7 Stocks for 7 Deadly Sins

    

    

    

    

    

    

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Autoliv Passes This Key Test

There's no foolproof way to know the future for Autoliv (NYSE: ALV  ) or any other company. However, certain clues may help you see potential stumbles before they happen -- and before your stock craters as a result.

A cloudy crystal ball
In this series, we use accounts receivable and days sales outstanding to judge a company's current health and future prospects. It's an important step in separating the pretenders from the market's best stocks. Alone, AR -- the amount of money owed the company -- and DSO -- the number of days' worth of sales owed to the company -- don't tell you much. However, by considering the trends in AR and DSO, you can sometimes get a window onto the future.

Sometimes, problems with AR or DSO simply indicate a change in the business (like an acquisition), or lax collections. However, AR that grows more quickly than revenue, or ballooning DSO, can also suggest a desperate company that's trying to boost sales by giving its customers overly generous payment terms. Alternately, it can indicate that the company sprinted to book a load of sales at the end of the quarter, like used-car dealers on the 29th of the month. (Sometimes, companies do both.)

Why might an upstanding firm like Autoliv do this? For the same reason any other company might: to make the numbers. Investors don't like revenue shortfalls, and employees don't like reporting them to their superiors.

Is Autoliv sending any potential warning signs? Take a look at the chart below, which plots revenue growth against AR growth, and DSO:

anImage

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Data is current as of last fully reported fiscal quarter. FQ = fiscal quarter.

The standard way to calculate DSO uses average accounts receivable. I prefer to look at end-of-quarter receivables, but I've plot! ted both above.

Watching the trends
When that red line (AR growth) crosses above the green line (revenue growth), I know I need to consult the filings. Similarly, a spike in the blue bars indicates a trend worth worrying about. Autoliv's latest average DSO stands at 67.2 days, and the end-of-quarter figure is 65.6 days. Differences in business models can generate variations in DSO, and business needs can require occasional fluctuations, but all things being equal, I like to see this figure stay steady. So, let's get back to our original question: Based on DSO and sales, does Autoliv look like it might miss it numbers in the next quarter or two?

I don't think so. AR and DSO look healthy. For the last fully reported fiscal quarter, Autoliv's year-over-year revenue grew 7.2%, and its AR grew 6.6%. That looks OK. End-of-quarter DSO decreased 0.6% from the prior-year quarter. It was down 5.8% versus the prior quarter. Still, I'm no fortuneteller, and these are just numbers. Investors putting their money on the line always need to dig into the filings for the root causes and draw their own conclusions.

What now?
I use this kind of analysis to figure out which investments I need to watch more closely as I hunt the market's best returns. However, some investors actively seek out companies on the wrong side of AR trends in order to sell them short, profiting when they eventually fall. Which way would you play this one? Let us know in the comments below, or keep up with the stocks mentioned in this article by tracking them in our free watchlist service, My Watchlist.

  • Add Autoliv to My Watchlist.

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Effective Resumes

In this article, advice about creating effective cover letters will be provided and followed by the rest of the resume.

An Effective Cover Letter:

An effective cover letter is a 1-page introduction of your resume that has the ultimate goal of helping the job seeker get the first interview from a job advertisement. This is easier said than done as HR Managers have to go through quite a number of job applications. If your cover letter is rather formulaic and your only concern is that the printing is smudge-free, then here are more useful tips:

Basics:

Be careful to direct your resume to the right person. If you address the wrong person in your cover letter, you may not get a response. Along the same lines, quote the correct reference number that is highlighted in job advertisement and ensure that you have applied for the correct position that corresponds to your expertise.

Academic Qualifications:

In you cover letter, you should just state your highest relevant academic qualification. You need not get into the specifics like the grades of your final semester. An exception is if you have won an academic prize or attained a prestigious scholarship. The rest of your academic achievements can be placed after your cover letter.

Relevant Working Experience and Skills:

You can include a paragraph in your cover letter about how your relevant working experience will directly benefit the goals of the department. In this area you have to spend time researching about the company through the internet and offline materials.

Be A Team Player:

Your cover letter must not come across as an opportunity to highlight your achievements in isolation. You must communicate that you are a team player and are willing to undergo continual skills upgrading.

Overseas Travel:

With the current workplace interconnectivity, it will not be surprising if your job requires occasional overseas trip. If you are agreeable of this requirement, it will be appropriate if you! state y our willingness to travel overseas in the cover letter.

Do a Spell-Check:

Remember to run a spell-check to ensure that there are no grammatical mistakes in your cover letter. A good exercise is to print out a draft copy and scrutinize for mistakes.

Get that First Interview:

This point sounds rather superfluous but your cover letter has to help you get an interview. It will not help if you provide a wrong contact number or appear to be too busy to come for an interview.

Do not be critical:

Do not be critical about your previous employer or your previous work environment. It is more forward-looking and professional to explain about how your previous job has provided you with relevant working experience.

2) The Rest of Your Resume

State your Academic Qualifications in Chronological Order:

It is important to state your academic qualification in chronological order for ease of viewing. It is also optional to send photocopy of exam results. Your interviewer will request them during the interview.

State Relevant Training Courses:

It will be advantageous for you to state the relevant training courses that you have attended. This will signal to your prospective employer that you are proactive in upgrading your skills and directly improve the productivity of your organization.

Referees:

Your choice of referees is crucial in providing extra information about your abilities. Remember to inform your referees that they may be called to furnish information. It is advisable to provide their email addresses if they are frequently outstation.

Broadcast your website:

You can provide the link to your personal website to add more information about yourself. An added benefit is that you can provide links from your site that you feel will help your boost your chances. A good example is to include your feature in the newspapers/magazines. However, your site should not be a replica of your resume.

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Tools of Modern Small Cap Investor Relations (Part 1 of 2)

So you are looking at creating investor awareness, improving your liquidity and creating a buzz around your OTCBB, Pinksheet, AMEX or NASDAQ nano, micro and small cap stock (or penny stocks). Where do you start and what options do you have in the world of Web 2.0 and modern investor relations?

First of all, you need to realize that old traditional methods of investor relations are stubbornly being re-thought and adapted to the modern age of the web 2.0. Shareholders are now global. 1 – 1 communication is dead. Already the majority of small cap research is done online and increasing year on year (74% ‘o8, 78% ‘09) (Agoracom). But many are saying, with the death of the old traditional ways, by the explosion of new media, there will be an explosion of new investors.

Although the old traditional methods of investor relations; direct communication from the company (corporate websites, press releases, SEC filings) remains the most trusted form of communications, the tide is turning in favor of new media. And as the younger generation starts moving into stronger financial positions where they become the main buyers of shares, new media will dominate.

The key now is formulating a plan of action with regards to an online presence, communication and information. It is no longer a one way street, where the company issues information to the public. Now the public has a say in that information and often writes the information.

The main obstacle facing new media at the present time is the unreliability of information, with investors analysts preferring trusted sources of the old media, that has moved online (NY times.com, FT.com etc) This will change as the younger generation who are heavily influenced by new media start moving into positions of stronger financial abilities.

So as new media works its way in further to decisions, companies need to be alert for changes.

(Read P! art 2 fo r the current strongest tools for achieving solid investor awareness.)

Editor

Equity Alliance International

http://www.equityallianceir.com/

usa@equityallianceir.com

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5 Forgotten Stocks That Deserve More Love

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day, that one day a year that generates so much adoration from romantics and so much scorn from those who've chosen not to couple off. Having once been one of those kids who only got the sympathy valentines, I wanted to look at stocks that similarly get no attention -- even though they deserve it.

Unloved aristocrats
If you read enough articles at the Motley Fool, you've undoubtedly run into one contributor or another talking about the Dividend Aristocrats. These darlings of the S&P 500 boast at least 25 consecutive years of raising their dividends every year, making every income investor happy by showing their love every quarter in the form of cold, hard cash.

As you'd expect, many of the Dividend Aristocrats are household names. AT&T used to provide service for just about every phone in the country, while you can probably find Procter & Gamble products in nearly every household in the U.S., as well as millions more abroad.

But for whatever reason, some of the Aristocrats and other stocks outside the S&P 500 that boast similarly long records of raising their dividends just haven't gotten any respect. Let's take a closer look at five of them.

1. American States Water (NYSE: AWR  ) , 57-year annual dividend increase streak, 3.1% dividend yield
As a water utility, it's hard to get more boring than American States Water. The company provides water to a dry region of the country that includes parts of Arizona and California. It's provided shareholders with a 10%+ return annually for the past 20 years.

The scarcity of water with increasing populations has made forward-looking investors look more closely at the companies that provide it. With huge growth opportunities and dependable cash flows that seem poised to increase in future years, American States Water may get exciting in a hurry.

2. Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE: NWN  ) , 56-year streak, 3.7% yield
Another utility, Northwest Natural Gas also serves the West Coast, with its primary distribution to Oregon, Washington, and California. With a 12% average annual return over the past 20 years, it's been a solid performer for shareholders.

Natural gas prices have been in the doldrums, with a huge supply glut and fairly weak demand. But eventually, price imbalances will spur demand growth, and Northwest Natural Gas could profit from the uptick in gas use.

3. Dover (NYSE: DOV  ) , 56-year streak, 2% yield
Dover is an example of a low-profile conglomerate. It has a diverse set of businesses ranging from powertrain systems and internal engine components to refrigeration and heating systems and consumer-electronics speakers and receivers.

With better than 11% annual returns for shareholders since 1992, Dover investors can't complain about its success. Yet with solid prospects for growth, it's not a dead-end stock, either.

4. Parker-Hannifin (NYSE: PH  ) , 55-year streak, 1.9% yield
Parker-Hannifin is another quiet industrial-oriented company. It focuses on hydraulic components for transportation and aerospace applications, including aerodynamic control systems and climate control equipment. With nearly 15% in 20-year average annual returns, the stock has done very well by shareholders.

One interesting growth driver that could push Parker Hannifin forward is its hydraulic hybrid drivetrain that it developed with Eaton. As hybrids become an important part of transportation in the U.S. and around the world, it's a definite chance for Parker-Hannifin to get some higher-profile business under its belt.

5. Cincinnati Financial (Nasdaq: CINF  ) , 51-year streak, 4.9% yield
Nothing tells you more about a sto! ck than how it gets through a crisis. For insurance company Cincinnati Financial, 2011 marked a tough year as it suffered its second-worst quarter in 12 years. But the insurer has learned a lesson from Warren Buffett and others, putting a quarter of its portfolio into dividend-paying stocks rather than relying solely on bonds and other low-paying income securities.

Despite a tough year, the stock has paid off for long-term investors, rising nearly 10% annually since 1992. With a bounce-back in rates likely, the coming years could be even more lucrative for Cincinnati Financial.

Fall in love again
Dividend-paying stocks deserve your attention not just for their current income, but also as long-term investment plays. These stocks aren't well-known, but by their past performance and their future prospects, they may be worth getting to know a lot better.

For more smart long-term investment ideas, check out the Motley Fool's latest special report. We highlight three smart stock picks for retirement investors, and we won't charge you anything at all for it -- but it won't be around forever, so read it today while it's still available.

Tune in every Monday and Wednesday for Dan's columns on retirement, investing, and personal finance. You can follow him on Twitter here.

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Best Wall St. Stocks Today: JPM,AIG,YHOO,UBS,NWS,TM,F,MOT,DNA,XRX,JWN,MDT,C

According to Reuters, JPMorgan (JPM) cuts its dividend.

Reuters reports that AIG (AIG) got bids from Met Life and Axa for its life unit.

Reuters says that healthcare spending is taking a higher percentage of American spending.

Reuters reports that Yahoo! (YHOO) will offer tools that match users to ads.

Reuters reports that UBS (UBS) could face a trial over releasing its client’s names.

Reuters reports that the president of News Corp (NWS) is leaving.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the Dow is down 50% from its peak.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the new CEO of Toyota (TM) is driving the company back to its basics.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the new deal between Ford (F) and the UAW puts pressure on the other two US car companies.

The Wall Street Journal writes that AIG (AIG) is seeking better bailout terms from the government.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Lehman will spin off its venture capital arm.

The Wall Street Journal writes that Motorola (MOT) will sell its email unit.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Campbell was hurt as stores cut stocks.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the insurance premiums for officers and directors at banks is rising.

The Wall Street Journal writes that Micron will cut 2,000 jobs.

The Wall Street Journal reports that consumer confidence is likely to fall further.

The Wall Street Journal reports that hedge funds will advance a proposal to make their activities more transparent.

The Wall Street Journal writes that companies may be dropping the “poison pills:.

The Wall Street Journal reports that credit markets may take another turn for the worse.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Genentech (DNA) is pushing its investors to reject and offer by Roche.

The Wall Street Journal reports that�Xerox (XRX) is expanding beyond copiers.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the ne! t income and margins at Nordstrom (JWN) fell.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the FT is cutting personnel costs.

The New York Times reports that the US is being pressed by many industries to increase funds for the bailout.

The New York Times reports that trouble in economies in Eastern Europe are raising the cost of doing business there.

The New York Times reports that Medtronic�s (MDT)�Sprint Fidelis lead is still causing problems for patients.

The FT reports that the tide has turned against huge buyout funds as they are blamed for over leveraged investments.

Bloomberg reports that plans to help Citigroup (C) may depend on it loans to hedge funds.

Douglas A. McIntyre

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Pacquiao's Shortlist Has a Notable Omission

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Manny Pacquiao

Floyd Mayweather Jr. will appear before the Boxing Commission in Las Vegas Wednesday, seeking to renew his license for a May 5 bout with an opponent yet to be determined. This week, Manny Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum indicated that he will announce the Pacman's (above) next foe sometime after the Super Bowl. The shortlist, which doesn't include Mayweather, remains: Juan Manuel Marquez, Lamont Peterson, Timothy Bradley, and Miguel Cotto.

— Gordon Marino
USGA Is Set to Appoint Nager as Next President

The United States Golf Association will install Glen D. Nager as its 62nd president, according to a USGA spokesman. The one-year appointment will be announced Feb. 4 at the USGA's annual meeting in Houston. "The USGA is fortunate to have Glen's leadership," said Mike Davis, USGA's executive director. "His organizational skills and business knowledge will help strengthen the USGA's role in the game." Nager, 53, a partner at the law firm Jones Day, has served in a variety of roles with the USGA since 2006. Most recently, he served as first vice president and chairman of the Rules of Golf, Commercial and Compensation committees. He will repla! ce James B. Hyler, who has served as president for the past two years.

— Ashby Jones
Blake Griffin's Dunk Leaves Peers in Awe

In the hours after Blake Griffin's gravity-defying dunk over Oklahoma City's Kendrick Perkins Monday night, the NBA's elite took to Twitter to express their amazement. LeBron James called it the "dunk of the year," while Dirk Nowitzki wrote watching Griffin "almost makes me wonder if me and him even play the same sport." Clippers teammate Chris Paul ended his tweet with: #GladHeIsOnMyTeam.

— Jared Diamond

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GLW: Piper Ups to Buy Following Analyst Day

Shares of Corning (GLW) are up 14 cents, or 1%, at $13.72 in early trading following the company’s investor meeting in New York on Friday.

The stock received one upgrade this morning, that I can see, from Piper Jaffray’s Jagadish Iyer, who raised his rating on the stock to Overweight from Neutral, and raised his price target to $16 from $13, writing that Corning will resume earnings growth next year, perhaps seeing 19% growth, to $1.60 per share, up from perhaps $1.35 this year.

Iyer raised his revenue estimate to $8.05 billion this calendar year, up from a prior $7.4 billion, and above the $8.03 billion consensus. For 2013, he sees the company making $9.09 billion in revenue, up from $8.25 billion previously, and above the consensus $8.74 billion.

Iyer also expects the company to be “more aggressive in its buyback, given its completion of 50% of its authorized $1.5 billion buyback.” The company has $3.4 billion in net cash and is “generating substantial free cash flow,” writes Iyer. He thinks perhaps the company will reduce diluted share count by 100 million (currently 1.52 billion shares outstanding), which would add 5 cents per share to calendar 2013 earnings.

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Best Wall St. Stocks Today:

Twitter has, by most estimates, 100 million members, which makes it one of the largest social networks in the world. All major media companies are on Twitter and some have more than one million Twitter users. It raises the question of whether there is wisdom in crowds.

24/7 Wall St. will look at the Twitter posts at Reuters Biz, WSJ, Financial Times, CNN Money.

MarketWatch: U.S. durable-goods orders rise a less-than-forecast 0.3% in July http://on.mktw.net/aRWr7N

Reuters Biz: U.S. millionaire index turns sharply bearish http://link.reuters.com/fej27n

Reuters Biz: Ireland stung by S&P credit rating cut http://link.reuters.com/fef27n

FT: Ireland downgrade leaves traders on edge:� e yen eased its ascent after policymakers in Japan step up their so-ca… http://bit.ly/98JNcu

FT: Facebook�s �value� soars as investors seek pre-IPO stake http://bit.ly/aW9Epp

Yahoo Finance: Chinese bestselling book, the “Goldman Sachs Conspiracy,” accuses the investment bank $GS of trying to destroy #China http://yhoo.it/a06o7F

Douglas A� McIntyre

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Break-Out Performers: RELL, NVTL, GILT

Trends, Charts and Exclusive Opinion

Three Stocks Breakaway from the Early Session Profit-Takers

RELL: Down Y-O-Y; Company posts +$0.24 EPS for Q2 2010

NVTL: Unveils Intelligent Mobile Hotspot Platform at CES

GILT: 3-Months of Global Top-Line Sales Pushes Stock Higher

Gaining 16.23% this morning is Richardson Electronics Limited (RELL) http://www.rell.com/ currently trading in the $7.09 range. RELL topped its 3-Month average daily trading volume in the first hour of todays session. RELL set a new 52-week high today, surpassing its previous high of $6.46 set on 11-20-09. RELL has trailing twelve month revenues of $466 million and is widely held by institutions. RELL has a 3-Month floor of $5.50 with strong support at $5.75 and spikes into the $6 range, but todays Q2 2010 earnings release sent the shares soaring into the $7 range.

I don�t believe that RELL has run its course upward and can make a bottom at $6 and trade into the $8 range in the near-term (3 Mo). RELL is a near-term �Buy� for me based on the strong momentum of the wireless sector and RELL�s previous success (when times are good or bad) in making and selling its products for the wireless and display systems markets.

The RELL Q2 2010 numbers released yesterday were off from its Q2 2009 numbers, but not by much... net sales for Q2 2010, ended November 28, were $115.9 million, a 12.5% decrease from net sales of $132.6 million for Q2 y-o-y. Income from continuing operations during Q2 10 was $! 4.3 mill ion, or $0.24 per diluted common share vs. $5.9 million, or $0.31 per diluted common share, during Q2 09.

�We were very pleased with the Richardson team�s execution during the second quarter as our revenue, working capital management, and cash flows were in line with our expectations. While our year-over-year revenue decline reflects the uncertain global economy, our strengthening sales trends provide confidence that our business environment is improving,� said Edward J. Richardson, Chairman, CEO and President of RELL.

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and Trading Alerts on RELL, NVTL, and GILT.

Gaining 4.31% this morning is S&P SmallCap 600 company! Novatel Wireless Inc., (NVTL) http://www.novatelwireless.com/ currently trading in the $8.48 range. NVTL remarkably has a 3-Month average daily trading volume of 1,288,770. That tops a lot of Mid-Cap stocks. NVTL has a 52-week high of $13.70 set on 09-17-09. That�s a $5+ spread in 3+ months. On a 30+ million share public float, NVTL has over 6 million shares short as of 12-15-09. That�s a lot of downward pressure, but NVTL is holding its own in this current range. NVTL has a 3-Month floor of $8 with support at $9 and you�ll see in the chart where NVTL dropped from $12 to $8 at the end of October (on Q4 Outlook News) released during its Q3 report.

NVTL is a near-term �Watch Closely� stock for me. The cautious Outlook doesn�t cause me concern as much as the number of shortsellers. All those shorters are not going to want to �buy high�. If NVTL can posts gains like today, steadily, the shorters will take their losses and get out and the near and short and long term buyers can once again dominate trading and increase NVTL share value back towards its 52-week high.

The Gain today for NVTL came on news out of the CES show being held in Las Vegas this week. NVTL announced the release of the Company�s MiFi Intelligent Mobile Hotspot Software Platform which provides new revenue opportunities for wireless operators and enables markets and usage patterns that have never before existed. The MiFi software platform enables any WiFi-enabled device to take advantage of its applications, and its onboard web server enables the MiFi to connect to remote data locations, retrieve data and present it to the user either online or offline. �� �

As a matter of note: the NVTL Q3 profit results were strong and beat analysts estimates. The projected Q4 income between 4 cents and 12 cents per share is what caused the stir.

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NVTL 3-Month������������������������������������������������ �GILT 3-Month�

Gaining 7.92% this morning is Gilat Satellite Networks Limited (GILT) http://www.gilat.com/ currently trading in the $5.55 range. GILT easily topped its 3-Month average daily trading volume early in todays session. The GILT current price topped its pervious 52-week high of $5.21 set yesterday. GILT is on a roll. GILT has trailing twelve month revenues of $237 million and has wide institutional ownership of shares. GILT has a 3-Month floor of $4.40 with support at $4.60 and then- (see the chart) this spike into the current price range. GILT is a near-term �Buy� for me.

I don�t believe the stock is done climbing. I believe investors are looking back in their due diligence and finding this is a top-line driven company with a true global growth strategy. The November 16 release of Q3 results for the third quarter ending September 30, 2009 posted a positive $0.06 per diluted share of GILT vs. a net loss of $0.01 per diluted share, for Q3 y-o-y.

GILT is a provider of products and services for satellite-based communications networks. GILT has shipped over 750,000 Very Small Aperture Terminals (VSATs) to more than 85 countries across six continents. GILT has 16 sales and service offic! es world wide and sells a full line of high-performance VSATs under the SkyEdge(TM) and SkyEdge II Product Family.

GILT just brought in a deal from Africa and in the past months has brought in deals like: a Gilat SkyEdge II broadband satellite communications network covering more than 3,500 rural sites nationwide to Telefonica del Peru.

GILT has also recently done deals in Kazakhstan, produced a multi-million dollar contract from a government defense agency in Asia to deliver a turnkey broadband communications solution and was chosen by Cable & Wireless Panama, Panama's largest telecommunications operator, to provide a SkyEdge II high-performance network that will be used to deliver broadband Internet to hundreds of schools in remote areas nationwide. Similar recent deals in Columbia, Brazil and Argentina show the aggressive revenue seeking temperament of GILT management.�

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Is CBRE Group Going to Burn You?

There's no foolproof way to know the future for CBRE Group (NYSE: CBG  ) or any other company. However, certain clues may help you see potential stumbles before they happen -- and before your stock craters as a result.

A cloudy crystal ball
In this series, we use accounts receivable and days sales outstanding to judge a company's current health and future prospects. It's an important step in separating the pretenders from the market's best stocks. Alone, AR -- the amount of money owed the company -- and DSO -- the number of days' worth of sales owed to the company -- don't tell you much. However, by considering the trends in AR and DSO, you can sometimes get a window onto the future.

Sometimes, problems with AR or DSO simply indicate a change in the business (like an acquisition), or lax collections. However, AR that grows more quickly than revenue, or ballooning DSO, can also suggest a desperate company that's trying to boost sales by giving its customers overly generous payment terms. Alternately, it can indicate that the company sprinted to book a load of sales at the end of the quarter, like used-car dealers on the 29th of the month. (Sometimes, companies do both.)

Why might an upstanding firm like CBRE Group do this? For the same reason any other company might: to make the numbers. Investors don't like revenue shortfalls, and employees don't like reporting them to their superiors.

Is CBRE Group sending any potential warning signs? Take a look at the chart below, which plots revenue growth against AR growth, and DSO:

anImage

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Data is current as of last fully reported fiscal quarter. FQ = fiscal quarter.

The standard way to calculate DSO uses average accounts receivable. I prefer to look at end-of-quarter receivables, but ! I've plo tted both above.

Watching the trends
When that red line (AR growth) crosses above the green line (revenue growth), I know I need to consult the filings. Similarly, a spike in the blue bars indicates a trend worth worrying about. CBRE Group's latest average DSO stands at 55.6 days, and the end-of-quarter figure is 59.2 days. Differences in business models can generate variations in DSO, and business needs can require occasional fluctuations, but all things being equal, I like to see this figure stay steady. So, let's get back to our original question: Based on DSO and sales, does CBRE Group look like it might miss its numbers in the next quarter or two?

The numbers don't paint a clear picture. For the last fully reported fiscal quarter, CBRE Group's year-over-year revenue grew 6.8%, and its AR grew 20.8%. That's a yellow flag. End-of-quarter DSO increased 13.1% over the prior-year quarter. It was down 1.0% versus the prior quarter. That demands a good explanation. Still, I'm no fortuneteller, and these are just numbers. Investors putting their money on the line always need to dig into the filings for the root causes and draw their own conclusions.

What now?
I use this kind of analysis to figure out which investments I need to watch more closely as I hunt the market's best returns. However, some investors actively seek out companies on the wrong side of AR trends in order to sell them short, profiting when they eventually fall. Which way would you play this one? Let us know in the comments below, or keep up with the stocks mentioned in this article by tracking them in our free watchlist service, My Watchlist.

  • Add CBRE Group to My Watchlist.

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Generac Holdings Inc Accomplished Record New Price of 52 Weeks - NYSE:GNRC

Generac Holdings Inc (NYSE:GNRC) achieved its new 52 week high price of $25.42 where it was opened at $25.32 up 0.07 points or +0.28% by closing at $24.96. GNRC transacted shares during the day were over 183,919 shares however it has an average volume of 208,375 shares.

GNRC has a market capitalization $1.69 billion and an enterprise value at $2.18 billion. Trailing twelve months price to sales ratio of the stock was 2.45 while price to book ratio in most recent quarter was 3.35. In profitability ratios, net profit margin in past twelve months appeared at 11.10% whereas operating profit margin for the same period at 15.07%.

The company made a return on asset of 5.09% in past twelve months and return on equity of 16.50% for similar period. In the period of trailing 12 months it generated revenue amounted to $685.71 million gaining $10.21 revenue per share. Its year over year, quarterly growth of revenue was 49.00% holding 62.50% quarterly earnings growth.

According to preceding quarter balance sheet results, the company had $138.72 million cash in hand making cash per share at 2.05. The total of $632.50 million debt was there putting a total debt to equity ratio 126.03. Moreover its current ratio according to same quarter results was 3.64 and book value per share was 7.42.

Looking at the trading information, the stock price history displayed that its S&P500 52 Week Change illustrated 3.38% where the stock current price exhibited up beat from its 50 day moving average price of $21.07 and remained below from its 200 Day Moving Average price of $19.40.

GNRC holds 67.60 million outstanding shares with 25.40 million floating shares where insider possessed 62.14% and institutions kept 40.50%.

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Also, sales of AT&Ts 4G LTE mico-SIM-circuit cards further fuel rumors that the iPad 3 will support the 4G standard

Here are your Apple rumors and AAPL news items for today.

Analyst Suggests Apple Use $100B Cash Pile for 3% Dividend: A Friday report at Apple Insider detailed a note issued to investors by Stern Agee analyst Shaw Wu that held promise for Apple shareholders. Wu said that the best use of Apple’s $100 billion stockpile of cash at this point in time would be to issue a dividend between 2% and 3%. The dividend would make the “most sense,” according to Wu, because Apple’s cash flow is expected to stay strong, coming in between $75 billion and $80 billion. Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) yields a dividend of 3.2% and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) a dividend of 2.6%, just two companies Wu cited as good comparisons for Apple.

AT&T LTE Micro-SIM Cards Suggest 4G iPad 3: The rumor is that Apple’s next iPad will be the first device from the company to support 4G LTE networks. A Friday report by Phone Arena (via Mac Rumors) lent credence to that possibility with news that AT&T (NYSE:T) is now selling an LTE-compatible micro-SIM card to its suppliers. (SIM cards are circuits used in mobile devices to identify subscribers on specific networks.) The new LTE cards are likely being issued in part to support the release of Nokia (NYSE:NOK) and Microsoft’s new Lumia 900 smartphone, expected to launch in March, but as the iPad 3 is releasing in the same window, it’s believed that AT&T is also preparing for the tablet to work with its 4G network as well. Keep in mind, too, that there have been plenty of reports indicating LTE equipment has been installed, by AT&T, in Apple stores.

NOAA Drops RIM for Apple: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has decided that it would rather use iPhones than BlackBerrys to help track weather patterns. ! A Thursd ay report by 9 to 5 Mac said that the government organization will cease using Research in Motion‘s (NASDAQ:RIMM) smartphones and tablets in May. A memo from NOAA CIO Joseph F. Klimavicz said that the company will start issuing iPhones and iPads to employees instead.

As of this writing, Anthony John Agnello did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned stocks. Follow him on Twitter at�@ajohnagnello�and�become a fan of�InvestorPlace on Facebook. For more from the company, check out our previous�Apple Rumorsstories.

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Best Wall St. Stocks Today: GCI

Gannett Co. (NYSE: GCI) is still one of the Warren Buffett media investments,� but that is not helping the reaction from Wall Street to the Main Street newspaper (and media) player.The company reported a drop of about 33% in its fourth quarter profits due to declining ads in the newspapers and due to lower TV ad revenues.� The growth in digital ads can only replace so much. Ad revenues in the newspaper unit were down by 7.1%.

What is interesting is that the results were actually better than expected.� Gannett managed to beat expectations by $0.03 at $0.72 in earnings per share.� Total company revenues fell by about 5% from a year earlier $1.39 billion, mostly in-line with expectations.

Gannett shares are down 7.1% at $14.15 after this morning’s report on earnings and the 52-week range is $8.28 to $18.93. The fear is that the newspaper business is going to be the cigarette business, except even worse, with secular decline on the horizon regardless of the economy.

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Romney: U.S. should sell GM stake

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Should the U.S. government sell its shares in GM?

Mitt Romney says yes. And he wants President Obama to do it now.

"The Obama administration needs to act now to divest itself of its ownership position in GM," the presidential hopeful writes in the Detroit News. "The shares need to be sold in a responsible fashion and the proceeds turned over to the nation's taxpayers."

Here's the thing: Taxpayers are already in line to get the proceeds from any government sale of GM (GM, Fortune 500) shares. In fact, the Obama administration has long planned such a move.

The only issue is timing.

If the government moved now to dump the 500 million GM shares that it still owns, as Romney suggests, taxpayers would be guaranteed to take a loss.

GM shares currently sit at $25.40, far below the $51 per share price necessary for taxpayers to break even. Selling the shares would recoup about $12.7 billion, but leave taxpayers with only about half of the $25.5 billion they have yet to get back from the $49.5 billion bailout of GM in 2009.

If the government waits, and GM shares increase in value, more of the government's investment would be recouped.

On the flip side, if GM shares were to slide, taxpayers would be left with a bigger loss on the money Treasury spent to help see the automaker through its 2009 bankruptcy reorganization.

Analysts think GM stock will rise.

GM shares are predicted to hit $32 within a year, according to analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.

If Treasury were to sell all its shares now, and GM shares do rise within a year to the $32 level predicted by analysts, taxpayers would be out $3.3 billion, a not-insignificant amount.

A Romney campaign spokesperson told CNNMoney that Romney is not advocating a "fire sale," and that a sale should be carried out in a "responsible fashion."

"The over-arching point here is that the government has no business own! ing stak es in private enterprises," the spokesperson said in a statement.

By holding out for a better share price, Treasury is taking a politically fraught path that leaves the Obama administration open to criticism.

At the time of the automaker's 2010 IPO, many people expected Treasury would try to sell its remaining stake by the end of 2011, if for no other reason than to close the books on the deal before the president's re-election effort got underway.

But Steven Rattner, who left the Obama administration shortly after overseeing the GM bailout and bankruptcy, told CNNMoney in November that Obama's reelection was never an issue in the government's exit strategy.

"I think there are much bigger issues for the campaign than when the government does or doesn't sell its GM stake," he said. "The most important thing is to sell it at the right time, not too soon and not too far away."

And Rattner said given the drop in GM's share price, this is not the time to sell shares.

"I don't myself, at the moment, see any particular reason why the U.S. should rush to sell at a much lower price when the company is doing very well," Rattner said.

GM CEO Dan Akerson told the Economic Club of Detroit last year that it doesn't matter to the company when Treasury sells.

"It doesn't change how we run the business," he said. "We're content to let Treasury move at its own pace."

Should the U.S. cut its losses on GM stock?

Romney's suggestion that the Obama administration divest immediately came within the context of a larger argument: Detroit would have been better off without government help.

"The president tells us that without his intervention things in Detroit would be worse," Romney said. "I believe that without his intervention things there would be better."

At the time of the bailout, Romney wrote an op-ed in the New York Times that asserted a bailout would result in the e! nd of th e American auto industry.

"If General Motors, Ford and Chrysler get the bailout that their chief executives asked for yesterday, you can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye," Romney wrote in November 2008. "It won't go overnight, but its demise will be virtually guaranteed."

Romney is now trying to thread the needle between that prediction and another point he made in the same op-ed: That a managed bankruptcy was the only way for the industry to survive.

The Obama administration did eventually force GM and Chrysler into bankruptcy protection, but the bailout provided financing that allowed both to stay in business and reorganize. Each are now profitable again and hiring.

Most auto industry experts believe that one or both companies could have been forced to go out of business and liquidate without the government financing during bankruptcy, given the difficulty of arranging financing at that time. The Center for Automotive Research, a Michigan think tank, estimates that the bailout saved 1.5 million jobs.

--CNNMoney's Chris Isidore contributed to this report. 

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Crocs Are Not Just Shoes Anymore

Crocs (Nasdaq: CROX  ) is all set to report revenue in excess of $1 billion -- a first for the company. But the footwear retailer is not resting on its laurels, as it looks to expand and explore more avenues of growth. Crocs is entering into a number of licensing agreements, which will see the brand offering accessories and apparel as well as eyewear. �

Certifiable ways of growth
Crocs is not new to co-branded products. Its golf shoes with Hank Haney got rave reviews and were chosen as one of the "best new products" at the recent PGA merchandise show.

It's no surprise then that Crocs is looking to delve into more such deals. The company has already signed on with Sock & Accessory Brands, where it began selling Crocs-branded socks from the last holiday season in North America through both the wholesale and retail channels. The socks are geared toward both adults and children. In Europe, Crocs-branded socks will be produced by Intersocks.

A deal with Accessory Exchange allows Crocs to venture into accessories ranging from hats and gloves to backpacks and bags. It recently entered into a deal with sports licensee Paramount, which is already selling collegiate- and Major League Baseball-licensed footwear under the Crocs name.

The company, in affiliation with ICER Brands, will sell Crocs scrubs for medical professionals. And that's not all, as Crocs will also start selling children's apparel in 46 countries with the help of A Group in April this year.

Last but not least, with the help of Eyeking, Crocs will sell branded sunglasses and sunglass accessories in May.

The growing brand persona
The plastic-shoe maker that was battling to stay afloat a few years ago has grown by leaps and bounds since then. Crocs is clearly looking to go beyond just footwear. This may be an attempt to emulate the success of fellow footwear maker Nike (NYSE:! NKE  ) , which had initially started off with footwear sales, but has since then diversified into various products such as apparel, bags, and accessories. And we all know how well-renowned Nike is.������

According to Mike DeBell, Crocs' vice president of global sales, these licensing agreements will help bolster Crocs' brand image across the globe and help it establish itself in products beyond footwear. To understand how big the Crocs brand is, know this -- already 200 million pairs of Crocs have been sold in more than 90 countries. Crocs' popularity is cutting across borders -- much of its 21% profit rise in the last quarter can be attributed to higher revenues from Asia. �

A lot to look forward to
That's a lot to take in all at once, isn't it? Well, Crocs is making a serious effort to explore all avenues of growth possible as it looks to take the success of its brand forward. Watch out for a ton of new products as Crocs looks to boost its top line. Don't be surprised if you hear of more such deals this year.

We at The Motley Fool will keep you up to date on all the latest at the Colorado-based shoemaker. All you have to do is click here and add the stock to your watchlist.

Crocs isn't the only footwear company we love, either. We've named another company with similar international aspirations as one of our "3 American Companies Set to Dominate the World." To uncover these American powerhouses that are realizing boom times abroad, click here now. Enjoy, and Fool on!�����������

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2 Things That Should Scare You About Microsoft's Earnings Report

Go ahead and mark the time. Wintel is dead. In an otherwise good second-quarter report from Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT  ) -- Mr. Softy beat Street estimates by $0.03 a share -- revenue in the Windows division fell 6%. Intel's (Nasdaq: INTC  ) PC division saw a 17% sales increase over the same period, demonstrating some key differences in the Wintel relationship.

Both companies work with Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL  ) , the only computer maker to record gains in 2011's fourth quarter, but only Intel is guaranteed revenue with every Mac sold. And that leaves Microsoft alone to figure out its place in an increasingly post-PC world.

Betting on the "enterprise" in a consumer-driven economy
You'd think Microsoft was set in a Star Trek movie for as much as executives talk about the "enterprise," an amorphous term that essentially refers to larger businesses that are willing to spend millions at a time outfitting data centers and personal computers with battle-tested software.

To a large degree, they're right. Microsoft's Business Division, which supports the Office suite of productivity software, produced $6.28 billion in revenue for fiscal Q2, a 3% increase over last year's second quarter.

And while the Windows division saw a revenue decline, it still accounted for $4.74 billion in sales. Yet it's the trend that matters in investing, and the Wintel divergence proves Microsoft's once-legendary stranglehold on the computing market has loosened.

What caused the shift? Changing habits, I think. For consumers, PCs have outgrown their traditional home on the desktop. Now we carry them in our pockets, purses, and portfolios. We also don't call them computers anymore. Instead, we refer to them as smartphones and tablets.

Two years ago, data traffic on mobile networks outstripped voice traffic fo! r the fi rst time. Roughly 400 million smartphone users accounted for that data deluge. Apple has sold at least 100 million more iPhones and iPads in the two years since.

Bill Gates must be cringing. He was talking up tablets and mobile computing years before Apple said anything about an iPhone or iPad. Yet over the past two years, Mr. Softy has been largely MIA from the market it helped to pioneer. Irony, thy name is Microsoft.

All of which leads me to the first reason you shouldn't cheer this earnings report. While Windows revenue was down 6%, operating profit for the group fell a more troubling 11% while the other twin tower, the Business Division, saw a 3% revenue gain cut in half on the profit line by lower margins.

Will Ballmer rally developers once more?
Lack of developer enthusiasm is the reason you should worry. Microsoft seems to know it, too.

"I would say one of the things [we] talked about at CES last week was just how important it is for us to work on and with developers to create a really vibrant developer ecosystem," said Bill Koefoed, Microsoft's general manager of investor relations, during the call with analysts.

He's right. Developers have more options than ever, and there's increasing evidence that they're writing for newer platforms such as Apple's iOS. And those who aren't writing for Apple are spending time creating Web-based apps. Last quarter, salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM  ) chief executive Marc Benioff told analysts that some 450,000 developers had built apps for the company's Force.com Internet-based platform for creating and deploying software.

A now-legendary video from several years ago shows Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer sweatily rallying a crowd of coders at a company conference. "Developers! Developers! Developers! Developers!" went Ballmer's chant, accompanied by an audience clapping in tune. To listen to Koefoed's comments is to wonder whether another rally is in order.

Ther e's certainly a need. While moves to unify all editions of Windows in version 8 -- due to reach beta next month -- should entice developers to spend more time with the OS, the changes are also long overdue, and they're coming as just coders are committing more time to other systems.

Making the call: Don't buy
For me, these twin forces add up to a compelling reason to avoid buying Microsoft right now. Yes, I realize a big dividend payout could substantially lift the stock. Yes, I realize the PC market is far from dead. Nevertheless, cracks are showing in Mr. Softy's foundational businesses. I see little chance that this stock will outperform the market while these problems remain unaddressed, and I've made a CAPScall to underscore my conviction.

Do you agree? Disagree? Either way, if you're a tech investor, it makes sense to be studying the implications of the post-PC world emerging around us. The Motley Fool recently identified a handful of potential winners in a report titled "3 Hidden Winners of the iPhone, iPad, and Android Revolution." Thousands have already requested the report, which is available for a limited time. Get your copy before this offer expires -- the research is 100% free.

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No surprises here; just look where there's already trouble

Borders Group Inc. (PINK:BGPIQ), like Blockbuster before it, failed to surprise Wall Street as it went under with a whimper. The second-biggest U.S. bookstore chain won bankruptcy court approval last week to liquidate 200 stores in a deal that may bring in $175 million to satisfy its creditors. Borders has been relegated to the pink sheets to die a slow death as aggressive traders bet on which day its stock will finally go to zero.

The strange thing is some folks think this is news. Digital retail stock Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) had been pummeling traditional bookstores for years even before the Kindle and ebooks knocked brick-and-mortar Borders out altogether. If you polled investors who were paying attention 12 months ago, chances are you would find nearly all of them expecting Borders to suffer in 2011 and more than a few who expected the retailer to bite the dust altogether.

So what stocks are currently stuck in a tailspin and doomed to crash into bankruptcy soon? Nothing is certain on Wall Street � but if you�re asking me to put money on the most likely candidates for Chapter 11, here are three big-name stocks that are in serious trouble and might not make it another year:

Rite Aid

Rite Aid (NYSE:RAD) has a trifecta of problems that it simply cannot overcome: poor reach, poor financials and no hope for growth.

The drug store game is a difficult racket, characterized by high competition and razor-thin margins. Drug benefit plans and Medicare providers are embracing online sales and mail orders to cut costs, so traditional drug stores have to slash prices to keep up. Take Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) pharmacies, which offer $4 prescriptions on select drugs. There�s no money in those prices � they�re simply designed to bring in customers who (hopefully) will buy other items when they pick up their meds.

Then you have drug stores tha! t simply snag customers with convenience and keep them coming back month after month. Consider that Walgreens (NYSE:WAG) commands a 20% share of the retail drug store market and claims to fill one of every five U.S. retail prescriptions.

Rite-Aid just doesn�t have the scale to offer lowball prices like Wal-Mart or the reach to turn over the sheer volume like Walgreens.

And it�s only going to get worse�� last week�s announcement that Express scripts (NASDAQ:ESRX) might snap up Medco (NYSE:MHS) with a staggering $29 billion buyout would create a company with a 30% market share of the total prescription drug market.

Rite-Aid is being squeezed out, plain and simple. Unfortunately, there�s nothing the company can do about it. RAD has tallied just a single profitable quarter in four years and continues to bleed red ink. Heavy debt loads, weak same-store sales and no money to grow means more of the same and no ability to change course � so it�s not as much a question of whether Rite-Aid will go under but when. The company�s debt-to-asset ratio is north of 75% and continues to climb.

Rite Aid was trading at around $6 per share before the financial crisis, but now it�s barely above $1. RAD could at the very least get delisted for a paltry share price in the months ahead, and bankruptcy is a serious likelihood.

Pulte Homes

Even the most optimistic investor has trouble seeing the light at the end of the tunnel in housing these days. And the pessimists � well, their only problem is deciding between the housing stocks they think will decline and the housing stocks they think will go under completely.

So what�s up with Pulte Homes (NYSE:PHM)? Very little. Pulte stock is off about -80% since early 2007. And I looked at the past 17 quarters for Pulte, dating to Q1 of its fiscal year 2007, and there�s not a single profitable period to be found.

Admittedly, this Thursday�s earnings report could show Pulte�s first profitable quarter since �06 (presuming it had one � I was only willing to look at four fiscal years and didn�t dig further than �07). And Pulte has managed to keep liabilities reasonably low despite the horrific housing market by laying off workers and slowing construction to a crawl.

But its debt-to-assets ratio is disturbingly high at about 50%. What�s more, Pulte reported it lost almost $1 billion in the third quarter of 2010 � so don�t fool yourself into thinking the company has been in the ballpark of breaking even for the past few years.

Despite the brutal balance sheet, perhaps the biggest strike against Pulte is the fact the Federal Reserve has started grumbling about raising rates sometime in the next year. And even if that doesn�t come to pass, if the U.S. sees a credit downgrade because of the brinksmanship about the debt ceiling, the cost of borrowing will rise significantly. There are enough reasons for people to not move into a new home now � from a lack of job security to plummeting property values � so a higher mortgage interest burden will only turn off more prospective buyers.

If macroeconomic conditions continue to push people away from homebuying in the near term, Pulte might not have the strength to survive until the market firms up.

Zale

Zale Corp. (NYSE:ZLC), the iconic jewelry store that once was a hallmark of almost every mall in America, was trading for as much as $30 per share before the financial crisis. As consumer spending flopped, so did the stock � down to about $6.60 a share currently.

But a 75% flop isn�t Zale�s only problem. The balance sheet of this luxury stock has been just as disturbing as its stock price.

Zale has been losing money for each fiscal year since 2007, though, unlike the previous two stocks, it has had glimmers of quarterly profitability scattered across the last four years. But most disturbingly, reven! ue has b een steadily plunging � from $2.43 billion in fiscal 2007 to $2.14 billion in 2008 to $1.78 billion in 2009 to $1.61 in 2010. Not an inspiring trend. The company is hoping to reverse that trend this year, but we�ll see.

The ugliest statistic I stumbled across was from an S&P database that plots the company�s growth over the previous five years at an ugly -93.1%.

That�s not the kind of momentum you want to be on the wrong side of. Some of the losses were a necessary product of economic troubles, but that doesn�t tell the whole story. In 2008, Zale closed 105 locations � 12% of its previous total. Then ZLC stock execs panicked as things didn�t improve and cut deeper, shuttering an additional 191 stores for an additional 25% cut.

Those cutbacks have helped a bit, and Zale might not be on the edge of failure at this moment. But compare it with two very different competitors � Blue Nile (NASDAQ:NILE), an online jewelry discounter, and luxury icon Tiffany & Co. (NYSE:TIF). Both are soundly profitable, and neither recorded so much as a quarterly loss in the last four fiscal years, let alone a full-year loss.

You could argue that consumer spending hasn�t bounced back and high-priced jewelry just isn�t on the wish list of many Americans. But clearly there are bigger issues at work that are weighing down Zale. If the company doesn�t find its way soon, it could be squeezed out of the market by both the macro trends and by profitable competitors like NILE and TIF that have managed to grow revenue and profits even as Zale stumbles.

Jeff Reeves is editor of InvestorPlace.com.�As of this writing, he did not own a position in any of the stocks named here. Follow him on Twitter via @JeffReevesIP and become a fan of InvestorPlace on Facebook.

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Small-Cap Commodities Ready to Reinflate

Here we are, amid another round of reinflation efforts by governments across the globe, and people are beginning to buy into it�so don't let the 4% sell-off in crude and gold's drop to two-week lows catch you offguard.

Even though many economies continue to struggle, investors are looking ahead to a time when the massive rescue efforts by central banks and governments gain traction.

In fact, the shift from traditional recessionary positions to raw materials and commodity-related stocks has already begun.

Until a few weeks ago, investors weren't even thinking about preparing for a recovery, hoarding cash and U.S. Treasury bonds and defensive stocks that would perform better than most in a recession.

Energy stocks are part of the reflation trade thesis and � down the road -- offer a hedge against inflation. After all, oil is priced in dollars, meaning that as the greenback falls, black gold rises.

Hopes for a second-half recovery have already lifted the price of a barrel of oil to around $69. Just a few months ago it struggled to break past $40.

While crude-oil prices are half of what they were last summer after setting an all-time record of $143 a barrel, they are up 100% from their low of $33 hit on Feb. 12 and certainly go much higher.

Think about this:� If worldwide GDP momentum recovers to its normalized rate of 4.5%, you tap into OPEC's reserve margin of 3 to 4 million barrels a day by at least 1 million barrels a day per annum. China could take up to an additional 500,000 barrels annually. Non-OPEC oil supply has peaked, and right now, exploration budgets stand far below a year ago when oil was pushing $150 a barrel.

As the rally moves forward, that fuels continued optimism in the economy. As we relax through summer and vacation season, energy use grows and that bodes well for energy stocks.

SPDR Energy Select Sector (XLE), whose top holdings include ExxonMobil (XOM), Che! vron (CV X) and Schlumberger (SLB), offers broad exposure to the energy business. It�s up 13% over the past three months. Any falloff will offer a more compelling entry point.

After being hammered in 2008 emerging markets are back on a tear -- the MSCI Emerging Markets index is up about 50% since early March, moving under the assumption massive stimulus plans from the U.S. to China will re-inflate the global economy.

Every portfolio needs to have exposure to the reflation trade, and emerging markets, especially Brazil and China.

Also, long considered a global power in agriculture and natural resources, Brazil has added a key ingredient that had eluded it: a currency with staying power. As a result, the greatest burst of prosperity the country has witnessed in three decades has been unleashed, attracting foreign investors by the score and providing a growth engine for a flagging global economy.

Try on a couple of these ethanol industry stocks for size:

02Diesel Corporation (AMEX: OTD) began operations in Brazil in 2004 through its 75%-owned subsidiary, O2Diesel Qu�micos Ltda. It develops additive products that help fuels burn cleaner by adding ethanol. 02Diesel�s main product is called O2D05 � a fuel additive that can be made from soybean oil, vegetable oil or animal fats. It is designed to stabilize blending of fuel grade ethanol with diesel fuel, with the end result being a clean burning fuel called 02Diesel.

Pacific Ethanol Inc. (NASDAQ: PEIX) makes corn-based ethanol, and also sells products generated from the manufacture of ethanol, such as grain and carbon dioxide. Pacific sells its ethanol through its fuel-marketing subsidiary, Kinergy Marketing.

There is no bigger piece of the reflation-trade puzzle than basic materials. The rise in copper, steel and other metals were partly driven by China, which had pledged nearly 75% of its $586 billion fiscal package to infrastructure development.

China�s efforts have rippled through to the markets for at least a few metals. Prices for copper, commonly used in power generation and construction, are up 44% from the low hit in December. Zinc, needed for producing galvanized steel used by utilities and the auto industry, is up 24% from its low.

China�s refined-copper imports soared 99% in February from a year ago, perhaps indicating that �they want to have the material available� when infrastructure projects start.

How�s this for a copper play? Copper King Mining Corporation (CPRK) and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Western Utah Copper Company, have just announced that they have entered into a tentative agreement with RBS Sempra Metals & Concentrates, LLC on behalf of The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC, to sell 100% of the copper concentrates produced at the WUCC Milford project. This agreement, when fully executed, will supersede or replace any other prior sales agreements relating to copper ores or concentrates.

Copper King controls over 59,000 acres of advanced-stage and development-stage mineralized acreage in Western Beaver County, Utah. The Company is ramping up production at a 5,000 ton per day capacity flotation mill for processing high-grade ores from its Hidden Treasure copper-gold-silver mine and other controlled properties under its control..

A relative newcomer to the copper scene, it traded up 22% today to $0.92 on volume of 30 million shares.

Also, in breaking news Monday, Calgary-based Antrim Energy (TSX: AEN.TO) announced that it has been offered Block 21/24b in the UK North Sea as part of the 25th Seaward Licencing Round.

The block was awarded to Antrim on a 100% working interest basis, and is in the company�s core area around the Fyne Field in the Central North Sea. Antrim was previously awarded five blocks in the 25th Round, three of which are in the Fyne area.

The company says Block 21/24b will add approximately 36,000 acres to i! ts asset portfolio in the area, and seismic processing will be completed and a contingent well will be drilled during the initial four year term.

The commodities storm may not have hit yet, but when it does, you will benefit from the four stocks above.


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