The benefits are obvious, but some risks are not widely appreciated. The Utilities Sector shows a disturbing trend for the 12 months ended May 2008. The Gas Utilities Industry has fared a little better than its peers during this period. The crude oil outlook is unclear. That is why opinion is divided on how gas prices may fare in future.

This small-capital stock from Fort Worth, TX has a clear location advantage. The home base is front and center of one of the most exciting natural gas fields in all of North America. The management has been sanguine in leveraging a spatial advantage fully. It has been pro-active in securing gathering and processing rights to top natural gas resources in its neighborhood.

Stock investors wary of how the markets have behaved during June 2008 will be relieved to know that this stock

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The Long Tail theory is not about music, books, and Internet traffic alone. The stock exchange head is crowded, and worth less than it makes itself out to be. Call tails when the stock market coin is spun, and you will win more often than before.

Every stock exchange has rich pickings of unknown stocks. All we need is help to choose. How can rule three of the Long Tail Theory help us pick top small-capital stocks? Here is a free outline of resources that you can use to fish in a long tail.

1. Rate your analyst. The most established stock market experts use misleading non-verbal communication. Suits and antics cover everything from competence to criminality. Ask for specifics of stocks they have recommended over the last 12 months.

2. Raise questions based on the previous quarter.

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Deutsche Bank Securities analyst Jorge Beristain wrote that 2008 guidance “remains on track” and upbeat. Beristain maintained his Buy rating on Cleveland-Cliffs and raised his target price to $115.

Track Beristain and other Deutche Bank analyst picks at:

http://www.trackthepros.com/categories.php?category_id=420

The stock has almost tripled in the past 12 months on the demand for steel and its rising price. However, a major shareholder just plunked down $102 million, an average of $92.75 a share. Harbinger Capital now owns 13.9 million shares of Cleveland-Cliffs, a 15.3% stake. Harbinger has nvested more than $275 million in Cleveland-Cliffs.

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ETF market is booming. Let's have a look which ETF are currently the biggest in terms of assets value. SPY is still leading and has also biggest nominal increase year on year basis. Among top 10, the highest percentage assets increase has been seen for Emerging market EEM (63%). Followed by Gold GLD 51%.That's where ETF money had flowed in last 12 months. ETF Ticker Assets ($ mil) SPDR Index 500 (SPY) 75,121 iShares MSCI-EAFE (EFA) 47,363 ...

As you select asset classes and class weights for your portfolio, you should take into consideration, among other things, the mean return of those classes over different periods of time.

History is no guarantee of the future, but lack of understanding of the past may result surprising returns. It’s a good idea to do all you can to minimize surprises.

The chart shows the relative 1, 3, 5 10 and 15 year annualized returns for six major asset classes. The key feature to observe is the relative size of the return for each class within each year.

You can see bonds as a low return, but stabilizing asset class. You can see the US market has been weak relative to foreign markets. Commodities have been strong. Real estate did well, until it fell out out bed in a major way during the last 12 months.

A representative (but not exhaustive) list

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