Today we are featuring top-performing "Energy" equity mutual funds, which primarily invest in equity securities of energy and/or natural resources companies.

Investors can find such funds by checking out the entire list of the Zacks #1 Rank Energy Equity Funds.

3 Hot Picks

ICON Energy (ICENX) seeks long-term capital appreciation. It invests at least 80% of its net assets in equity securities of companies in the energy sector which are traded in the U.S.

The fund adopts a quantitative methodology to identify securities that are under priced relative to value. The U.S. equity securities in which the fund may invest include common and preferred stocks of companies of any market capitalization.

Unit holders need to make a minimum initial investment of $1,000 to enter this Zacks#1 Rank (“Strong Buy") fund. It distributes dividends and capital gains, if any, annually.

Derek Rolligson has been lead manager of the fund since May 2007. Rolligson was with

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - June 29, 2009 - Zacks.com announces the latest Industry Outlook. Today's outlook from Zacks Equity Research analyst Sean P. Smith discusses the Business Consulting Services sector. Highlighted stocks include: The Corporate Executive Board (EXBD), Navigant Consulting (NCI), and CRA International (CRAI).

Here is the latest on the Business Consulting Services sector:

In light of the macroeconomic challenges facing existing and potential customers, we expect the business consulting firms to face a difficult operating environment in the near term. Our Sell-Rated stocks in the industry include The Corporate Executive Board (EXBD), Navigant Consulting (NCI), and CRA International (CRAI).

Each firm posted earnings results that fell short of Street expectations in 2008, and we anticipate further pressure on utilization rates in the case of NCI and CRAI, and on contract-value growth

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Although the majority of attention regarding the current recession has focused on the consumer sector, business are being forced to cut back on expenditures as well. With businesses in nearly every industry looking for ways to lower non-critical expenses, we expect the business consulting industry to face a challenging operating environment in the near term.OUTLOOKWe have a negative outlook for the business consulting services industry, based upon the difficult economic environment facing the companies' existing and potential customers.Business consulting companies provide a wide range of services to their clients. Typical services include litigation support, business strategy planning, market and demand forecasting, policy analysis and consulting in the areas such as corporate finance, human resources, technology and restructuring.With the economy currently in recession, companies in all industries are searching for ways to control expenses. Even in situations where ...

Following Earnings, Sell CRAIWe reiterate our Sell rating on shares of CRA International (CRAI) following the release of second-quarter results. Earnings per share in the quarter slightly exceeded the consensus estimate. However, we note that estimates were slashed following the company's release of disappointing first-quarter results.In fact, the company has seemingly fallen into a repeated pattern of delivering disappointing earnings one quarter, then beating the lowered consensus earnings estimate the following quarter, before again reporting disappointing results. This trend has now repeated consistently since the first quarter of 2008.Given this repeated disappointment, we anticipate that investors will demand evidence that management has properly addressed the company's operational problems before affording a higher multiple to CRAI shares.We continue to have a negative outlook on the business consulting sector, and maintain Sell ratings on CRAI, Navigant Consulting (NCI), The Corporate Executive ...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - May 11, 2009 - Zacks Equity Research highlights Xilinx (XLNX) as the Bull of the Day and Navigant Consulting (NCI) the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Wells Fargo (WFC), Morgan Stanley (MS) and Citigroup (C).

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:

Xilinx (XLNX) reported revenues of $395.0 million in Q4:09, down 17% y/y and down 14% q/q. Sales from all geographies and end markets declined as expected. GAAP EPS came in at $0.26 while the non-GAAP EPS came in at $0.20.

For full fiscal 2009, sales of $1.83 billion were down

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - May 7, 2009 - Zacks.com announces the latest Industry Outlook. Today's outlook from Zacks Equity Research analyst Sean P. Smith discusses the Business Consulting sector. Highlighted stocks include: The Corporate Executive Board (EXBD), Navigant Consulting (NCI) and CRA International (CRAI).

Here is the latest on the Business Consulting sector:

In light of the macroeconomic challenges facing existing and potential customers, we expect the business consulting firms to face a difficult operating environment in the near term. Our Sell-Rated stocks in the industry include The Corporate Executive Board (EXBD), Navigant Consulting (NCI) and CRA International (CRAI).

Each firm posted earnings results that fell short of Street expectations in 2008, and we anticipate further pressure on utilization rates in the case of NCI and CRAI, and on contract-value growth in the case of EXBD. As a result, we

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Although the majority of attention regarding the current recession has focused on the consumer sector, business are being forced to cut back on expenditures as well. With businesses in nearly every industry looking for ways to lower non-critical expenses, we expect the business consulting industry to face a challenging operating environment in the near term.

OUTLOOK

We have a negative outlook for the business consulting services industry, based upon the difficult economic environment facing the companies' existing and potential customers.

Business consulting companies provide a wide range of services to their clients. Typical services include litigation support, business strategy planning, market and demand forecasting, policy analysis and consulting in the areas such as corporate finance, human resources, technology and restructuring.

With the economy currently in recession, companies in all industries are searching for ways to control expenses. Even in situations where a customer attributes significant value to the services provided by business consulting firms,

...

Although the majority of attention regarding the current recession has focused on the consumer sector, business are being forced to cut back on expenditures as well. With businesses in nearly every industry looking for ways to lower non-critical expenses, we expect the business consulting industry to face a challenging operating environment in the near term.

OUTLOOK

We have a negative outlook for the business consulting services industry, based upon the difficult economic environment facing the companies' existing and potential customers.

Business consulting companies provide a wide range of services to their clients. Typical services include litigation support, business strategy planning, market and demand forecasting, policy analysis and consulting in the areas such as corporate finance, human resources, technology and restructuring.

With the economy currently in recession, companies in all industries are searching for ways to control expenses. Even in situations where a customer attributes significant value to the services provided by business consulting firms,

...

Although the majority of attention regarding the current recession has focused on the consumer sector, business are being forced to cut back on expenditures as well. With businesses in nearly every industry looking for ways to lower non-critical expenses, we expect the business consulting industry to face a challenging operating environment in the near term.OUTLOOKWe have a negative outlook for the business consulting services industry, based upon the difficult economic environment facing the companies' existing and potential customers.Business consulting companies provide a wide range of services to their clients. Typical services include litigation support, business strategy planning, market and demand forecasting, policy analysis and consulting in the areas such as corporate finance, human resources, technology and restructuring.With the economy currently in recession, companies in all industries are searching for ways to control expenses. Even in situations where a customer attributes significant ...

Highlights include CRA International, Inc. (CRAI), First Advantage Corporation (FADV), Navigant Consulting (NCI) and The Corporate Executive Board (EXBD).Rough 1st Quarter for Sell-Rated CRAIShares of Sell-rated CRA International, Inc. (CRAI) are down more than 10% today after the company reported 1st-quarter financial results that disappointed the Street. Both revenues and earnings were down significantly, and fell well short of both our expectations and the Street consensus estimates.On the conference call, management stated that clients on the litigation side of the business were putting cases on hold, while clients on the consulting side of the business continue to freeze or slow down projects. While the company continues to be retained in new engagements, management stated that they are not seeing a normal ramp-up in billings in some cases.The company has now reported disappointing financial results in 3 ...