China Natural Gas is currently trading at only 10.9 times trailing earnings, yet the company grew net income in 2008 by 66%. I expect growth in 2009 will be only marginally higher than in 2008 due to the severe drop in gas prices. But the fact that the company could grow at all after a 70% decline in natural gas prices is a testament to its growth prospects and solid operations. And if natural gas prices rise in 2010 as I expect, than look for China Natural Gas to reap big profits. China Natural Gas should grow earnings by more than 25% in 2010, which would mean the stock is currently trading at 9.3-times forward earnings. This is very inexpensive – Chesapeake Energy is trading at 11.6-times analyst estimates for 2010, yet is forecast to have essentially flat earnings growth. China Natural Gas is a buy here. The stock should trade at least 25% higher in the next few months and push past its October 2009 high of $14.81. I expect to increase my target price in January. This agriculture sector has been red hot, and China fertilizer companies like China Green Agriculture have...

FEI Company is the leading provider of the highly sophisticated instruments and systems used in nanotechnology research, development, and manufacture. Its products include scanning and transmission electron microscopes, focused ion beam systems, and dual beam systems that combine the two on a single platform. Other FEI products include ion mass spectrometers, nano profilometers, and software systems to help maximize semiconductor production yields. Research labs and industrial customers generate 44% of FEI’s revenues. The electronics industry, and in particular semiconductor manufacturers, contribute 19%, and servicing and component sales account for around 24%. These core businesses generate solid if unspectacular growth of around 10% a year. Greater growth potential, however, lies in the life sciences area, which currently accounts for some 13 percent of revenues. Increasingly the pharmaceutical and biotech industries are focusing on three-dimensional structural biology, including the study of biological pathways and cellular structures. These areas offer fertile markets for FEI’s products. Other industries looking to tap nanotech’s potential also could be powerful engines of growth for FEI in the longer run. The mining and energy markets are two prime examples. In mining, automated mineralogy using FEI’s systems promises to speed up the discovery of...

The company is advancing an anti-cancer drug and a cancer vaccine that targets the enzyme telomerase through multiple clinical trials in different cancers. Geron has agreed with the FDA on a path that should enable it to begin clinical trials on patients with severed spinal cords in Q3 2010. Recently Geron announced the publication of preclinical data demonstrating that its telomerase inhibitor drug, imetelstat (GRN163L), inhibited telomerase activity and reduced tumor size in xenograft models of glioblastoma (a brain cancer), and inhibited the activity of glioblastoma stem cells in culture. Thomas Okarma, Ph.D., M.D., Geron's president and chief executive officer says, 'The blood-brain tumor barrier limits the delivery of most therapeutic drugs to brain tumors, but these data show that imetelstat penetrates that barrier. We will further investigate imetelstat's anti-cancer stem cell potential clinically in our Phase II trials in breast and lung cancers, multiple myeloma and chronic leukemia that will begin later this year.' It is worth reminding you what is going on here. Telomerase is an enzyme that is found in cancer cells that are replicating out of control, but is not found in normal cells. So Geron’s imetelstat (a 'telomerase...

The company also sets the pace for much of the industry by remaining on the cutting edge of chip manufacturing processes. It makes chips for hundreds of manufacturers such as Philips, Motorola, Broadcom and NVIDIA. It’s expanded production capacity by consolidating ownership of former joint ventures. TSMC has built a strong reputation by offering advanced wafer production processes and unparalleled manufacturing efficiency. Its manufacturing capacity is currently about 4.3 million wafers, and its revenues represent some 50% of the global foundry market. For the technically minded, the company offers a range of wafer fabrication processes, including processes to manufacture Complementary Metal Oxide Silicon (CMOS) logic, mixed-signal, and other semiconductors. The company also offers design, mask building, testing and assembly services. Demand is booming for chips used in third-generation (3G) mobile phones and Microsoft’s game consoles. We expect continued strong demand as 3G phones are increasingly adopted in the world’s largest cellular phone market, China. In its most recent quarterly report, TSMC said its profits had almost fully recovered to the levels reached before the global financial crisis. Compared to second quarter of 2009, TSMC’s third quarter results represented a 21.2% increase in revenue,...

Our current strategy is to participate in global growth through U.S. companies poised to benefit from money we expect to see flowing into the U.S. stock market in the coming year. We specifically are targeting companies with large exposure to international trade. We are also risk to reward, not just sheer growth. Anyone can make great returns intermittently by taking excessive risk, but the odds are it will eventually catch up with them. Long term success can only be achieved by balancing risk and reward. Timken Company has been located in Ohio for over 100 years and have been on the NYSE since 1922, but they have operations in 26 countries. They have paid a dividend for the last 350 quarters. They are the world leader in bearings, the essential component in anything that moves. Their products are fundamental to many industries (automobiles, defense, energy, medical, mining, construction, ttransportation, etc.) so they are positioned to benefit from an increase in economic activity in any area. Revenue was down 40% in 2009 due to lower demand, but they predict large revenue and profit increases for 2010. TKR is a stable American company that provides essential products for global...

The Limited sells women’s apparel, beauty and personal care products and accessories; annual revenues for the company are $8.6 billion. Victoria’s Secret operates 1,043 stores in the United States and 322 stores in Canada. The Bath Body Works operates 1,638 stores in the United States. The firm's retail stores are primarily mall-based. It also sells through its Websites and catalogues. LTD's long-term chart shows the stock peaking at 32 in 2006. The stock was then dragged lower during the bear market sinking to 5.90. It has since rallied back strongly. A 12-month performance chart shows the stock appreciating 120%. Technically, LTD's stock has broken out from a double-bottom or 'W' base with expanding volume. The move comes as a gap move, which is bullish. The base was set up after the stock rallied from 11 to a peak of 20. It then formed the W and rallied back to 20 to set up the 'handle' portion of the base. Analysts expect LTD to post a 41% jump in net for the fiscal fourth quarter ended January 31. They expect net of 96 cents a share, up from 68 cents a year ago. The highest estimate on...

iShares MSCI Germany has bounced back in 2009 from an especially rotten 2008. In 2009, iShares Germany gained 18.1% for the year through mid-December—after bounding up 78% from the March market lows. We think Germany’s major export-oriented stocks are poised to perform well again in 2010, despite concerns about domestic spending. Besides, none of EWG’s top 10 holdings (excluding utilities) generate more than 47% of their revenues in Germany. These companies are global leaders in their respective industries and should benefit from renewed worldwide economic growth. Many of these companies, like top holdings Siemens, Daimler and SAP, are especially attractive since their major products are in significant demand in rapidly growing emerging-markets countries—and none of them earn more than 20% of their revenue from Germany. Despite strong performance in 2009, EWG still has an attractive valuation. Its average price/book value (P/B) is about 1.9. This is considerably lower than that of iShares S P Europe 350 (3.0 P/B) and iShares MSCI EAFE (2.7). EWG’s portfolio holds about 50 stocks. Six sectors account for no more than 19% and no less than 11% of the portfolio (EWG does not have any energy exposure). Financials lead the way with about...

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 2010, 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 2010 of $0.60, slightly above the current $0.57 consensus and aligned with the highest estimate provided by the 10 analysts covering the...

Jin Lowell explains, In 2009, India, China and Russia’s big banks continued to buy gold, perhaps as an alternative currency. According to Bloomberg, if investors are dumb when it comes to buying gold, governments tend to be dumber. The last time we saw countries buying gold on a similar scale was in 1980 when gold peaked at $850 an ounce – a price that took 28 years to materialize again. After a year where most markets swatted the greenback as if it were a salt marsh fly, using a gold plated fly swatter on the assumption that the yellow metal could salve all trials and tribulations, I think 2010 finds a headwind for gold bugs and a tailwind for our dollar. I’d buy the ProShares Ultra Short Gold, which delivers twice (200%) the inverse (opposite) of the daily performance of gold bullion. Ken Kam suggests, Systematic risk is rising and has become the big concern for investors - overwhelming most other factors. In the past, systematic risk was generally ignored because there was little we could do and the emphasis was placed on diversifying away other kinds of risks. Now that we have seen...

Global Crosssing raised billions of dollars of capital, mostly debt, and used the money to lay thousands of miles of fiber optic cable spanning the globe. The initial strategy seems to have been 'if you build it, they will come'. Global Crossing built the network, but as the telecom bubble burst around 2000, nobody came. Global Crossing emerged from Chapter 11 in December 2003. Once again the market showed enthusiasm for the story. The new stock went as high as 36 shortly after it began trading. When it later dropped in price, several high-profile investors accumulated sizable positions. Unfortunately, there was still considerable overcapacity in worldwide networks, and Global Crossing’s results continued to lag expectations. The stock hit a low of 5 earlier this year before beginning to recover. The network is still built – it connects 690 cities in 60 countries around the world – and it appears that the revenues are finally beginning to come. Over the last three fiscal years revenues grew from $1.87 billion in 2006 to $2.26 billion in 2007 to $2.59 billion in 2008 and were at $1.88 billion for the first three quarters of 2009....

Michael Cintolo explains, While alternative energy hasn't been a terrific sector for much of 2009, we're beginning to see some great strength in the group as investors discount accelerating growth in the quarters to come. And my favorite stock is sure to benefit from this trend, as it's the #1 wind power story in the market today. We're talking about American Superconductor which designs many different wind turbines and then licenses them to customers that want to get into the wind business; customers are obligated by contract to then buy AMSC's wind electrical systems-basically the brains of the wind system. Its biggest customer (by far) is Sinovel of China, which wasn't even in the wind industry a few years ago, but is set to become a top five turbine maker next year. And many other customers, including Hyundai Heavy Industries (which is going to have a big presence here in the U.S.) are set to ramp up production in 2010. Because of all that, revenues have leaped more than 80% in each the past two quarters, earning are ramping up quickly and management has stated it expects fiscal 2011 (ending next March) revenues to grow more...