5 PowerRatings Stocks Under $15
ASYT, WTSLA, VLNC, PRKR, PCTI
In the first few hours of trading on Friday, stocks moving lower and following through on the selling that characterized the markets on Thursday.The difference between where the market began on Thursday and where it is early on Friday is increasingly apparent in the growing numbers of high Short Term PowerRatings stocks. This is true both in the number of 8-rated stocks as well as the number of the even more highly prized 9-rated stocks.

Profits in the Breeze: Otter Tail a Favorite Wind Energy Stock Among Pro Investors
The recent decline in energy prices has given short-term relief to consumers and energy-sensitive companies alike. Despite the modest pullback, the interest in alternative energy sources doesn't seem to be waning. Solar energy has lots of fans, but recently the support for wind energy has become more vocal, thanks in part to a major shot in the arm following energy guru T. Boone Pickens' recent unveiling of wind energy as a centerpiece of his alternative energy "Pickens Plan." Pickens posits that in the future, wind could account for 20% of the nation's power. However, there are only a few U.S.-listed stocks with significant exposure to wind energy.

Uncomfortable Answers to Questions on the Economy
You have heard that Fannie and Freddie, their gentle names notwithstanding, may cripple the financial system without a large infusion of taxpayer money. You have gleaned that jobs are disappearing, housing prices are plummeting, and paychecks are effectively shrinking as food and energy prices soar. You have noted the disturbing talk of crisis hovering over Wall Street.

The global economy is at the point of maximum danger
By Ambrose Evans- Pritchard
It feels like the summer of 1931. The world's two biggest financial institutions have had a heart attack. The global currency system is breaking down. The policy doctrines that got us into this mess are bankrupt. No world leader seems able to discern the problem, let alone forge a solution.The International Monetary Fund has abdicated into schizophrenia. It has upgraded its 2008 world forecast from 3.7pc to 4.1pc growth, whilst warning of a "chance of a global recession". Plainly, the IMF cannot or will not offer any useful insights.

The American dream turns into a quagmire
Commentary: 'Credit Crunch the sequel' bigger than the original
By MarketWatch
Wall Street will cherry-pick the productive mortgages, and the rest will be dumped on everyone else's doorstep.
People who didn't borrow cheap money they couldn't afford and who paid their mortgages on time, will nonetheless have to pony up more taxes to cover the losses incurred by their profligate fellow citizens at the prodding of an elected class that sought to extend homeownership to every American capable of casting a vote.
Maybe, just maybe, the political class will finally have to own up to making some difficult choices: eliminating a couple of aircraft carriers for a start, and that $100 billion a year they spend on the department of education.

10 tax laws you got a know
This filing season, the biggest beneficiaries of new tax laws are homeowners.
Unfortunately for some, any joy about a new tax break is tempered by the fact that it was created because they were having trouble paying their mortgages.

Profit From a Sinking Dollar
By Paul J. Lim, Money Magazine senior editor
When you're traveling abroad, it's easy, if unpleasant, to grasp the impact of a sinking dollar. Now that the euro is at an all-time high against the greenback, dinner for two at a modest Paris café will set you back $200.When you're trying to decide how to steer your 401(k) or other investment accounts, the implications aren't so clear. But if history is any guide, the dollar's woes will eventually weigh down U.S. stocks. Here's why, and how you can keep your portfolio above water.

More trouble ahead for Wall Street
NEW YORK: It will be a weekend of high anxiety for investors on Wall Street, as they brace themselves for what will likely be another rollercoaster ride for the battered financial markets. Any more signs of spreading losses tied to risky subprime mortgages are likely to send US stocks into more of a tailspin next week, exacerbating calls for the Federal Reserve to ride to the rescue.

For Some Consumers, Credit Crunch Ahead
Mortgage lenders going bankrupt, hedge funds evaporating, the stock market gyrating wildly: What does it all mean for you and me?There's no denying that the financial markets are on edge and volatile, and some companies are in difficult straits, triggered in large part by rising foreclosures in the subprime market and the effect on investments tied to those mortgage loans.But the degree to which the current situation affects individual Americans depends a lot on what you've got planned in coming months.If you'd like to tap into the mortgage market -- buy a house, refinance your mortgage, take a home equity line of credit -- the recent turmoil will directly affect what kind of loan you can get and how much it will cost.

The trials of Bear Stearns
The near-meltdown of two Bear Stearns hedge funds invested in subprime mortgages has focused attention on two critical questions. Will mortgage financing dry up, throwing the economy into the great abyss? Will the rush of private equity into publicly traded companies, aimed at reorganizing US corporate assets, reverse and send stock prices tumbling? If cooler heads prevail, the answer to both questions is no. However, if the US Justice Department and the New York attorney

The Crashing U.S. Economy Held Hostage
Our Economy is on an Artificial Life-support System

by Richard C. Cook

Global Research, July 7, 2007

Remember when the U.S. was the world’s greatest industrial democracy? Barely thirty years ago the output of our producing economy and the skills of our workforce led the world.

What happened? It’s hard to believe that in the space of a generation our character and capabilities just collapsed as, for example, did our steel and automobile industries and our family farming. What then are the causes of the decline? Here’s how I would put it today: our economy is on an artificial life-support system, a barely-breathing hostage in a lunatic asylum. That asylum is the U.S. and world financial systems which are on the verge of collapse.

Playing with 401(k) fire
Investing your retirement savings with market-beating schemes is asking for trouble, says Money Magazine's Walter Updegrave.Question: In December, 2005 I spread the $200,000 in my 401(k) account across funds that had gained 20 percent or more a year over the previous three years. Those funds gained about 30 percent in 2006. I'm following the same strategy this year and so far I'm up about 30 percent. I should add, though, that following this strategy has put about 65 percent of my money in foreign stock funds, and I've also ended up with several sector funds. I've got another 10 to 15 years before I retire. Am I being brilliant or blissfully ignorant of risk? - Forrest, Madison, AlabamaAnswer: You could be both for all I know, and just plain old lucky too for that matter. The real question is whether it makes sense for you to continue following your "invest in the stars of yesteryears" strategy or whether you should take a more conventional approach and build a truly diversified portfolio.

China's $1.2 trillion cash hoard
With $1.2 trillion in reserves, most of it in dollar-backed assets, China plans to launch the world's largest investment fund. It could play havoc with the U.S. economy.
By Clay Chandler, Fortune senior writer
(Fortune Magazine) -- China, Long recognized as the world's factory, is earning a new distinction: America's banker. As it continues to suck in foreign investment and crank out exports, the world's fastest-growing economy is piling up foreign currency, mostly dollars, at an astonishing rate.

100 Best Companies to Work For
Shooting straight to the top in its first appearance on our list, the Best Company to Work For in America sets the standard for Silicon Valley and beyond. (more)

Global economy faces a dangerous year
Rising inflation and falling home prices are likely to push the US economy into