Abundance of Options

Abundance of Options

For those who believe the real estate market is poised for a comeback, there are several options that provide market exposure. A few of these funds are highlighted here:

• Vanguard REIT ETF (VNQ): This ETF is designed to track the performance of the MSCI U.S. REIT Index, a benchmark of U.S. property trusts that covers about two-thirds of the U.S. REIT market.
• iShares Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate Index (IYR): IYR tracks the diversified Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate Index. This index holds a number of REITs with interests in a wide variety of real property, including shopping malls, storage facilities, residential properties, and timber.
• SPDR DJ Wilshire International Real Estate (RWX): This State Street fund offers exposure to real estate markets throughout the world. In addition to U.S. real estate (43% of fund holdings), IYR holds assets in Japan (12%), Australia (8%), and the UK (8%). RWX has outperformed the majority of U.S.-only real estate ETFs over the past year.
• ProShares Ultra Real Estate (URE): URE is a leveraged ETF, meaning that it is generally inappropriate for buy-and-hold investors and is primarily used by day traders. For sophisticated investors looking to generate a quick intraday profit, URE may be a useful tool. Given the frequency with which important real estate related information is released (new construction, median home prices, etc.) real estate indices often experience significant one-day movements that can be exacerbated with leveraged funds.

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Dream Stocks for Financial Investors

Company Revenue Growth Rate,Past 3 Years CAPS Rating(out of 5 stars)
Hercules Technology Growth Capital (Nasdaq: HTGC) 55.4 % *****
Apollo Investment (Nasdaq: AINV) 63.3 % ****
Allied Irish Banks (NYSE: AIB) 28.2 % *****
Data and star rankings from CAPS as of May 15.

Dream Stocks for Financial Investors

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And a Bridge to Future Gains

Now that doesn’t mean that you should run and hide until then. Indeed, now is the time to begin looking to build your bridges to the new bull market. A careful mix of short-term puts and long-term calls is your best bet at the moment.

Long-term LEAPS on such stalwarts as Mittal Acelor (MT:NYSE) and Chevron (CVX:NYSE) are available dirt-cheap right now. Their deltas enable them to double in value when these companies’ shares gain mere dollars.

Risk can be ameliorated through puts on such potential losers as the banks (shares of the bearish 3x bank fund Justice has mentioned of late would suffice just as well, as they are based on puts), retailers like the Gap (GAP:NYSE), and even such industrial players as Boeing (BA:NYSE) can be used to balance off any losses you incur, allowing you to remain in your long plays throughout the rough days that are bound to lurking ahead.

In the end, with some realism, diligence and hard work, I hope for, and indeed plan for, the best for all: friends, family, health and wealth.

S&P Dividend Aristocrats

S&P Dividend Aristocrats In Our Filter:

The 20 members of the S&P Dividend Aristocrats that pass the filter (at the 3% yield cutoff level) used here are shown below (there are other members of the Aristocrats that continue to as Aristocrats, but that do not yield as much as 3%):

• Abbot Laboratories - ABT
• AFLAC - AFL
• BB&T - BBT
• Bemis - BMS
• Chubb - CB
• Cincinnati Financial - CINF
• Clorox - CLX
• Dover Corp - DOV
• Emerson Electric - EMR
• Johnson & Johnson - JNJ
• Kimberly Clark - KMB
• Coca-Cola - KO
• McDonald's - MCD
• McGraw-Hill - MHP
• M&T Bank - MTB
• Pitney Bowes - PBI
• Pepsico - PEP
• Proctor & Gamble - PG
• PPG Industries - PPG
• Stanley Works - SWK

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Guru Invest

Value Investor Based on Benjamin Graham WIRE ENCORE WIRE CORPORATION PLCE CHILDREN'S PLACE RETAIL STORES, INC. HELE HELEN OF TROY LIMITED		Patient Investor Based on Warren Buffett INFY INFOSYS TECHNOLOGIES LIMITED (ADR) MBT MOBILE TELESYSTEMS OJSC (ADR) ESI ITT EDUCATIONAL SERVICES, INC.
P/E Growth Investor Based on Peter Lynch SYKE SYKES ENTERPRISES, INCORPORATED RJF RAYMOND JAMES FINANCIAL, INC. MOH MOLINA HEALTHCARE, INC.		Price/Sales Investor Based on Keneth Fisher ZUMZ ZUMIEZ INC. KFY KORN/FERRY INTERNATIONAL ATI ALLEGHENY TECHNOLOGIES INCORPORATED
Growth Investor Based on Martin Zweig STRA STRAYER EDUCATION, INC. TWGP TOWER GROUP, INC. DRC DRESSER-RAND GROUP INC.		Low P/E Investor Based on John Neff PDLI PDL BIOPHARMA INC. CMO CAPSTEAD MORTGAGE CORPORATION WRLD WORLD ACCEPTANCE CORP.
Contrarian Investor Based on David Dreman BCS BARCLAYS PLC (ADR) SPIL SILICONWARE PRECISION INDUSTRIES (ADR) HLTH HLTH CORPORATION		Book/Market Investor Based on Joseph Piotroski TII TELMEX INTERNACIONAL, S.A.B. DE CV (ADR) BBL BHP BILLITON PLC (ADR) OSG OVERSEAS SHIPHOLDING GROUP INC.
Earnings Yield Investor Based on Joel Greenblatt AMSG AMSURG CORP. CF CF INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS, INC. TRLG TRUE RELIGION APPAREL, INC.		Growth/Value Investor Based on James O'Shaughnessy DLTR DOLLAR TREE, INC. PNRA PANERA BREAD COMPANY URS URS CORPORATION

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AUTH,XOM

Chris DeHaemer of BreakAway Investor offers these companies for consideration:

**AuthenTech (AUTH:NASDAQ) is a technology company that provides fingerprint authentication sensors. Its fingerprint sensors allow users to access and control multiple functions on an electronic device by touching or sliding their finger across the sensor. The sensors are used in various applications related to security, password replacement, financial transaction authentication and personalization applications.Its sensor-related products are used in GPS navigation systems, cell phones, memory keys, laptops… even desktops.The company has zero debt and roughly a cash equivalent of $2.21 per share. It currently trades around $1.37 per share.

**Exxon Mobil (XOM:NYSE). If you prefer a non-technology-related company, there’s always Exxon Mobil with $39 billion in cash, which is equal to $7.72 total cash per share. Exxon reported a profit of $45.2 billion for 2008. This amount breaks the record for an American company.

http://www.taipanpublishinggroup.com/taipan-daily-030109.html

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UDN

Specifically, I have and will continue to recommend both shares of PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bearish (UDN: NYSEArca) for investors, and call contracts against the same for traders. The former ought to gain a minimum of 20% per quarter over the next twelve months, while the latter could earn deft operators 100% or more over the next 90 days.

Deflation or Inflation? Get It Right, and You’re Rich. Get It Wrong…

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