In the article “Top Global Agriculture Picks” which companies did Victor Badin recommend?

In a time of rising food prices, investors should have agricultural stocks in their portfolios, Victor Badin, fund manager at Global Cap, said.

And China Farm Equipment, Bunge and Myriya Agro Holdings are among the most attractive of the bunch, Badin said.

Bunge (BG) gets high marks for earnings momentum and price momentum in the models I follow. However, its free cash flow ranking is low.

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In the CNBC.com Video Roundup, “Volatility-Beaters: Steel and Internet Stocks”, what steel name did Timna Tanners pick?

“We like U.S. Steel (X)…They’re the biggest tubular pipe player in the U.S.  Prices are going to rise steadily with energy demand there.”

- Timna Tanners, UBS Steel & Building Materials Analyst

US Steel scores well for earnings momentum and price momentum in the models I follow.

In Fast Money’s Web Extra segment “Najarian’s Sweet Trade” which food & beverage purveyor did Pete Najarian praise?

In Wednesday’s Web Extra Pete Najarian reveals why sweet tea makes him sweet on McDonald’s.

I haven’t tried MCD’s sweet tea. However, I like the strong scores it posted for earnings momentum, earnings quality and price momentum. It’s score on return potential, however, is low.

My latest column is up at RealMoney.

I usually want a stock to score highly in four out of five categories before giving it much consideration: earnings momentum, earnings quality, price momentum, free cash flow and return potential.

This week, only three stocks went four for five, and I’ve talked about them all before: W&T Offshore (WTI) , Pitney Bowes (PBI) and Rent-a-Center (RCII) . As I look for new investment ideas, I’m left with three options, each of which has significant drawbacks.

Go short Change strategy Stay on the sidelines

I seldom

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Web Extra: In “Go Off The Rails” the Fast Money traders take on a newspaper’s analysis of rail stocks. Which newspaper?

The New York Times questioned whether rail shares are now overloaded in Sunday’s paper. Find out how the traders respond in Monday’s Web Extra.

The New York Times (NYT) scores horribly in the models I use. Its earnings quality is average, but it ranks among the worst for earnings momentum, price momentum, free cash flow and return potential. Meanwhile, pricing power indicates that the railroad stocks may have further to go.

CNBC Stock Blog: Bernie McGinn says forget subprime — buy bank stocks. Which one did he call a “tremendous franchise”?

He also likes Bank of America (BAC).

“Bank of America represents a pretty good buy right here,” he said.  “It’s a tremendous franchise; it’s the number one in deposits, it’s number one in credit-card balances, it will be number one in mortgages.”

Of course, it is that last part that makes me nervous. In the models I use, Bank of America is most notable for poor earnings momentum, poor earnings quality and poor price momentum.

In “Top Videos: Hottest-Selling Funds, Lehman & More” what type of meat does Cramer reference?

Stop Trading, Listen to Cramer!

“We’re in a situation right now that if you wanted good chicken, that you weren’t worried about because you like chicken ‘cause your diet is now pro-protein and you’re in China, the good housekeeping seal of approval is Kentucky Fried Chicken. And, Yum Brands (YUM) is moving big there… “

In the models I follow, Lehman (LEH) looks good for return potential, but its earnings momentum, price momentum and  free cash flow are lousy.

Yum Brands (YUM), on the other hand, looks pretty good. It earns high marks for earnings quality, price momentum and return potential.

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Fast Money’s Karen Finerman loves “bargain real estate.” But what conclusion did she reach on Maguire Properties (MPG)?

She likes “the dynamic of absolute forced selling.”

While I appreciate the contrarian perspective on a stock with a broken deal and discontinued dividend, I have to say it doesn’t look too good on the models I follow.  Here’s how it looks:

Earnings momentum: Neutral Earnings quality: Negative Price Momentum: Negative Free cash flow: Neutral Return potential: Negative

On Tuesday, Jim Cramer said it was “time to ring the register” and sell. But what railroad stock was he BULLISH on?

He also remains bullish on rails like Union Pacific (UNP) and CSX (CSX) although he’d still take some profits there “just as a prudence method.”

Railroads were one of the sectors I highlighted yesterday based on strong pricing evidenced by the PPI report. However, while CSX and UNP both have high price momentum, their its free cash flow and return potential score poorly based on the models I use.

More interesting in my opinion is railcar leasing company GATX (GMT), based on its strong earnings momentum and neutral scores on most other measures.

Disclosure: At the time of publication, William Trent has no financial position in the companies mentioned in this article.

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My latest column is up at RealMoney.

I think Rent-A-Center (RCII) can benefit from the slowdown in consumer spending and the tightening of credit standards.

If Rent-A-Center were to receive the same price-to-book multiple as Aaron Rents, it could trade above $28 per share today. While I don’t believe that will happen overnight, over the next five years Rent-A-Center could see high-single-digit earnings per share growth and also expand its price-to-book multiple to the 1.9 level. The combination of earnings growth and valuation expansion could generate annual returns averaging 15% or more.

Here’s how the company scores on the Stock Market Beat models:

Earnings momentum: Positive Earnings quality: Positive Price momentum: Neutral Free cash flow: Positive Return potential: Positive

Disclosure: At time of publication, William Trent has no financial position in the companies mentioned in this article.

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