocs (NYSE: DOX) "Fundamentally, Amdocs (NYSE: DOX) has a bargain basement valuation based on its price to growth," says Melvin Pasternak, in selected the stock as his top pick for 2011. In his Trade of the Week, he adds, "Technically, on a two year weekly chart the stock has broken out to the upside. Amdocs is the talk of the town -- and well it should be. Amdocs keeps phone companies and their customers talking to each other in more than 60 countries around the world. "Its software helps telecom giants like AT&T Mobility and Sprint-Nextel with customer relationship management (CRM), billing, and sales. "A couple of months ago, DOX broke out of a major downtrend line drawn from mid-2007 at the $40 dollar level. When combined with an uptrend line constructed from the 2009 bottom near $15, it can be seen that DOX has broken out of a large ascending triangle. "The upleg of the ascending triangle is the uptrend line drawn from the January 2009 low. DOX is now in a strong uptrend, well above the 30-week moving average which is sloping steadily higher. "Even during the recent consolidation the shares have stayed mainly above the 10 week moving average, another sign of technical strength. The consolidation has also relieved the stock's short-term overbought condition in RSI. "According to the 'measuring principle,' DOX should have a minimum price target of $33 -- more than 20% above current trading levels. Often top stocks in strong uptrends exceed their minimum targets. "In 2009, DOX earned $1.57 a share. In 2011, the 15 analysts who follow the stock project eps. Of $2.20 a share, a 40% increase. "The current trailing P/E of the stock is 17. The PEG ratio takes the Price Earnings Ratio and divides it by the earnings growth rate. "If you calculate a one-year 'PEG' ratio, the shares are a great value--the PEG ratio is .425 (17/40). Anything below one typically represents good value and DOX is trading at less half that amount. "Analysts who follow the stock have caught on. In December 4, Standpoint Research raised their price target from $30 to $34. A number of other analysts think DOX can trade back to the $40's by 2011. In the New Year, I believe DOX has a good chance to break above $28 resistance and move toward $34. My target is $33.95." No.3 From J. Royden Ward: Amedysis (AMED) J. Royden Ward is the editor of Cabot Benjamin Graham Value Letter, a newsletter that -- as its name suggests -- focuses on stocks that meet the criteria of legendary value investor Ben Graham. For his top pick for 2011, he the advisor looks to Amedisys (NASDAQ: AMED), a provider of home health care and hospice services. "Despite government e?orts, health care costs continue to rise to unacceptable levels in the U.S. But there are alternatives that o?er dependable care at substantially less cost to patients and to taxpayers, and I believe one option, home health care, will become an important alternative to lengthy hospital and nursing home stays. "My top stock for 2011 is the largest company in the home health care sector whose impeccable reputation for delivering reliable care is providing the company with exciting new opportunities for exceptional growth. "Amedisys is a leading provider of home health care and hospice services. The company typically provides skilled nurses or nurse assistants who coordinate health care with the patient's family and physician. "The company operates more than 500 Medicare-certified home health agencies and 50 hospice agencies in 37 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. "The company's home health care services provide assistance to patients recovering improving patients' quality of life through physical, speech or other therapy. "For example, the company educates patients on how to avoid falls in the home, which are the leading causes of patients re-entering hospitals. Approximately 87% of Amedisys' home health care services are covered by Medicare. "Amedisys also o?ers hospice home care services for terminally ill patients. Hospice services are designed to provide basic care and comfort to patients and support to family members. "Compared to hospitals and nursing homes, Amedisys can save patients, families and the health care system huge amounts of money. Health care delivered in patients' homes is far less expensive than health services delivered in hospitals and nursing homes. "The home health care industry is fragmented with 9,200 home health care agencies and 3,000 hospice agencies operating in the U.S. Amedisys is actively acquiring smaller home health care agencies that fit the company's acquisition plans, as well as opening their own new agencies at a rapid pace. "The growth opportunities in the home health care industry are obvious. The growing numbers of elderly, and the need for less expensive health care including home health care, will likely create industry growth of 15 to 20% during the next several years and decades. "Revenues climbed 39% and EPS soared 57% during the 12 months ended 9/30/09. Analysts are forecasting 14% sales growth and 11% EPS growth for the next 12 months, but we believe Amedisys will produce sales and earnings growth exceeding 20%. "We base our growth projections on the company's aggressive acquisition program along with its ability to open new agencies e?ciently and profitably. AMED shares are clearly undervalued at 8.3 times our EPS estimate for the next 12-month period." No.4 From Vivian Lewis: BCE (BCE) Given her concerns about overall market valuaton, global expert Vivian Lewis is selecting her top pick from among stocks she calls "dividend payers and fallen angels". In her Global Investing newsletter, she explains, "I consider BCE (NYSE: BCE), with its 6% yield, a great buy." Here's her review of the Canada-based telecom company. "I'm worried about the speculative coloration of the rise in stock prices globally since the bottom in March 2009. I do not think the markets will continue rising as they have since then, in a straight line to the upper right-hand corner of the page. "I expect a serious correction because the global economy is still mired in di?culty. There will be more bad news taking share prices down in the coming year. "To find stocks with ballast for the sell-o? I expect in 2011, I am focusing on dividend payers and fallen angels. Fallen angels have risen less sharply than companies without damaged reputations, and pay out more. "A year after crash of BCE, the Canada telco supposed to have been taken private by Ontario Teachers Pension Plan and US partners, who pulled out, the former Bell Canada is a good buy. "The deal collapsed in the financial crisis. BCE CEO George Cope valiantly then cut 2500 jobs; did a wireless deal with Telus and bought out the remaining half of Virgin Mobile Canada; bought electronics store chain The Source; and boosted BCE dividends. "BCE stock has risen 30% this year in loonies (C$s) and nearly 50% in US dollars. (It trades as BCE both in Toronto and on the NYSE.) But it is still a third cheaper than the former deal price target. That reflects investors' bad memories. Most analysts rate it neutral despite their expecting it to rise to $29.50. "Further hurting BCE was the decision on Dec. 11 by Canadian regulators to allow Globalive to o?er cellular phone service throughout Canada, reversing an earlier bar on the company part-owned by Orascom of Egypt. "While the 2009 Xmas telephone market will not see many o?ers from Globalive, next year there will be cellphone price cuts. This could hurt BCE's gross margins, which are at an astonishing 74%. "However, other telcos without BCE's land-line and multiple cellular options will be hurt more. I consider the stock a great buy yielding 6% with a probability the dividend will be raised." No.5 From Leo Fasciocco: Blue Coat (BCSI) "My pick for 2011 is Blue Coat Systems (NASDAQ: BCSI), a company that provides web security," says Leo Fasciocco, a leading technical analyst known for his focus on stocks that are breaking out of basing patterns. In his The Ticker Tape Digest, he explains, "We consider the stock an excellent intermediate-term play because of its strong profit outlook. Blue Coat, based in Sunnyvale, Ca., provides software and services for networking, with annual sales of $444 million. "Its products enable its end user customers to secure their Internet gateways and remote computer systems by providing protection from malicious code, or malware and objectionable content. ""The company is benefiting from an expansion of its products. In 2008, BCSI acquired Packeteer, a provider of WAN tra?c prioritization technologies. It most recently came out with an expansion of its Webpulse cloud service for Arabic web content. "Looking out to fiscal 2011 ending in April, the Street projects a 44% jump in net to $1.30 cents a share from the 90 cents anticipated for fiscal 2011. "The top stock has been trending higher the past few months recovering from the bear market. The long-term chart for BCSI shows the stock with a cyclical tendency. It is now in the up trend part of its cycle. We see that as favorable for bulls at this time with the stock now trending higher. "In our view, BCSI is an outstanding stock poised to breakout. It is holding in its base and poised to show massive earnings gains.We are targeting BCSI for a move to 36 after a breakout. A protective stop can be placed near 24 after a breakout." No.6 From Dow Theory: BMC Software (BMC) Dow Theory Forecasts is one of the most respected and venerable players in the financial newsletter community; the service has been published continuously for well over 5 decades. Editor Richard Moroney looks to BMC Software (NYSE: BMC) as his top pick for 2011. He explains, "BMC develops products that run corporate data centers, which house critical computer systems. "BMC's long-term contracts sustained stable profits during the downturn. Over the next 12 months, results should benefit as clients resume spending on technology. "Consensus estimates project per-share profits will advance 15% in fiscal 2011 ending March - and grow 14% annually over the next five years. "Recent acquisitions have bolstered BMC's promising segment for automating datacenter activities. Fortune 500 companies comprise more than 85% of BMC's client list, and such companies are unlikely to abandon cost-cutting initiatives once the environment improves. "Reflecting this optimism and better-than-expected results for the September quarter, BMC in October raised profit guidance for fiscal 2011. With a trailing price/earnings ratio of 15, BMC trades at a discount to its three-year average P/E of 22 and five-year average of 27. "If the P/E returned to the three-year average and BMC matched consensus profit estimates, the top stock would trade at $58 next year. "While that target seems a stretch, BMC seems fully capable of reaching $45 to $50. BMC is a Focus List Buy and a Long-Term Buy." No.7 From Nicholas Vardy: Brazil Small Cap (BRF) "The global bull market is back in Brazil," says international investing expert Nicholas Vardy. In The Global Bull Market Alert, he explains, "Global markets recovered in the beginning of November; at that time, we looked to one of the hottest markets on the planet, Brazil, through the Market Vectors Brazil Small-Cap ETF (NYSE: BRF). The ETF remains our top pick for 2011. "Brazil, as its place on the cover of Economist magazine recently confirmed, was the flavor of the month in emerging markets. Brazil had recently won the right to host the Olympics in 2016, raising its profile much like the Beijing Olympics did for China. Investors were pouring in. "Its currency, the real, gained 50% against the U.S. dollar since the prior December, with the economy firing on all cylinders, posting an 8%-10% growth in Q3. My forecast has been that, overall, Brazil's economy will grow by 5% in 2011. "In December, the Inter-American Development Bank approved a $3-billion conditional credit line with Brazilian small and mid-sized businesses on Thursday. Around 75% of the new jobs created in Brazil this year were created by small and mid- sized businesses. "With the market already up 76.9% in local currency terms at the time, betting on Brazil was clearly a momentum play. That's also why I recommended a small cap ETF, which had outperformed its large cap ETF counterpart this year. "Looking ahead, Brazil's biggest enemy is likely to be its own hubris -- getting too cocky for its own good. But before it does, I'm betting the market has further to go. After all, it went up almost 6-fold in dollar terms during its last bull run starting in 2003. "This is the reasoning behind my recommendation for Market Vectors Brazil Small- Cap ETF. For a potentially bigger upside, I recommended the April $45 call options. For full disclosure, this is a position that I hold on behalf of my clients at Global Guru Capital." No.8 From Karim Rahemtulla: Electronics Arts (ERTS) "I've been tracking the companies I feel are best positioned to sustain the market's upward momentum into next year," says Karim Rahemtulla. The options expert with Investment U suggests, "One such company is Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:ERTS) – a major player in the video game industry. ERTS is one of the largest creators and sellers of multi-platform content in the industry and it finally o?ered some guidance for the year ahead. "Expectations for earnings for 2011 are 87 cents per share with revenues of $4.26 billion. EA came out and said that revenues should fall between 4.2 and $4.4 billion with earnings ranging from $0.70 to $1. "That type of wide range never sits well with Wall Street, which likes much narrower ranges and more specific guidance. "There are three reasons to buy EA now: "First, share prices do not usually wait for numbers to come through before they move higher. They move higher in anticipation of better earnings ahead. This should happen after the company reports numbers for the first and second quarter of next year. Second, if this economy and market are really recovering, one of the prime beneficiaries will be a company like EA, which is solidly in the consumer discretionary space. "Third, EA has been the subject of many takeover rumors, specifically by the likes of Microsoft. Currently the shares are trading at $16.50 per share, down from highs of more than $50 just over a year ago. It is flush with cash, very little debt and a dominant market position. "While a takeover would be the least likely outcome, there still is that chance and in the current climate of mergers and acquisitions, I wouldn't be surprised to see a bid made for EA. "While shares themselves look to be a good buy, I prefer to play this one using the Electronic Arts January 2012 $20 LEAPs." No.9 From Martin Hutchinson: Eldorado Gold (EGO) "While my primary focus is on the international financial markets, it's the glint of gold that has caught my eye for 2011," says Martin Hutchison. The contributing editor to both Money Map Report and Money Morning, explains, "Gold – or mining companies like Eldorado Gold (NYSE: EGO) – an especially compelling investment for 2011. "There hasn't really been a commodity bubble like the current one since the late 1970s. It will end, as these things always do – but only when the world's central banks decisively tighten monetary policy and turn o? the spigots flooding the system with cash. "That's unlikely to happen until consumer inflation has shown itself rising sharply. In relative terms, gold's price is still far below its all-time highs – the 1980 top at $875 per ounce is equivalent to $2,400 today, roughly double the current price. "Supply is also becoming an ever-larger factor – the total global supply of new gold in 2009 was valued at under $90 billion, with another $35 billion or so available from recycling. "That first number is unlikely to change as mining output has been declining by about 1% per annum in volume terms, in spite of the recent surge in gold's price. "This means that if the big boys – such as the hedge funds (global assets of $1.9 trillion) or China (o?cial reserves of $2.3 trillion) – get involved, demand is likely to quickly exceed supply by a huge margin. "Even though all the gold ever mined is still with us, it has a value of only about $5 trillion – a lot of money, but not huge in light of global investment flows. "So, if the money really pours into gold, the price could again take o?. After all, $2,400 an ounce is still some distance away, and there's a lot more speculative capital around today than there was in 1980. "There's no money tightening in the works currently. The Fed has kept monetary policy extremely loose for a year now, and has said it has no intention of raising rates in the near term. "The European Central Bank, the Bank of Japan and the Bank of England have also indicated they do not intend to tighten, while China's M2 money supply has risen by 29% in the past year. "Given all this money supply sloshing around, it's not surprising that gold prices have zoomed upwards – and will continue doing so as long as the Fed and its central bank brothers maintain a loose-money policy. Rather than gold itself, I'd recommend gold mining shares – first choice, Eldorado Gold – for two reasons: 1 * First, there's the leverage. A gold mining company with extraction costs of $600 per ounce doubles its profits when gold goes from $900 to $1200. 2 * Second, commodity speculation pushes up share valuations, so chances are you'll make even more money. After all, the earnings growth rate becomes pretty spectacular, which can make a very simple company look like a Google! "As a bonus, Eldorado is not just in gold, it's in Chinese gold – both internally and through a takeover it recently executed. "That means it benefits not only from any rise in gold prices, but directly from increases in Chinese wealth. Chinese investors, when they buy gold, will naturally turn first to domestic output. "Eldorado plans to double current production by 2013 (even without its recent acquisition) – no decline here. What's more, it's reasonably valued – actually quite cheap – considering its earnings potential. "The company was founded in 1992, and has come a long way in a relatively short time, building to a recent market capitalization of $5.15 billion. "It owns the Kisladeg gold mine in Turkey, which produced 58,000 ounces of gold in the third quarter of 2009, and the Tanjanishan gold mine in western China, which produced 31,000 ounces. "In addition, its Efemcukuru project, with projected reserves of 1.7 million ounces of gold in Turkey, is expected to begin production in the fourth quarter of 2011. "Eldorado also has gold-development projects in Greece and Brazil and an iron-ore project in Brazil. Its current gold reserves, proved and probable, total 7.6 million ounces. "In September 2009, Eldorado made an agreed-share-exchange o?er for Sino Gold, the largest international gold mine in China. The o?er values Sino Gold at approximately $2.2 billion and will give Sino shareholders approximately 25% of the combined group. "Sino has two operating mines in China – Jinfeng, the country's second-largest mine with production of 151,000 ounces, and the White Mountain Gold Mine, which began production in January 2009. The Eastern Dragon project in Heilongjiang province will become Sino's third mine. "The combined companies will have gold reserves of 12.7 million ounces, with annual production expected to reach 850,000 ounces in 2011. In the third quarter, Eldorado earned $30.2 million, or 8 cents a share – up from 5 cents a share in the third quarter of 2008. "That's at an average gold price received of $957 per ounce, compared with a total production cost, including overhead, of $430 per ounce. Based on third-quarter earnings, EGO has a P/E ratio of about 35 times – steep, but not excessive given the growth potential. "That should become obvious in the year-end figures, which will show the rise in gold prices we saw in recent months dropping straight to Eldorado's bottom line. "Just estimating, if the gold price for the fourth quarter averages $1,100 an ounce, that will send an extra $150 per ounce or so in profits to shareholders, adding about 35% to EPS and reducing the P/E correspondingly. "Yes, labor and energy costs could rise a bit, but not much – Eldorado's costs were only $402 per ounce in the third quarter of 2008, when oil was at $147 a barrel. "Bottom line: Increasing gold production – check. Contained costs – check. In the middle of the world's fast-growing Chinese gold market – check. Decent balance sheet and profitability – check. What's not to like?" No.10 From Bill Matthews: Emerson Radio (MSN) "Emerson Radio (NYSE: MSN) is an atttractive, low-priced stock," says Bill Matthews, a specialist in lower-priced issues. The advisor, who has been publishing The Cheap Investor for nearly 3 decades, suggests, "The top stock has the potential for significant appreciation in 2011." "In this market, we wanted to recommend a quality low priced stock that is relatively safe, has good increasing revenues and outstanding earnings. We are also looking for a stock that is selling at an attractive low price, and has the potential for significant growth and top stock appreciation in 2011. Emerson Radio fits these criteria. "Emerson Radio is a household name. Together with its subsidiaries, it engages in designing, marketing, selling, and licensing various consumer appliance, electronic and house ware products. "It products are sold in the United States and internationally. Emerson Radio Corp. markets its products under the Emerson and HH Scott brands. "The company distributes its products primarily through mass merchandisers, discount retailers, toy retailers, and distributors and specialty catalogers in the United States. "Emerson has an excellent balance sheet with $29 million or $1.06 per share in cash, a book value of $2.25 per share and less than $6 million in debt. Insiders own 65% of the 27 million total shares outstanding and 22 institutions own 17% of the float. "Emerson has excellent financials for the six-month period ended September 30. Revenues are $107 million up from $97 million a year ago. Net income is $4.3 million or $0.16 a share up from a loss of ($242,000) or (.01) a share verses a year ago. "If you look at Emerson's top stock chart between June 2002 and June 2003, you'll see that the price soared from $1.50 to $7.50 because of excellent revenue and earnings increases. We believe, that if Emerson continues its earnings growth, the price could skyrocket again." No.11 From Stephen Quickel: Equinix (EQIX) "Equinix (NASDAQ: EQIX), the global data center operator, is one of the most tempting growth stock opportunities on the 2011 horizon," says Stephen Quickel. The editor of US Investment Report explains, "Big banks, market data providers, telecoms and other technology-driven clients use the firm's data center platforms to reduce their own capital expenditures and operating costs. "The Silicon Valley-based company, barely ten years from startup, has moved quickly to open 45 data full-service centers serving clients in 18 key regions of the U.S., Europe and Asia-Pacific areas. "These centers provide data management services to global enterprises of all sorts, including content and financial companies and network service providers,. "With demand rising rapidly, Equinix, has been able to lift revenues from $118 million in 2003 to $705 million in 2008, and to an estimated $880 million in recessionary 2009. Analysts project $1.17 billion in 2011—a two-year rise of 67%. "As for earnings, the rapidly expanding company showed deficits for its first eight years, but reduced them in all but one year. Now firmly in the black and established as a sector leader, its gains could be large over the next few years. "Rapid expansion of its IBX centers (short for International Business Exchanges) has required considerable debt. The latest available debt/equity ratio is an elevated 1.27. "But capital spending is leveling o?, and Smith and his managers have kept of tight rein on operating costs. "Earnings have risen 26 quarters in a row. After tax margins are reportedly at a four-year high. Third quarter 2009 earnings jumped 213% year-over-year, beating analyst estimates by 57%. "Zacks reports consensus five-year earnings growth projection of 18.4% a year going forward. First Call shows earnings up 26% in 2011 and more than 40% in 2012. "Those eye-catching numbers have not gone unnoticed. EQIX is not cheap by conventional measures. At 105 in late December (up from 40 in March), it traded at 51 times FC's 2011 earnings projection and 34 times its 2011 estimate. "But the top stock has impressive support. Among 26 brokers—a large following for a young $4-billion market cap stock—15 rated it a Strong Buy in December, 3 a Buy and 8 a Hold, with no Sells. "Goldman Sachs, altogether, owns 12.5% of the outstanding shares, with Wellington Management and Shumway Capital Partners each holding 8%-plus. Wells Fargo, Barclays, Morgan Stanley and Vanguard also have large positions. "Of course, the Big Boys bought in at lower levels and have added shares along the way—and will doubtless continue to do so. "With its high debt and P/E, it's not the kind of play-it-safe stock that attracted investors in late 2009. But as we head into 2011, few mid-caps have emerged with more fascinating near- and long-term growth possibilities." No.12 From Paul McWillams: EZchip (EZCH) "EZchip Semiconductor (NASDAQ: EZCH), a fabless semiconductor company that specializes in network processors," is my top pick for the coming year," says technology sector guru Paul McWilliams. In his Next Inning newsletter, designed for sophisticated tech investors, he suggests, "I think the upside potential here in 2011 and beyond is significant. "Its initial market target has been what's termed as CESR (Carrier Network Switching and Routing). EZCH has since expanded its focus to include products that are broadly grouped into what's called the 'Access' market. "Between organic demand growth in the CESR market and EZCH's expansion into the Access markets, it is estimated the company will be addressing a total available market potential of about $1.5B by 2012. "That implies substantial upside revenue potential for a company that will report somewhat less than $40M in revenue for calendar 2009. "In 2011, EZCH will be shipping NP2 and NP3 / NP3C network processors in volume to its CESR customer base. In addition to this, we'll also see the initial revenue generated from its next generation CESR solution, the NP4 and its debut Access product, the NPAx. "Notable production ramps for the NPA and NP4, which sells for roughly twice the price of a NP3, will begin in 2011. Revenue from its NP2 will likely peak in late 2011 or 2012 as Juniper winds down its demand and replaces the NP2 with an internally designed ASIC. "However, I believe this will be much more than o?set with the ramp of the NP3 and NP3C, the latter of which is designed into various platforms at Cisco including its new ASR series edge router. "I believe EZCH's lack of participation in the 2009 tech rally is attributable to two factors. The first is what I think will prove to be a misunderstanding as to when its business at Juniper will peak and the sharpness of the decline following the peak. "In my view, this peak won't happen until late in 2011 at the earliest and by then it will be much more than o?set by growing business at Cisco; not to mention design wins at other leading networking companies that will ramp in 2011 and beyond. "The second factor has been the selling of shares by some of EZCH's early venture capitalists (VC's). Due to the fact EZCH initiated a secondary o?ering to liquidate these VC shares in one fell swoop as well as complete the purchase of its a?liated EZchip Technologies operating unit, this selling pressure will soon be eliminated. In my view, with this gone and EZCH poised to post impressive growth in 2011." No.13 From Tracey Ryniec: Jinpan Int'l (JST) "Jinpan International Limited (NYSE: JST), a manufacturer of transformers, is the top pick for 2011 from Tracey Ryniec. The value stock strategist for Zacks.com explains, "The company is positioned to benefit from the trillions of dollars of government stimulus around the world, as much of it is going into infrastructure. "China has been an investing hotspot for several years. Even the great recession of 2008 and 2009 did little to slow down investor interest as the Chinese government injected massive stimulus into its economy which has propelled growth. "In 2009, the Shanghai Composite Index surged over 70%, far outperforming the stock markets of the United States and most of Europe. "Questions abound about whether China is too hot to handle and is a bubble waiting to burst. But I believe investors should look at each company individually, whether it is in China or not. "While macroeconomic and political issues shouldn't be ignored, some companies will be better suited to ride out any rough patches. One of those companies is Jinpan International, one of only two UL certified cast resin transformer manufacturers in the world. "While it has its headquarters and manufacturing facilities in China and generates a majority of its business in China, Jinpan is actually an American company held by a British Virgin Islands holding company. It is also not a newbie on the Chinese stage. Jinpan has been in business since 1993. "The company manufactures medium voltage transformers (10-25 kV.) That doesn't sound too glamorous, but the transformers are used in large infrastructure projects like factories and real estate developments as well as in municipal transportation projects like airports and subway systems. "Jinpan is positioned to benefit from the trillions of dollars of government stimulus around the world, as much of it is going into infrastructure. International sales have been growing. In the third quarter, sales outside of China rose 40% to $8.1 million and accounted for 18.5% of net sales, up from 13% a year ago. "International customers were ordering cast resin transformers for wind power applications, along with the more traditional orders for use in airports, subways, and data centers. "Orders for wind applications were 18% of net sales in the third quarter. The company's recently opened Shanghai manufacturing facility now handles the growing wind energy products business. "In October 2009, Jinpan expanded in the U.S. opening a New Jersey o?ce and warehouse. Clearly, international sales are key to Jinpan's growth in 2011 and beyond. "Despite a big jump in the top stock in 2010 (what didn't rally in 2009?), Jinpan has attractive valuations. The company is trading at about 13 times forward earnings. It has a low PEG ratio of just 0.64. Analysts polled by Zacks project earnings growth of 42% in 2009 and, so far, just 3.19% in 2011. "But the company has had two big earnings surprises in the second and third quarters of 2009 so there is reason to think that growth will be much hotter than current projections. Analysts are bullish on the long term outlook, expecting earnings growth to average 20% over the next 5 years. "Jinpan has an excellent 1-year return on equity of 24.75%. The company also shows its support to shareholders by paying a dividend, unusual for a Chinese-based company, which is yielding about 0.50%." No.14 From Brien Lundin: Keegan Resources (KGN) "Gold will be the primary beneficiary of the massive bailout and stimulus plans enacted by not only the United States, but every industrialized nation across the globe," forecasts Brien Lundin. The mining stock specialist and editor of The Gold Newsletter looks to a small gold exploration and development company as his top pick for 2011: Keegan Resources (ASE: KGN). "Because of the deflationary influences of higher productivity, moribund economic growth and cheap labor in developing nations, we won't see the kind of price inflation that characterized the 1970s. "But we will see galloping monetary inflation — or much more currency in circulation — and the result will be higher prices for assets such as commodities and equities. "So if gold is going to lead the pack, what's the best gold investment? In my opinion, smaller gold exploration and development companies will o?er valuable leverage to gold, and one of the best is Keegan Resources. "Keegan controls the Esaase gold project, a major mine-in-the-making located in the investor-friendly nation of Ghana, in west Africa. "The company has made quick work of the project, going from field exploration to drilling to resource definition and pre-feasibility studies in a span of just three years. "Now, Keegan finds itself sitting on top of a near-surface, open-pittable deposit that contains 3.47 million ounces of gold according to the most recent resource estimate. "As impressive as that total is, it has the potential to grow significantly larger. The outlined resource remains open both along trend and at depth, and it lies within a country that hosts some of the world's largest gold deposits. "Whether Keegan can unearth a resource of similar size at Esaase remains to be seen, but most analysts feel the next resource estimate will show the total gold holdings to have increased to at least five million ounces. "And with the company tying up new ground along trend, there's literally no telling how large this find could grow. "Frankly, I don't expect Keegan to develop Esaase into a mine — that job will likely devolve to the major mining company that buys Esaase, or Keegan itself. "The company's management team knows this as well, and they are guaranteeing the best price by advancing steadily toward production. "Keegan was among the highest of the high flyers during gold's fall rally. Although the share price has therefore come back fairly hard during the subsequent correction, the closing of a recent financing essentially opened a door to potential take-out o?ers for the company. "While I know of no indications that any o?ers are forthcoming, there is the possibility that a bid, or a bidding war, could emerge at any time. In light of this, and considering the dip in its share price, Keegan is one of my top gold stock recommendations." No.15 From Daily Paycheck: Kinder Morgan (KMP) For her top pick for 2011, income specialist Amy Calistri looks to Kinder Morgan Energy Partners L.P. (NYSE: KMP). The editor of The Daily Paycheck explains, "I always look for the gift that keeps on giving; that's how I view this master limited partnership, which produces a steady stream of income each and every quarter. "Kinder Morgan Energy Partners is one of the largest owners and operators of energy- product pipelines and storage facilities in the United States. "Formed in 1992, KMP is structured as a publicly-traded master limited partnership (MLP). MLPs are an important asset class for income investors because they are legally required to distribute most of their taxable income and cash flow to shareholders (known as 'unitholders'). "KMP's extensive pipeline systems carry products such as gasoline and heating oil from the Gulf Coast to the East and West Coasts. "KMP also owns and operates a network of carbon-dioxide (CO2) pipelines, which are used in a process known as enhanced oil recovery. These pipes carry CO2 to old oil fields where it is injected into the fields to increase productivity. These enhanced recovery techniques become more popular as oil prices rise. "And KMP is continuing to grow its pipeline revenues through expansion. This past November , the Rockies Express Pipeline became fully operational. "KMP owns a 50% stake in the 1,679-mile project, which carries natural gas from the Rocky Mountains to the Pennsylvania/Ohio border. "Although KMP is an energy-related company, its revenues are relatively insensitive to energy prices. The partnership earns fees based on the amount -- not the price -- of gas, oil or refined products it processes and transports. "Many of its interstate pipelines charge rates that are regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. These regulated rates are set to allow Kinder Morgan a steady, reliable return on invested capital. "Further, the partnership has already locked in guaranteed capacity from a few shippers on its pipes. KMP appears to be on track to not only deliver, but also continue to grow, its distributions. "And when it comes to distributions, KMP has a stellar track record, having made quarterly payments like clockwork since October 1992. "KMP also has a very consistent record of dividend growth, boosting distributions nearly every year since its inception. The partnership has increased its distributions at an annualized rate of +7.5% in the last five years alone. "KMP currently pays a quarterly dividend of $1.05 per unit, equivalent to $4.20 per year for a yield of approximately 7% at current prices. It should be noted that MLPs are best held in taxable accounts as most of their distributions are classified as 'return of capital'." No.16 From Mark Leibovit: Legend International (LGDI) Mark Leibovit uses a proprietary technical trading system known as volume reversal analyst; over time his buy and sell signals for the market has led to one of the top rankings among market timers -- including being ranked timer of the year in 2006 by Timer Digest. He also uses this system to highlight trades among individual top stocks to buy -- such as his top pick for 2011: Legend International Holdings (Other OTC: LGDI). Here's the latest from his VRTrader. "Legend International Holdings, Inc. engages in the exploration and development of mineral properties. It principally focuses on the development of its phosphate deposits located in the Mt. Isa district, along the margin of the Georgina Basin of Queensland, Australia. "The company also owns interests in diamond and base metal projects located in Northern Territory. Its exploration licenses cover 40,525 acres in Queensland and 4.7 million acres in the Northern Territory, Australia. "Legend International Holdings has a strategic alliance agreement with Wengfu Group Co. Ltd. The company was formerly known as Sundew International, Inc. and changed its name to Legend International Holdings, Inc. in March 2003. Legend International Holdings was founded in 2001 and is based in Melbourne, Australia. "Our technical target for the shares is a move to $2.25-$2.50." No.17 From Gene Inger: Level 3 Communications (LVLT) "Our bias has again shifted temporarily to the bearish side, which makes me cautious about picking stocks in early 2011," says Gene Inger. With that caveat in mind, the editor of The Inger Letter looks to the Level 3 Communications(NASDAQ: LVLT), s speculative, low-priced issue. "We owned this top stock years ago and when Level 3 bought Broadwing we got stock and cash; thus solid profits years ago or zero-cost basis on Level 3 shares. "After pundits hyped it (at triple current prices) the top stock has dropped to an area of attractiveness. One caution: from sub-$1 levels during our forecast market panic a year ago, the shares have doubled; thus it's not impossible that 'capital gains taking' could suppress the top stock somewhat early-on in the new year. "Thus our buy-zone will be particularly wide; such as between 90 cents and $1.30 or so. One may elect to pay more and scale-in; though we'd prefer to buy in on pullbacks. "Meanwhile, we note that their ability to service their debt should not be an issue presently; so we are interested to see what they do over the next year or two; not past 2012. "Our original interest in Broadwing -- now absorbed by Level 3 -- was the all-digital-optical as well as transcontinental (now to Europe as well) fiber system. "This system has no latency as still is common with satellite and many other systems (including most fiber networks). "On top of that mobile carriers are increasingly looking to 'backhaul alternatives' to meet their increasing bandwidth needs, which should increasingly result in o?oading to fiber backhaul systems. "The low latency is a reason why most sports and news networks are using Level 3 (two-way conversation reveals latency, whereas one-way conventional transmission doesn't) for their HDTV broadcasts, and we believe that will increase in importance as 3D arrives eventually. "Additional pluses in the fullness of time include bandwidth requirements in the Cloud Computing area; digitized medical record keeping; military uses (they have certain key Federal accounts) and certainly the growth of telecommunications in-lieu of physical travel. "In the sense that reduced physical, and increased optical transport, is e?cient; that's actually a bit of a green' story as well." No.18 From Jim Stack: PepsiCo (PEP) "PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP), my top pick for 2011, remains underrated by the market," says Jim Stack. The money manager and editor of InvesTech Market Analyst suggests, "All too often, it's viewed as a stodgy soft drink company, fully reliant on its namesake soda line. That's a misconception." Here, the sets the record straight. "In reality, PepsiCo owns some of the most sought after brands in the world, including Gatorade, Tropicana, Frito-Lay, and Doritos. It does business in more than 200 countries worldwide, including key emerging market economies like China and India. "Perhaps most important of all, it's a growth company with analysts expecting long-term future earnings growth of 10-12% per year. "In recent months, PepsiCo has taken another major step forward with the pending acquisition of its two primary bottlers – Pepsi Bottling Group and PepsiAmericas. "The acquisition provides the potential to eliminate an estimated $500 million to $1 billion in redundant costs. If those cost savings are transferred directly to the bottom line, shareholders could see a significant increase in net income of 10% to 20%. "Of perhaps even greater benefit, the purchase brings 80% of North American beverage distribution 'in-house.' This move will bring management one step closer to its final customers – injecting a level of flexibility into operations not often seen with a company of PepsiCo's size. "The acquisition further ties together the Pepsi story – a well run company with market leading growth positions and an attractive valuation. "The executive suite neatly combines the beverage 'megabrands' such as Pepsi, Gatorade, Tropicana, and Mountain Dew with the world's largest snack food company, Frito-Lay. "Management then leverages these brands into international growth markets such as Latin America and Asia where sales volume increased more than 20% in 2008, and despite the most challenging world economy in decades, has seen high single-digit growth so far in 2009. " On top of all this, Pepsi is currently trading at valuation levels not seen in 15 years. And although it's a growth company, Pepsi still o?ers the dividend yield (3.0%) of a stalwart. "Bottom line, Pepsi remains underrated by the market in general, and the bottler acquisition only enhances the company's outlook." No.19 From Alex Kolb: Perfect World (PWRD) "Perfect World Company Ltd. (NASDAQ: PWRD), an online game developer and operator, is my top investment idea for 2011," says Alex Kolb. The growth & income analyst for Zacks.com explains, "Chinese stocks have been on fire lately and Perfect World Co., Ltd. is no exception. And the company's fundamentals point to even stronger momentum in 2011. "The company develops online games based on its game engines and game development platforms. Perfect World's games include massively multiplayer online role playing games ('MMORPGs') such asPerfect World, Legend of Martial Arts, Perfect World II, Battle of the Immortals and Fantasy Zhu Xian to name a few. "Perfect World says that a substantial portion of the revenues are generated in China. However, its games have been licensed to leading game operators in a number of countries and regions in Asia, Europe and South America. "The company also generates revenues from game operation in North America and plans to continue to explore new and innovative business models. "Competitors like Shanda are also performing extremely well, an indicator that online role playing games are very popular and should continue attracting more players in 2011. "PWRD shares have soared by more than 120% so far in 2009, surpassing the major averages by more than 100%. Despite the significant surge, the top stock is attractively price with a forward P/E of 14. "Perfect World's fundamentals point to even stronger momentum in 2011. Analysts polled by Zacks currently have 2011 earnings pegged at $3.66 per share. The forecast is up from $3.45 over the past 2 months and compares favorably to the current 2009 Zacks Consensus estimate of $2.90. "If history is any indication, earnings will exceed forecasts. Since 2007, Perfect World has consistently topped earnings expectations. Earnings surpassed estimates by an average of 31% over the past 4 consecutive quarters. "The company is expected to see 33% earnings growth over the next 3 – 5 years, well above the industry's expectation of 18% growth. Other strong industry comparisons include Perfect World's return on equity (ROE) of 55.5%, versus the industry average of 2.5%. "The company boasts a net profit margin of 47%, while the industry average is in the negative. It is also worth noting that Perfect World sports a solid balance sheet, showing no debt. "The company saw robust results in the third quarter. Earnings per share of 81 cents came in 8% ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Total revenues jumped 13% year-over-year. "Management mentioned that third-quarter results exceeded the company's expectations, adding that Perfect World continues to strengthen its competitive advantages in the industry by strategically crafting a highly diversified portfolio of truly di?erentiated games. "Recently, the company introduced a new 3D fantasy MMORPG, Forsaken World. Management explained that this game breaks new ground in terms of overall planning, programming and graphical designs." No.20 From Marcie Wilmot: PMC Sierra (PMCS) "PMC Sierra (NASDAQ: PMCS), my top pick for 2011, was a high-flying star during the telecom boom of 1999-2000, but crashed as the bubble of demand burst in 2001," notes Marcie Wilmot. The contributing editor to Next Inning, a tech-savvy newsletter, suggests, "While it was rough sailing for PMCS after this crash, the company recast its business and operating models and is now successfully focusing on high-growth markets where it could leverage its core di?erentiation. "The net result has been very impressive revenue growth and strategic penetration into markets such as FTTx, Wireless back-haul, Networking, Storage and High-end Printing. "While PMCS fell 6% short of reporting a post-crash revenue record for calendar Q3, it set a new post-crash non-GAAP operating profit margin record at 27.3%. This tells us that during the last year PMCS has taken steps to notably improve the leverage provided by its operating model. "I believe it also supports my contention that PMCS is well poised to continue topping the earnings consensus of the covering analysts as it has during each of the last three quarters. "In looking to 2011, I believe we'll continue to see strong growth from the market sectors noted above with very notable upsides generated by both PMCS' RISC processor business with Hewlett-Packard (high-end printers) as well as from its storage business where it sells products to virtually all the major tier one players. "Based on this view, even in my most conservative model, this leads me to believe PMCS will report non-GAAP earnings in 2011 of $0.60, slightly above the current $0.57 consensus and aligned with the highest estimate provided by the 10 analysts covering the top stock. "In my estimation, when coupled with the net cash value listed on PMCS' balance sheet of $0.94 per fully diluted share, this justifies a current fair value price in the range of $10.62 to $11.42. "While that is only a modest upside from its current price in the mid-$8 range, a year from now when we're looking at what I believe will be a notably higher estimate for PMCS forward earnings in 2011, I think PMCS will merit a fair value price that is somewhere in the mid-teens."

The Day FDR Tore Up The Constitution

2011-06-14T15:16:00.000-07:00

With the Supreme Court nomination hearings for Elena Kagan last week, it's time once again to open up our "Pocket Constitutions."

Kagan has already faced questions on the constitutionality of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and the classic "Right to Bear Arms." But the major question that nominees always face during these events is whether the Constitution should be open to interpretation or if it is a literal document. And that got us thinking...

What if some of our current policies weren't so constitutional after all? After just a little research, we found that one of our most entrenched national institutions barely passed constitutional muster.

In part of FDR's New Deal, Social Security was dreamed up to protect people against financial devastation in their most dependent times. The concept of Social Security was straightforward; the constitutionality of it was not. In concept, the Social Security system would collect a special tax to fund a special account that provides financial support to the nation's elderly, disadvantaged and dispossessed.

But in constitutional terms, the Social Security program would collect taxes from the many to distribute funds to the few. Thus, the Social Security Act of 1935 was a truly groundbreaking piece of legislation...and maybe even unconstitutional.

Prior to the New Deal, legal precedent on the Supreme Court had established that any practice the Constitution did not explicitly permit was, by definition, unconstitutional.

Under the 10th Amendment, federal powers are restricted to what the Constitution says. Nevertheless, politicians and jurists throughout history have debated whether the letter or the spirit of the Constitution ought to be the deciding factor in any Supreme Court decision. Alexander Hamilton and James Madison debated this very idea in the early years of the republic. Hamilton argued the federal government could levy new taxes for the general welfare of the country in a broad sense. But Madison countered that the federal government could only levy new taxes specifically granted by the Constitution.

Central to the New Deal decision was whether or not the Social Security tax "provided for the general welfare" of the country. Creating a brand-new agency to collect and distribute a special tax was unheard of and there were no real precedents to fall back on.

Ultimately, the court settled this debate by declaring, "The powers of Congress to authorize expenditure of public moneys for public purposes is not limited by the direct grants of legislative power found in the Constitution."

This may have been the most expensive sentence ever issued by the Supreme Court. This one little phrase not only blessed the Social Security concept of taxation and redistribution, but it also created the first legal precedent for levying new taxes to fund specific programs.

The rest is history...and it's not a very pretty one. The Social Security system is functionally bankrupt...and growing more insolvent by the day. Far from spending "public moneys for public purposes," the Social Security system borrows foreign money for unsustainable entitlement benefits.

Today, roughly 18 million new or reissued Social Security cards are sent out each year. And more than $600 billion in payments are given to some 50.9 million beneficiaries of the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and the Disabilities Trust Funds.

For years, we've heard that someday the Trust would begin to run deficits - handing out more payments than it receives through taxes. This date has always been in the distant future. But because of the economic meltdown of 2008-09, that day has unexpectedly arrived this year.

For the first time since Social Security was just a twinkle in FDR's eye, the Trust will lose money. The Congressional Budget Office predicts Social Security outlays to reach $708 billion in FY2010, up from $665 billion last year. Meanwhile, revenues are expected to fall flat near $670 billion.

Without significant changes to the system right now, this arguably unconstitutional program could disappear. How to Cure an Economic Depression "As recently as two years ago, anyone predicting the current state of affairs (not only is unemployment disastrously high, but most forecasts say that it will stay very high for years) would have been dismissed as a crazy alarmist."

That was Paul Krugman in today's newspaper. Thomas Friedman is fixing problems in the Middle East, so we'll have to make do with Krugman to entertain us on economic matters.

It is amazing that anyone takes Krugman seriously. It is obvious now that he - and his fellow interventionists - had no idea what was going on two years ago.

Now, at least he sees the drift of events more clearly; we are headed towards a Japan-style deflationary slump.

"It's a good bet that by some measures we'll be seeing deflation by sometime next year," he writes.

"Mr. Bernanke has thought long and hard about how to avoid a Japanese- style economic trap, and the Fed's researchers have been obsessed for years with the same question. But here we are, visibly sliding toward deflation..."

So you see, dear reader, even a Nobel Prize-winning dog can learn a new trick. Now, he sees through a glass darkly... Soon, he will be face to face with deflation.

Of course, the poor man still completely misunderstands what is really going on. But what do you expect? His career depends on not understanding it. Krugman would have to turn his back on his neo- Keynesian creed if he ever caught on to the plot. He would have to look for a new job if he were ever to tell his readers about it. Almost everyone wants the feds to "do something" to avoid the Japanese "trap." Imagine what would happen if The NY Times' leading economist were to say:

"Forget it. The feds have already done too much. Following my advice, they were a major cause of the present crisis. Following my advice, they have made it worse. I was wrong. Now the best thing they can do is to withdraw as gracefully as possible."

That's not what Times readers want to hear. It's not what anyone wants to hear, except us "crazy alarmists" here at The Daily Reckoning.

We've been talking about the Japan trap for years. Economist Richard Koo calls it a "balance sheet recession." He's right about that. The private sector destroys excess capacity and excess debt. When it's over, the private sector balance sheet looks a lot better.

Of course, it could happen faster. In Japan, it may still be going on. Why? Because the Japanese feds worked so hard to stop it. Monetary stimulus. Fiscal stimulus. Quantitative easing. They tried everything. And kept at it for nearly 20 years.

But what they were really doing was preventing the one fix that really fixes. It is as if they were letting the air out of the market economy's tires...and then were amazed that it didn't roll.

You know what cures a depression, dear reader? We'll tell you. A depression.

A depression destroys excessive debt. Businesses with too much debt go broke. Bonds that can't be paid go into default. Households that have spent more than they could afford go broke.

Problem solved. Debt disappears.

Then, the economy can grow again.

So what does Krugman suggest? You guessed it: stop the process of debt destruction at all costs! Do what the Japanese did, in other words, only do more of it.

And more thoughts...

What's really going on?

No one knows. The world is much too complex a place to ever really know what is going on. At best, we can have a vague idea...and maybe see a couple broad trends developing.

Our guess is that the broad trend developing leads towards more debt destruction...deflation...and a Japan-style on-again, off-again slump.

US top stocks for 2011 still trade at 17-times earnings. Most likely, earnings are going down. P/E multiples are going down too. So, the Dow can be expected to shrink to half or less of today's level.

It's harder to see the trend in the bond market. Bill Gross says the two-decade bull market in bonds is over. We're not so sure. The 10-year yield - at 3.05% - is just above the record low from November '09. The 30-year is at 4.04%. Both seem to be sinking toward record lows (meaning higher bond prices).

Meanwhile, world trade appears to be slowing. The key shipping index has been down every day for a month. And the two biggest emerging markets both announced warning signs. China said yesterday that its property prices were declining. India said its rate of industrial production growth "sharply" declined to 11.5%.

If this is so, expect higher bond prices...and perhaps lower gold prices...over the next few years.

*** Does that mean you should sell your gold?

Well, if we were speculators, we might consider selling. But here at The Daily Reckoning, we're not gamblers. We hold gold because it represents real wealth, not because we think it will go up in price.

We don't really know what direction it is going. But that's why we hold it. We don't know what direction anything is going. The nice thing about gold is that it doesn't matter. Gold doesn't go anywhere. It just sits there.

If you buy a bond, for example, you have to worry about the credit quality of the issuer. If things get bad enough, he won't be able to pay up. Your bond could be worthless.

Same for 2011 top stocks. A stock is a share of a company. If the company goes out of business, your stock certificates (assuming you have them) are only good for decorations.

Real estate is more reliable. But there are taxes and upkeep to pay.

Gold is a better way to store wealth. You don't pay property taxes on it. And the roof never leaks.

Besides, gold is especially valuable when other forms of money lose their appeal. The trend of debt destruction will probably not end soon. And the feds will probably sooner or later follow Paul Krugman's advice to "raise [the Fed's] long-term inflation target to help convince the private sector that borrowing is a good idea and hoarding cash is a mistake."

In the meantime, gold may go down in dollar terms. Which will make a good time to buy it.

*** "Boy, those days were very different. It was before the war."

An uncle, 93, was reminiscing.

"I was so lucky. I had just gotten out of Polytechnic in Baltimore...which was what you'd call a high school...but I think it was much better than high schools today. And I had a girlfriend at the time whose father had bought her a little roadster. We'd drive around town and have a great time.

"I'd pull into a gas station. In those days, someone would come right out and start washing your windshield.

"I'd say 'fill 'er up' like I was a big shot. Gasoline was only 15 cents a gallon. But I only had 30 cents. Of course, no one had any money. And everybody knew that no one had any money. So I would say 'fill 'er up' to impress my girlfriend, but then I'd put my arm out the window and hold two fingers down so he knew I really only wanted two gallons.

"Ha ha...what a ball we had back then... And then I was lucky again. I got a job at the Bethlehem steel plant. I made $18 a week. That was a lot of money back then...I was on top of the world.

"Then, of course, along came the war. And we all knew what we had to do. So, we all went down to the armory and signed up.

"We'd had such good training in math and geometry at Poly that they put us in the artillery. And they sent me to officer training...

"And then, they sent me to the Pacific. And I was lucky again. I guess I've always been lucky. If I weren't so lucky I probably wouldn't still be here. They sent me to one of the islands. I was leading a platoon. My mission was to clean the enemy out of valley. We went in...and didn't encounter any resistance. And then we realized that it was a trap. We were surrounded. And they were shooting at us from every side. We radioed for help but there wasn't any help around.

"The men were looking at me... And I was just a young lieutenant... Good God, I thought we were all finished.

"I didn't know what to do. We were stuck. And if we stayed there, we were all going to be killed. So, I ran up a white flag. And when they stopped shooting, I got up and took a couple of men with me...and we advanced to where most of the shooting was coming from. Of course, we thought we were going to be gunned down at any minute. But they allowed us to come up to them...

"And I still didn't know exactly what I was doing...but it was too late to think...I went right up to the fellow who was in command and asked him to surrender!

"And he did! Ha...ha...I couldn't believe it.

"Boy, you can't imagine what that felt like... I was so lucky. He thought he was surrounded...and he was short of supplies."

Guide To Making A Fortune In The Stock Market of 2011

2011-06-14T07:16:00.000-07:00

What If I told you that in less than five minutes you were going to learn the exact tools and techniques that will set you free... that will give you a financial independence that will make your friends jealous and your mother proud?

Would you believe me?

I don't know you and I don't know what kind of situation you're in. But I'll tell you what I do know. Almost every single person I talk to is afraid to even consider the possibility that I have the system that can give them the kind of luxury that they've already convinced themselves they'll never bask in.

And do you know why? Because nobody likes to be let down!

How many times have you been sucked in by some punk who "guarantees" that the system he's selling to you for an absurdly large amount of money... and then leaves you out to dry... with not enough change in your pocket to buy yourself an ice-cold soda?

It happens every day.

And you hate it. You hate being trapped by your financial woes and stress. And you should. And you're about to hate it even more. Why?

Because if you decide to walk away from this opportunity, this is what's going to happen:

You're going to go about your life... go to sleep wanting more... wake up wanting more.. and all along, in the back of your mind, you're going to remember that you passed up an opportunity to bypass all the junk and "filler" you've been a victim to for too long... and get your hands in a proven system that's taken people exactly like you and quenched their insatiable thirst for wealth, once and for all.

Do you want to know what I mean? Then keep reading.

You have to realize this:

You're lucky you hate having money problems. You're lucky you hate the hype, the scams and the run-around you've gotten for months... even years. I wouldn't want it any other way.

Why?

Because the mere fact that you loathe that money causes you stress day in and day out (not to mention the restrictions you must put on your lifestyle), it means that you'll have the sheer drive and will to take full advantage of the full-proof system you're about to discover (and by the way, it was the same sheer drive and will that drove me to become the stock market millionaire I am today).

"But I'm Not The Only One Who's Made A Killing In The Stock Market."

The stock market of 2011 is responsible for making more fortunes than you could possibly imagine (doubt it? Just look through any magazine or website devoted to the stock market of 2011 and you'll immediately see what I mean).

The problem is that all the "average Joe's" out there like you and me were always convinced that you had to know the ins and outs of how a company works... or to have some kind of insider connection to get the tools and training needed to become a successful trader.

This couldn't be farther from the truth.

In fact, many of my greatest success stories are from people just like you who know practically nothing about the stock market of 2011.

Like Andrew here:

I could not be more pleased with my decision to make an investment in myself through Adam's tutelage.

Adam Mesh took it from the very basics to where I am already trading inside of 3 lessons. I am sure I was much like many of you who had so much fear about trading in the stock market of 2011.

I was the same as you prior to my sessions with Adam Mesh.

His risk/reward method limits the risks while it maximizes the rewards. I know easier said then done. But I have already made back a little over 1/3 of my initial investment for Adam's mentoring inside of 4 weeks (4th lesson is this coming Tuesday).

The lessons that I have learned from Adam in terms of where to set my limits based on the levels have saved my hide.

Also looking at some of the key factors has kept me in when I would have sold without this knowledge.

I could not be more happy with the way my mentoring is going and I am glad I made the investment.

Andrew J. Pachon
Carlsbad, California

"Why Is Making Only $5,000 A Bad Day For Me."

Am I superstitious? Yes.

Am I an aggressive trader? Yes.

Am I animated? Definitely (I held the record not only for massive trades... but also for the number of keyboards I broke!).

But, when it comes down to it, I'm just an "Average Joe" that's found a system that will guarantee me success for the rest of my life.

I didn't go to "work" in a suit. I went into the office typically with an old T-shirt and a hat on backwards. In fact, I was famous for being so superstitious, that if I was having a massive winning streak, I would wear the same T-shirt for an entire week!

But even though you'll rarely catch me in a suit, I'm still considered a well respected expert in my field.

Yes, I was the star of the hit TV show "Average Joe: Adam Returns." But more importantly, I've been featured on CNBC's "Squawk Box," on CNN, in Trader Magazine, and... of course, that famous article in Fortune magazine, where they watched over my shoulder as I effortlessly pulled in $19,743 in one day (now, do you see why I consider $5,000 a bad day?).

"What Makes My Approach Different?"

So, yes, I'm a quarky guy in many ways, but I'm not a big risk taker.

Part of what's made me such a sought-after mentor is the fact that I teach a unique trading system that's based on one principle:

Low Risk and High Reward.

I don't teach people to gamble their money. I don't teach people to throw in a chunk of change on some penny stock to buy that will get wiped of the board in two days (along with your entire investment).

This is a simple, paint-by-numbers system that is ideal for beginners. In fact, I get the most satisfaction out of having people like Andrew and Lynelle... people that aren't any different or "special" than you are... and watching them pull in successful trade after successful trade... right off the bat.

You heard me right.

I'm not going to show you something that will take you weeks to get through. I'm giving you the most essential keys to successful trading in a format that's easily digestible and so "hands on" that you can get started trading the same day.

Hey, there's nothing wrong with instant gratification!

So don't worry if you don't know what a "bid" is or what those "symbols" mean. Don't worry if you've never even thought about trading in the stock market of 2011.

"Introducing The Average Joe's Ultimate Beginner's ."

This written manual and 60 minute audio coaching session is designed to educate you from the ground up.

So look at what you're getting:

Hurl yourself past all the junk and hype and learn directly from a mentor famous for taking one of his students and showing him the simple techniques (any four year old could follow) to clench 87 "stock-market-money-in-the-bank" days in a row (and no, that wasn't luck).

Discover the step-by-step strategy I used to make over $19,743... in one day, with Fortune Magazine peering over my shoulder (those guys have written about a lot of millionaires in action... but even they were surprised to see how easy and effortless my approach was).

Avoid the one disastrous mistake that has been known to claim more beginner-stock-market-trading casualties than any other mistake (Don't worry, it's completely simple to avoid as soon as you know what it is).

Learn why you don't have to be a genius, you don't have to be a gifted at math... and you certainly don't have to spend hours doing research to be as successful as I've been (I made over $24,358 in a best stock by only looking at a few simple charts... I didn't even know the company's name!)

Instantly see straight through a stock to tell if it's going to crash and burn or if it's going to pay for your children's college.

Unleash the same easy-as-pie approach I used to make more money in a three days than most people make in a year.

Discover the secret of "momentum" and why it's crucial for your instant success (and no it's not the same as ice skating and being unable to stop).

Learn every single term, technique, and tool you must have at your disposal as a beginner trader (you miss one of these and you might as well quit while you're ahead).

Why certain stocks that experts "black flag" sometimes will make you so much money those experts will be begging you to tell them how you did it.

The same exact website I use every day to unearth all the research you'll ever need about any stock or any company you want to explore.

The insider technique I use to know exactly when to pull out of a best stock, and when to stay in the game (even if a stock is dropping).

"I Dare You... No Matter Where You Look You're Never Going To Find What I'm About To Offer You."

This is my goal.

I want you to be a success story. It's why I work so hard training people like yourself. When I receive letters from people telling me how powerful my techniques are... and how utterly simple and safe... well, it's like they went ahead and plastered a smile on my face.

So this is what I'm going to do.

As soon as you get this training manual and the 60 minute audio coaching session, you're already going to be equipped with every single fundamental technique you'll need to follow in my footsteps and clone the success my students and I have been enjoying.

But I'm taking it one step farther.

You're also getting a free 30 minute one-on-one coaching consultation with one of my top program coordinators.

Yep, something that I normally charge at least $400, I'm giving to you for almost nothing. Just to make sure that you get absolutely everything out of the written manual and the audio coaching session, I'm going to let you ask me any questions you might have, and make sure that you're well on your way to becoming my next success story.

"How Important Is Your Success? Are You Going To Shoot Yourself In The Foot... Or Step Up And Take The Next Step Towards Absolute Financial Independence?"

This is where I see a lot of people screw up.

No, this isn't free (if you knew how much blood,sweat, and tears I've put into this... you would understand), but when it comes to this point, 95% of everyone reading this becomes short-sighted. Too many people see this as spending money... rather than investing money. Big difference.

Reread Andrew's story. He made an investment to have multiple one-on-one coaching sessions with me, and less than a month later, he's already made back 1/3 of what he invested. You try and find something like that... and the closest thing you'll find is some scam artist giving you an empty promise.

So don't be myopic... you'll regret it later.

And here's the million dollar question. If I were to ask you to pay 15,000 dollars for this program... would you flinch? Maybe. But would you walk away? Well, that's crazy. And here's why.

I'm no smarter than you. I didn't go to business school... I'm not even really "book smart." I'm just another Average Joe. But look at me. I'm living proof that my low risk, high reward system works through and through.

So if you had to invest 15,000 dollars knowing that not only would you return that investment... but then go on to claim a kind of wealth you might not even have the imagination to comprehend... you should be going to the bank as we speak.

But am I asking you for that much? No. Not even close.

I've put a lot of thought into it, and I've decided to only ask you $47. That's it. You get the written manual, the 60 minute recorded coaching session... and yes, you get a free 30 minute one-on-one coaching consultation with me one of my top program coordinators.

"I Don't Believe You. Are You Lying To Me?"

Fair question. Nope.

So why am I asking for so little? It's simple.

My mentors understood something crucial not only for their livelihood but for my success as well. They understood that everything they give, they would get back ten-fold.

And because of their initial investment in me... I quickly realized how valuable they were to my success... and I became loyal. I still go to my mentors and and get their advice. And have I helped them? Absolutely. I owe everything to them.

I want to be your mentor. It's my passion. And it's my greatest skill. In all humility, anyone who gets a chance to work with me is almost guaranteed to be successful.

I want to create a relationship with you. For your sake and mine. You see, in the end, this is a win-win situation. I make an investment in you now, by asking for only $47... and I know that you are going to get so much pure value out of it, that you will implicitly trust me here on out.

It's not often you find someone willing to be honest, right?

"The Catch."

I'm not trying to brag, but I'm in demand as a mentor. I have people all over the world calling me asking me to teach them my low risk, high reward step-by-step system to becoming a wealthy stock market trader.

And I wouldn't have it any other way.

As I've already said. I love what I do. And I love watching absolute beginner's make their first successful trade... and go on to become financial forces to be reckoned with.

But there are only so many hours in a day.

This isn't just an ebook. This isn't just an audio session. This is a chance to get all of that and a one-on-one coaching consultation with one of my top program coordinators.

And given the extreme value that I'm offering, I can only work with twenty people at a time.

So if you snooze... well, you really lose this time.

Don't wait. And I'm going to make it even easier for you.

"My Completely Unnecessary... But Full-Proof Guarantee." There really is no reason to give you a guarantee. Why?

Because I know, from my own experience and every single student I've ever had, that there is no way you can get anything but success.

But I respect the fact that you don't know me yet, and you have to take a leap of faith.

So this is what I'm going to do for you.

You have 90 days to check this out. You have 90 days to test-drive my proven system. And if you aren't completely satisfied. Let me know, and I'll give you a complete refund. No questions asked.

"Don't Shoot Yourself In The Foot. Not Only Does It Hurt, But You'll Regret It For The Rest Of Your Life."

So what are you going to do? If you've gotten to this point of the letter, it's obvious that there's something here that's speaking to you. And do you know what it is?

It's the voice inside you, however loud or soft, that knows that you're staring your future right in the eyes. And it's telling you to do the right thing.

But whatever you do, do it with conviction. Either close this window and walk away confident that you did what was best... or click the button below, and get your hands on the exact tools I've used to become a millionaire... and the exact tools you will use to climb up right next to you.

Do what you're going to do... but do it now.

P.S. How do you think it will really feel if you walk away? Do you think you'll just forget about the fact that you turned your head on a proven, guaranteed opportunity to build your own personal fortune. Do you think it won't haunt you?

I don't mean to be dramatic. It's just the truth

Unless you scrolled all the way to the bottom and read this P.S. first, you already know that this isn't an opportunity to be taken lightly.

So do the right thing. Get your hands on the "Average Joe's Ultimate Beginner's ."

The Smart Grid's Two-Fold Profits

2011-05-17T14:56:00.000-07:00

The smart grid is delivering two-fold profits. I know this because I've personally reaped dividends from both folds.

First, from what I call the non-sexy side of smart grid: efficiency. And secondly from the very sexy side of smart grid: investing.

Here's an account of each. . .

Smart Grid Savings

We've barely reached the first rung on the ladder of smart grid deployment, and it's benefits are already apparent.

When it comes to wealth, protecting it can be just as important as growing it. Limiting how much goes out is one way to protect it. And the smart grid can help you do that.

This past winter, months before air conditioning was on anyone's mind, I made a call to my local utility, Baltimore Gas & Electric (BGE). Through their Smart Energy Savers Program, they offer something called Peak Rewards.

In a small nutshell, Peak Rewards offers a discount electricity bill to anyone who signs up. I got a $36 credit last month. My bill was $130, so I had to pay $95-a 27% savings. I, and several thousand other customers, will enjoy that same discount throughout the summer.

Peak Rewards is a fancy way of saying the smart grid has arrived. Upon signing up, an appointment was made for a switch to be installed on my outside air conditioning unit. On days when electricity demand is excessively high, a radio frequency will be sent to my switch telling it to cycle my unit.

Cycling means my fan continues to run, but the unit doesn't cool the air, saving electricity that can then be used where needed. During a cycling event, which don't happen that often, the temperature in my home can be affected by a degree or so. And they usually happen during peak hours, when I'm at work anyway.

So the smart grid is already paying me $35 a month. But this is only the beginning. The very beginning.

Because over the next 20 years, over $2 trillion will be spent on revolutionizing our electricity infrastructure. When complete, my switch will seem archaic.

That's because the grid will finally be in the 21st century, instead of lumbering around like Edison was still here. You'll monitor your home's electricity use from a webpage, charging your car and turning off lights with a click of the mouse from your laptop. I'm serious.

You may even be able to choose which wind farm you want power from.

It'll help consumers save billions of dollars (and kilowatt-hours) by engaging them in electricity use, rather than alienating them from it with a complex monthly statement. But it's also a mega investment opportunity.

Smart Grid Investments

Somewhere down the line BGE partnered with a smart switch provider. A contract undoubtedly worth millions. In this case, Honeywell is the name stamped on the switch.

This process is being, and will be, repeated hundreds of times as utilities across the world adopt smart grid practices. As I said earlier, the total will top $2 trillion.

But it's not just switches.

It's smart meters. Software. Batteries. Transmission wire. LEDs. Substations. And more.

Hundreds of multi-million dollar contracts will drive related top stocks to buy higher. It's the second fold of smart grid profits. . . and they directly affect your portfolio.

So while you're knocking a third off your utility bill on the front side, you can be reaping double and triple digit winners on the back end. It's going on right now:

If you're not on board yet, don't worry. This is a decades-long process, and the benefits will only grow.

Call your local utility and see what kinds of new programs they're offering. Encourage them to adopt an efficiency or related rebate program if they don't have one already.

And by all means, start investing in the companies making the smart grid a reality. But don't do it on a whim.

It explains how the smart grid will come to be, what technologies it will encompass and, most importantly.

Top Stocks For 2011

2011-05-17T06:56:00.000-07:00

Picking A Strategy

2011-05-04T06:26:00.000-07:00

I recently wrote a little about picking a best stock for 2011 and mentioned a few of the myriad ways in which an investor or trader might go about selecting a candidate. In my own trading life, as I review stocks, I find that the process becomes much more one of elimination than selection. As I look at a chart, for example, I can see that good old XYZ may have just reached up to a resistance and is turning down. A quick fundamental review may show that earnings have dipped due to some new competition, debt is considerably higher than other stocks in the sector, and a potentially large lawsuit has just been commenced against the company. If all this is occurring in a bull market, XYZ is not a buy for me; it is eliminated as a potential bullish addition to my portfolio since I know there are other better candidates out there. Does that mean that as a trader I am not interested in the stock? Definitely not. Though I have quickly rejected it as a buy I may give further consideration to XYZ as a bearish candidate. I may look at a different strategy that looks like it might have a greater chance of success with XYZ. Does it fit my parameters to short the stock, or to buy puts, or maybe put on a bear put debit spread or a bear call credit spread? I can see how those strategies might be a better choice given the information I have about XYZ and its price performance.

A majority of investors and retail traders may pass right over XYZ since their bias is bullish and they are only looking for top stocks to buy. Those investors may only really consider one strategy; buy the stock first and sell it later. In so doing they easily may miss the apparent opportunity the XYZ scenario offers to an investor armed with more than one strategy. There are many ways to making money in the markets, and the utilization of various strategies can add income streams and profits to the trader or investor who gains understanding.

How we invest or trade is a personal decision. The decision is influenced by how much time we have, how much cash we have to invest, our age, our family situation, our risk tolerance, our interest and a variety of other factors. No matter who you may be, if you have the interest to read this article, there is almost certainly a strategy that will fit your situation and comfort level. I devoted my new book to this subject. "Smart Investors Money Machine" is designed for investors as well as traders. In "Smart Investors Money Machine," I have tried to consider a wide variety of investors and traders using examples of a young single person, a growing family, and a couple reaching retirement to show numerous ways each might select a strategy that fits them and their lifestyle and at the same time will provide them with more income. The book isn't limited to option strategies though it does discuss some. The scope of "Smart Investors Money Machine" encompasses a variety of strategies from buy and hold to dividend capture to writing covered calls, to specific sectors that offer exceptionally high yields and includes a basic primer on bond investing and annuities, and even explains a little about reverse mortgages. With each strategy, I not only describe the strategy but also show how people in differing times and stations of life might use it to bring in more income to lighten their daily load.

The point is there are lots of ways to create streams of income. Some of them require a lot of time and some very little time. Some are very risky and offer higher potential rewards while others are accompanied by a lesser risk but offer a lesser potential reward. There are plenty of ways to do it and some of those ways are likely to fit your specific circumstances. In my view, it is definitely worth the trouble to explore the possibilities and see what you like and what can work for you.

Almost assuredly there are strategies for you. What I often see is people trying to be traders rather than investors when they have neither the time, the knowledge, the capital, nor the risk tolerance to really be traders. My advice to them universally is it is great to be a trader, but first you need to acquire the knowledge. In the meantime, there is no reason why they shouldn't be generating additional income using other strategies that may be less complex, less time consuming, require less attention (in some cases even no attention), and still add a stream or streams of income.

The strategies we utilize are critically important to our success and choosing what strategy we will employ may be as important, and sometimes even more important than the specific XYZ we select.

Recommended Top Stocks To Buy:

FAS (Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares)
This past week, Option Trader closed a debit spread on FAS for a before commission gain of 76% in just under three months. Thereafter, a new debit spread was entered using slightly different strikes. For those with an interest in financials, FAS is an interesting vehicle.

UNG (United States Natural Gas Fund ETF)
Trend Trader opened and quickly closed a one day trade to grab a 2.4% return before the small commission. Since exiting, UNG has been drifting down toward an uptrend line. I'm continuing to watch to see how the share price behaves as it deals with the trend line.

Will the Great "Pink Sheets Makeover" Work?

2011-05-03T22:26:00.000-07:00

I doubt the average person has any idea what the Pinks Sheets are, much less anything about its reputation. But the average investor probably has very few positive things to say about this over-the-counter stalwart.

It's the "Wild West" of investing...

You can't find anything on the Pinks that isn't a sub-penny or shell company...

Stock promoters and scam artists - and their helpless victims - are the only forms of life inhabiting the Pink Sheets...

However, the Pink Sheets landscape is changing dramatically. And these changes could mean a more investor-friendly environment is finally making its way to the once-murky waters of bulletin boards. In fact, you might already be relying on the Pink Sheets for all of your over- the-counter trades - even if you've never put your money in a Pink Sheets stock before.

I'll explain how it all works in a minute. First, it's important to see how the Pinks have evolved into a major player in the listing game.

The Pink Sheets put its plan into motion back in 2007 when it began to differentiate between transparent, reporting companies and the shell companies that make up the Pink's notorious grey market. Most of these newly listed OTCQX stocks were larger, foreign firms looking for a foothold in the US markets. Even multi-billion dollar firms such as Adidas and Wall Mart of Mexico count themselves as members of the OTCQX.

The Pink Sheets boasts that the OTCQX is the "premier tier of the US over-the-counter market... Investor-focused companies use the quality controlled OTCQX listing platform to offer investors transparent trading, superior information and easy access through their regulated US broker-dealers."

And it's not just foreign firms that are populating the Pink's transparent listings. Since its 2007 inception, the program has expanded to include multiple market tiers designed to help traders and investors know exactly what they're getting into when they throw their money at a Pink's listing.

The OTCQB was the next step. This is the latest market tier for transparent, reporting, fully up-to-date listings. A public relations push has accompanied the OTCQB launch. The Pink's domain has changed to "otcmarkets.com." Front-and-center on the page is a link to the market tiers, along with clear designations and descriptions for even the speculative and grey market securities.

It would appear the PR blitz and OTCQB launch are part of the Pink's plan for OTC listing dominance. That's the important part: the Pink Sheets is not an exchange - it's a listing service, competing with the OTCBB, which is run by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).

Despite its less-than-stellar reputation, the Pink's are winning the technology race. Market makers have turned to the Pink's quotation system in droves. In fact, more than 80% of all market maker quotes in OTC stocks are now published on the Pink's platform, with just 20% on the OTCBB. So if you're buying an OTC stock, chances are the Pink's system is the one pulling the lever.

I can't say how quickly the Pink Sheet's reputation will change, if at all. But the listing service is positioning itself to turn the OTCBB into a thing of the past. That in itself is reason enough to pay close attention... How One Local Government Cut its Expenses and Actually Gained Public Support People are bicycling. The sun is shining...sparkling off the water and the glass towers. Snow capped mountains are in the background.

Welcome to Vancouver...

But after 20 hours of travel, we're too tired to write...

Besides... Nothing happened yesterday. The Dow rose 75 points. Gold went up $9.

Oh... Here's something interesting. Local government says it can't cut expenses? The New York Times:

A City Outsources Everything. Sky Doesn't Fall.

MAYWOOD, Calif. - Not once, not twice, but three times in the last two weeks, Andrew Quezada says, he was stopped and questioned by the authorities here.

Mr. Quezada, a high school student who does volunteer work for the city, pronounced himself delighted.

"I'm walking along at night carrying an overstuffed bag," he said, describing two of the incidents. "I look suspicious. This shows the sheriff's department is doing its job."

Chalk up another Maywood resident who approves of this city's unusual experience in municipal governing. City officials last month fired all of Maywood's employees and outsourced their jobs.

While many communities are fearfully contemplating extensive cuts, Maywood says it is the first city in the nation in the current downturn to take an ax to everyone.

The school crossing guards were let go. Parking enforcement was contracted out, City Hall workers dismissed, street maintenance workers made redundant. The public safety duties of the Police Department were handed over to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

At first, people in this poor, long-troubled and heavily Hispanic city southeast of Los Angeles braced for anarchy.

Senior citizens were afraid they would be assaulted as they walked down the street. Parents worried the parks would be shut and their children would have nowhere to safely play. Landlords said their tenants had begun suggesting that without city-run services they would no longer feel obliged to pay rent.

The apocalypse never arrived. In fact, it seems this city was so bad at being a city that outsourcing - so far, at least - is being viewed as an act of municipal genius.

"We don't want to be the model for other cities to lay off their employees," said Magdalena Prado, a spokeswoman for the city who works on contract. "But our residents have been somewhat pleased."

That includes Mayor Ana Rosa Rizo, who was gratified to see her husband get a parking ticket on July 1, hours after the Police Department had been disbanded. The ticket was issued by enforcement clerks for the neighboring city of Bell, which is being paid about $50,000 a month by Maywood to perform various services.

The reaction is all the more remarkable because this is not a feel-good city. City Council hearings run hot, council members face repeated recall efforts and city officials fight in public. "You single-handedly destroyed the city," the city treasurer told the City Council at its most recent meeting.

Four years ago, in what was probably the high-water mark of acrimony in Maywood, a deputy city clerk was arrested and accused of soliciting a hit man to kill a city councilman. The deputy clerk, Hector Duarte, was concerned that his salary might be reduced or his job eliminated during a previous round of bad fiscal times; he was sentenced to a year in jail and six months of anger management counseling.

This time, the councilman, Felipe Aguirre, has received no threats and has seen remarkably little anger. "This is a very bad economy," said Mr. Aguirre, who like the mayor and fellow council members receives a stipend from the city of $347 every two weeks. Even if city employees lose their benefits, he said, "very good workers are still going to hang around."

Jose B. Garcia, an assistant city planner, will now be working on contract. "I still have a job," he said. "In that sense, I can't complain too much."

Maywood, which covers slightly more than one square mile, is one of the most densely populated cities in the country. The official population of 30,000 is believed to considerably understate the actual total of about 50,000.

It has some of the ills that plague other cities. Property taxes, a primary source of revenue, have declined to $900,000 from $1.2 million in 2007. Sales taxes have also dropped. But Maywood's biggest problem by far has been its police department.

A report by the state attorney general last year concluded the culture of the department "is one permeated with sexual innuendo, harassment, vulgarity, discourtesy to members of the public as well as among officers, and a lack of cultural, racial and ethnic sensitivity and respect."

The budget for the Police Department last year was nearly $8 million, more than half of Maywood's revenues. The contract with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department will cost about half of that. Insurance premiums for the city have fallen to $200,000 from $1 million.

The deputies have already engendered good will, Councilman Aguirre said, by cracking down on a local hotel that was a haven for prostitution.

And others said they have seen an increased police presence in the last few weeks. "The deputies are there right away," said Maria Mendez, who has lived in Maywood for most of her 73 years. "Before you used to wait and wait for the police."

One reason for the general enthusiasm might lie in the fact that many of the nonpolice workers have been rehired on contract, so in some cases the faces encountered by the public remain the same. In other words, no one has noticed much going wrong because there was not much to notice in the first place.

The five crossing guards, for instance, are doing the same work but are paid by a security company.

And it is possible the bad news is just slow in arriving. Maywood has dabbled in contracting before, and it has run awry in some instances. Skeptics cited the example of two handball courts in a Maywood park. City officials said it cost an outsized sum - hundreds of thousands of dollars - for a contractor to build three concrete walls.

A few people, extrapolating from personal experience, are convinced that the city is still on a downward path.

Jerald Bennett was on his way to the $2 seniors' lunch at the bustling Maywood recreational center when another car made an illegal turn and almost rammed him. "It seems like that sort of thing is happening more and more," he said. "They're not patrolling the streets."

For others, however, the celebration here is practically palpable. Freed from its employees, Maywood has nowhere to go but up, they say.

"Remember the Soviet Union?" said Hector Alvarado, who heads a civic advocacy group. "They had a lot of bureaucracy, and they lost. Maywood was like that. Now people know if they don't work, they will be laid off. Much better this way."

Sooner or Later, You'll Invest Abroad

2011-05-03T14:26:00.000-07:00

Many conventional U.S. brokers are relatively clueless when it comes to gold stocks for 2011. If you asked them to name one, chances are it would be a domestic producer, one with assets located primarily in North America. But that's not where the big money will be made over the next decade.

To start, here's something that will make you better informed than the typical traditional broker: take a look at where gold is currently being dug up around the world.

Tally it up, and North America accounts for only 16.3% of total global gold production. In other words, 83.7% of all the new gold every year comes from outside our continent.

Further, of the 15 largest gold deposits in the world, only five are in the U.S., Canada, or Mexico. Meaning, two-thirds are in regions where you don't get cell phone coverage and the natives don't speak your language.

The picture gets even sharper when you see the regions where production is increasing, vs. areas where it's declining.

Several countries where gold has been traditionally mined, such as South Africa, Australia, and the U.S., are suffering production declines, while other areas, like China and South America, are just now starting to rev up.

In other words, not only is more gold being dug up outside our borders, more is being found there, too.

This has obvious implications for the gold stock investor who recognizes that the momentum is clearly behind the emerging countries. One geologist told me that some of these prospects are like Nevada was 100 years ago; wide open and full of gold deposits just waiting to be discovered.

Yes, there is risk, but the political winds are shifting in a more pro-mining direction here as well. In the U.S., for example, some members of Congress continue to promote a bill that could dramatically harm mining in the states, while China and many parts of South America are opening their doors to foreign companies. What would you rather invest in – a country trying to woo your investment dollars or one that is scheming to find new ways to take more of them away from you?

Gaia the Earth Goddess didn't ask where we wanted our gold and silver deposited. And it is the underexplored – and in some cases the unexplored – regions that offer the most potential for new discoveries, greater production, and thus, higher investment returns.

Guide To Making A Fortune In The Stock Market of 2011

2011-05-03T06:26:00.001-07:00