The advisor explains, "Cepheid does genetic testing of the things that can make us sick or kill us. The company is at the forefront of the next generation of diagnostics testing, and has real products already on the market." Here is his review.
"Cepheid has had outrageous sales success in the past few quarters and, therefore, has excellent profits looming. However, the true value for the company is its long-term potential.
"CPHD broke out about a year ago with a new test for the killer staph infection, MRSA, and the test is an order-of-magnitude better than any the competition has.
"A combination of tremendous public pressure and a CDC report that said MRSA kills at least 17,000 people per annum (and consumes billions of dollars, already), have hospitals everywhere putting in MRSA screening and prevention programs. And nine out of 10 of those hospitals are buying CPHD's equipment and tests.
"Renewable fuels and clean energy, a sector beaten down hard since last fall, are now primed for a major comeback," says Eric Roseman, editor of The Commodity Trend Alert. Here's his ETF play on the sector.
"With every passing day the price of crude oil rises, the secular trend to alternative energy becomes even more powerful. Consumers, companies and governments are now sick and tired of soaring energy prices.
"The long-term solution is to obviously reduce our dependence on oil and increase our consumption of renewable fuels like wind, solar, and nuclear energy.
"The bull market in alternative energy began in 2005 when a host of companies in this thriving sector went public, supported by government subsidies, especially in Germany and Spain. Interestingly, Germany and Spain have just reduced solar energy subsidies this spring.
"In my view, those subsidy cuts don't matter at this stage. When companies in the solar sector are making money, why should governments continue subsidizing them?
"Since the market started its downturn early this year, I have avoided all financial stocks and resisted the temptation of value plays," says Dave Dyer.
In his Dave Dyer's Newsletter, he explains, "Well, it is now time to violate both of those prohibitions at once." Here, he looks at a new buy for SLM Corporation (NYSE: SLM), commonly known as Sallie Mae, the nation's largest provider of college loans and savings programs."
"There must be some financial areas that have predictable, growing demand, willing customers who actually have low default rates, and securitization processes that do not involve the type of financial engineering that is only intended to hide risk.
"Well, there is such an area, and it even involves a product that it makes sense to finance since it will actually increase in value over time. I'm talking about student loans.
"If you own a television, chances are you're quite familiar with the infamous squawking duck in Aflac's commercials. Aflac has also been in the news lately as the first American company to give shareholders a 'say on pay', or the ability to vote on executive compensation.
"Less well known, however, is Aflac's huge presence in the Japanese insurance market. In 2007, roughly 75% of the company's pre-tax operating earnings were generated in Japan.
"Alfac has been doing business in Japan for more than 30 years, and one in four Japanese households has an Aflac insurance policy. In Japan, Aflac sells healthcare policies for certain things that aren't covered by the national healthcare system, as well as life insurance. And, yes, they have a talking duck in their ads over there too.
"At a time when many financial companies are reporting massive write-offs, Aflac reiterated its target of 15% earnings growth this year, and double-digit growth in 2009. Aflac Japan is doing its part to help drive this growth with 19% operating earnings growth in the first quarter of 2008."
Each day, Steven Halpern's TheStockAdvisors.com offers the latest market commentary and favorite investment ideas from the nation's leading financial newsletter advisors.
"If you've visited a mall – or if you've ever bought clothing for toddlers – you might already be familiar with our latest Undiscovered Gem: Children's Place Retail Stores (NASDAQ: PLCE)," says Elizabeth Harrow.
In Schaeffer's Research, the technical and contrarian advisor explains, "The stock is on the ascent, but Wall Street isn't taking much notice."
"The company was founded in 1969, and is based out of Seacaucus, New Jersey. The retailing chain boasts a market cap of just under $1 billion. It is is a member of the S&P SmallCap 600 Index, as well as the S&P SuperComp 1500, which lends the shares a bit of Street cred.
"The firm recently pleasantly surprised investors with its same-store sales figures. During May, sales at stores open for at least 1 year rose by 10%, compared to analysts' expectations for a gain of 4.3%. Total sales for the month galloped 19% higher for the 4-week period ended May 31.
"To say that alternative energies are critical is a severe understatement." asserts Stephen Leeb, who looks at three plays in the sector that earn a spot in his Growth Portfolio.
The editor of The Complete Investor explains, "Readily scalable energy sources such as solar and wind account for under 1%. It's time to get serious."
Three of the stocks he has selected are holdings in his model Growth Portfolio: FPL Group (NYSE: FPL), Exelon (NYSE: EXC), and General Electric (NYSE: GE). Here's a trio of favorites.
"We have focused on those alternative energy stocks with the strongest growth profiles. None is a pie in the sky fantasy; all provide energy in the here and now and have significant and fast-growing revenue streams.
"The fact that their growth should continue to burgeon is one of the most heartening pieces of news on the energy front. We could argue that investing in these stocks not only will be good for your portfolio but is an act of patriotism as well.
"Global steel producers are thriving, and their stocks are hitting new highs," note Yiannis Mostrous and Roger S. Conrad, who add, "But the best is yet to come."
In the industry-leading Personal Finance, the two advisors explain, "We're still in the early stage of a truly global bull market cycle for steel, and the companies best positioned to take advantage are headed a lot higher." Here, they look at their "Iron Five."
"As is the case with other building blocks of economic growth, steel is enjoying explosive demand from the developing world. And with the world expanding as never before, steel companies are literally selling as fast as they can produce.
"In the August 2007, we highlighted five first-rate global steel producers. Since then, they've returned an average of 67.4%, versus a decline of 3.7% for the S&P 500.
"The Iron Five are five picks that we believe are ripe for even bigger gains. Like the last group, these stocks are often volatile. They're also vulnerable to the possibility of a general stock market slide and most of all to a dip in global demand growth, particularly from China.
"Coal miner Peabody Energy Corp. (NYSE: BTU) looks hot," says Leo Fasciocco, who focuses on stocks that have broken out from technical basing patterns.
In his The Ticker Tape Digest, he explains, "The stock rose above its break points of $81.20, hitting a new high." He adds, "With net set to surge 70% this year, we see an upside target of $105 per share."
"Peabody, based in St. Louis, is a major producer of coal with annual revenues of $4.7 billion. BTU's coal fuels more than 10% of U.S. electricity generation and 2% worldwide.
"The company has mining operations in Appalachia, the Powder River Basin, and the U.S. Southwest and Midwest, as well as Australia and Venezuela. It also markets, brokers, and trades coal, and develops electricity-generation projects.
"Technically, BTU has broken out from a six-week flat base today with expanding volume. It is part of the strong coal group, which has been one of the strongest acting sectors of the market.
"For investors who seek superior relative performance but are unwilling to sacrifice dependability, the we offer four funds that consistently outperform their peers," says Richard Moroney.
In the mid-year forecast for his Dow Theory Forecasts, he explains, "All of these funds have outpaced category averages in each of last five years, and sometimes much longer." Here, he looks at those funds that he considers "perennial winners."
"To be sure, past returns do not guarantee future success. But, while the evidence is not conclusive, academic studies generally indicate performance tends to persist, particularly at the extremes. That is, the best funds continue to outperform their peers, while the worst funds keep lagging.
"Fidelity Export & Multinational (FEXPX), our favorite pick among large-company growth funds, is riding an impressive nine-year winning streak - the longest in its category. Among the more than 1,800 large-cap growth funds, less than 80, or roughly 4%, have outperformed the peer-group average for five straight years.
Using a proprietary "volume reversal" trading strategy, Mark Leibovit has been consistently ranked among the top newsletter timers. In his VRTrader, he looks at the outlook for stocks, oil, gold & silver -- and offers his choice for exchange-traded funds for traders to play these markets.
Leibovit explains, "The stock market's decline, besides being huge, is relentless. Every rally was met with selling and fresh lows were soon hit. The Dow crashed through the March and January lows and is now trading at its lowest level since September 2006.
"Apparently, that 1500 point rally off the March low was just a giant head fake. The Dow is now down 19% since last October and the S&P is down 18%, approaching bear market territory."
"Breadth is dismal, and down volume is ten times greater than up volume. Sector action is terrible. Seven of the nine market sectors are down more than 2.5%. Ouch! Financials have done it again and have set a new five-year low. Oil spiked through previous records setting a new record high.
"The precious metals also showed strong gains today with gold up 32.80 to 915.10. We cleared the June 9th high of 907.20 touching 909.50 opening up potential to 931.00 (May 21 high).
Leading advisor Jack Adamo, editor of Insiders Plus, reports that a Goldman Sachs analyst has chosen one of the stocks on his newsletter's buy list -- ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) -- as his top pick in the energy sector.
"There was an extremely interesting piece recently in Barron's by the oil analyst at Goldman Sachs who predicted $100 oil back in late 2004. We'd been buying energy stocks for almost a year at that point, but, although I expected oil prices to rise, I had no idea they'd go this high.
"In any case, the analyst, whose name is Arjun Murti, said he expects oil to reach $150 to $200 sometime within the next 24 months. The low end of that range is only a Middle East incident away, but the high end still seems like a reach, especially given weakening economic conditions.
"Skechers USA (NYSE: SKX), a trendy California-based retailer, is a new buy recommendation on our 'hot list'," says John Reese, who selects stocks based on the criteria used by several legendary stock pickers.
In his always-fascinating Validea newsletter, the advisor explains, "Skechers gets approval from two of my guru-based strategies, those that I base on the writings of Peter Lynch and Kenneth Fisher." Here is his review.
"My Lynch-based model considers the firm to be a 'fast-grower' because of its 23.08% long-term growth rate (based on the average of the three- and five-year earnings per share figures).
"Lynch was perhaps best known for using the P/E/Growth ratio, which divides a stock's price/earnings ratio by its growth rate to identify growth stocks that are still selling at a good price.
"P/E/Gs below 1.0 are acceptable to my Lynch-based model, with those under 0.5 the best case. With a P/E of 10.99 and that 23.08 percent growth rate, Skechers has a P/E/G of 0.48, passing this critical Lynch-based test with flying colors.
Although he has been maintaining a cautious stance on the refining group, energy sector expert Elliott Gue is now boosting the rating on Valero Energy (NYSE: VLO).
In his The Energy Strategist, the advisor explains, "Valero is now attractive for three reasons: superior geographic exposure, refinery complexity and a new focus on profitability."
"Our caution on the refining group was due to expectations that crack spreads would be weak through the spring, a period during which spreads tend to widen. Overall, this call was correct: Refiners have underperformed the energy patch since mid-March.
"And longer term, I have some concerns about new refining capacity expansions due to come online over the next few years. As this supply comes online, it could put downside pressure on margins.
"But over the next six to nine months, the refiners look like a compelling play. Gasoline inventories are now back in line with seasonal norms; it's likely gasoline prices will now rally further relative to crude oil. In fact, we're already seeing an obvious spike in crack spreads.
"I think that the most compelling stocks are the dry bulk shippers," says Charles Payne. In his Wall Street Market Commentary, he looks at the sector, its implications for the economy and his favorite picks.
"The dry bulk shipping group had been under a fair amount of pressure after a meteoric rally that said rates would come on with a Tiger Woods-like rebound after swooning at the start of the year.
"I consider the dry bulk index the best barometer of the health of the global economy. There is no doubt that at some point higher crude oil becomes the headwind everyone says it is, but I'm still not sure that level has been reached yet.
"On the global stage, many nations are paying substantially more for gasoline than the U.S. and yet their economies continue to improve. Obviously, on the one hand we would like crude oil to respond to a demand tipping point by way of Americans saying 'no mas.'
"By the same token; however, it would also be encouraging to know/see the economy getting better even in the face of this would-be headwind. I have to say that recent slide in dry bulk rates could be more technical rather than some sort of reaction to higher crude oil; the long-term trend is intact and today's action is compelling.
"Our favorites in the group include Genco Shipping (NYSE: GNK) which looks great in current trading, Teekay Shipping (NYSE: TK), and Diana Shipping (NYSE: DSX). All of these stocks are oversold and have tremendous room on the upside."
Each day, Steven Halpern's TheStockAdvisors.com offers the latest market commentary and favorite investment ideas from the nation's leading financial newsletter advisors.
"Putting stereotypes about risk aside, Israel offers a lot of interesting opportunities, even for fairly conservative investors. Cellcom Israel is a prime example. The company is Israel's largest mobile phone service provider, with sales of $1.6 billion in 2007.
"Since February 2007, the company has had a dual listing on both the New York and Tel Aviv stock exchanges. Discount Investment Corp. Ltd., one of Israel's largest business groups, owns just over 50% of the company.
"With 3.1 million subscribers, Cellcom has a 34% share of Israel's mobile telecom services market. Roughly three-quarters of Cellcom's subscribers are individuals, and the remaining 25% are corporate customers.
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