China has an environmental problem which the government has been aware of for years. Polluters have been able to dump massive amounts of toxic wastes into China’s air and water for many years with no repercussions because the mandate from Beijing was for economic growth at all costs.

But that is all changing. China now has an environmental movement among its people which is in its infancy, but growing quickly. The interesting facet of China’s nascent environmental movement is that the central government in Beijing is actually listening to the environmentalists, at least to a certain extent. They are cracking down on some of the worst polluters and shutting them down.

Beginning in late 2008, Beijing began a crackdown on numerous illegal, dangerous coal mines which also happened to be the biggest polluting mines. Many of these operations have been shut down permanently.

Many investors may think to themselves – so what?

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The following is a list of the S&P 500 firms where the analysts have been cutting their expectations for the current fiscal year the most over the last month. Most likely these firms reported disappointing earnings or gave negative guidance on their conference calls.

Historically, you have not wanted to be invested in companies where the analysts who follow them most closely see the earnings prospects diminishing. Also, estimates in motion tend to remain in motion. The first bit of bad news is rarely the last (the cockroach theory). This means that the current expectations, even though down from last month, are probably still to high for these firms.

To weed out anomalies, only those firms that are currently expected to earn more than $0.50 in 2009 are included and only those firms where there are a minimum of three estimates in the system.

If you have these stocks in your portfolio,

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Pennsylvania-based CONSOL Energy (CNX) is a multi-fuel energy producer as well as energy services provider, primarily catering to the U.S. power producers. Its deep and diversified portfolio, largely comprising of coal and natural gas, provides the company with significant long-term growth potential. Its low-volatile metallurgical coal and high-Btu steam coal command premium prices even in a constrained commodity environment and the low-risk, low-cost gas operations diversify the energy portfolio and provides steady cash flow. CONSOL Energy is the largest and one of the low-cost coal producers in the northern Appalachia basin. This gives the company a much less-risky operating profile relative to other eastern producers heavily levered to the central Appalachia region, which faces stiffer regulations and operational hazards. CONSOL Energy has a strong balance sheet, with low debt and sufficient liquidity. The company ended the second quarter of 2009 with 100.7 million of cash and $360.8 ...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – July 17, 2009 – Zacks Equity Research highlights Biogen Idec (BIIB) as the Bull of the Day and Dell (DELL ) the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Peabody Energy (BTU), Arch Coal (ACI) and CONSOL Energy (CNX).

Full analysis of all these stocks is available at http://at.zacks.com/?id=2676.

Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:

Bull of the Day:

Biogen Idec (BIIB) posted solid results in the second quarter of 2009, despite the slowdown in Tysabri sales due to fears of PML. We think the Biogen core business will remain strong over the next several quarters.

Tysabri prescriptions are showing improvement and we believe will resume their previous pace shortly. In the meantime, the name is significantly under-valued and would be a very

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Shares of Peabody Energy (BTU), Arch Coal (ACI) and CONSOL Energy (CNX) rallied more than 6% in Wednesday’s trading. These companies will start reporting their second quarter results as of next week. Peabody will report on 21st, followed by Arch on 24th and CONSOL on 30th. Patriot Coal (PCX), Natural Resource (NRP) and Walter Energy (WLT) also joined the race. Patriot rose nearly 6% and Natural and Walter went up more than 4%. Walter will report on 22nd of this month and Natural on 6th of August. Patriot is yet to confirm the date. Coal demand in the U.S. is expected to remain subdued this year due to low power consumption and weak industrial activity. However, demand is growing in Asia -- especially in India and China. As per China customs, China has imported 32.2 million ton of coal through May ...

Now that the stock market has soared 40% from its March lows, almost no one can seem to remember what they were so worried about. By contrast, now that the price of natural has collapsed 40% in the last seven months, almost no one can remember why they ever worried about an energy shortage.

Mr. Market is about to heal America’s collective amnesia.

Investors will once again remember why they were selling stocks last March, and they will also remember why they used to invest in natural gas.

Share prices have gained a lot of ground during the last few months, even though the economy has not. The major averages have rallied about 40%, but many stocks are up a whole lot more than that. Seventeen of the thirty-three stocks I have recommended to the subscribers have gained more than 50% since those March lows. Eight are up

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Capitol Hill is moving faster than ever. We will get a Cap-and-Trade vote on Friday. The market has already cast its vote, making now a great time to make some smart investments. The Obama administration must be getting some schooling from Dealin’ Dave’s Used Car Sales.

Can’t you hear Nancy Pelosi saying to some farm-belt democrat, “What’s it going to take to get you into this climate bill tonight?”

One of the easiest “outs” for a potential car buyer is to say, “I like it, but let me go home and talk to my wife.”

It is no different with shoddy legislation. “I like it,” say our fence-sitting lawmakers, “but let me go home and talk to my constituents.”

Knowing if a customer leaves the lot, he may never come back, House leaders are working overtime to ensure the latest nefarious piece of legislation to come off of Capitol Hill gets a vote before

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The EPA recently ruled that too much carbon dioxide is threatening the planet. What this does is make it a lot easier to regulate and tax emitters of this gas.

So here we are in a shaky economy tottering on a ledge and along comes the EPA ready to shove it right off. As The Wall Street Journal reported: “The landmark decision lays the groundwork for federal efforts to cap carbon emissions - at a potential cost of billions of dollars to businesses and government.”

In other words, the war on the so-called greenhouse gases is officially under way - and it is going to be expensive. Each passing month brings us closer to capping, taxing or cutting the gases thought to cause global warming.

I don’t think investors appreciate how far-reaching such efforts could be. And there will be definite winners and losers as a result. Some of these are far from

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - May 12, 2009 - Zacks Research Director, Dirk Van Dijk says that S&P 500 earnings are continuing to show red ink. He tracks companies on the Zacks.com web site, naming names, while forecasting trends for the months ahead.

Key Points from Van Dijk's Latest Earnings Assessment

Earnings season is almost over with 88.4% of reports in Total reported net income is down 32.0% from year ago, but up 86.8% from Q4 Financials are much better than expected, but the quality of earnings is awful Ex-Financials, total earnings are down 36.4% from a year ago and down 20.1% from Q4 Total net income is down in all sectors but Financials and Health Care Health Care, Tech and Discretionary all showing lots of positive surprises Full S&P total net income expected to be 31.9% lower than Q1 2008 Decline expected to continue in Q2, ...

Highlighted stocks include: American International Group (...