A Good way to "Stock Up"

Whenever you are selecting stocks or sectors, look for areas of strength. The U.S. consumer and the financial sector are under considerable stress at this time but there are plenty of bright spots.

Overseas growth, especially in emerging markets, is robust. The declining dollar has been boosting the export competitiveness of U.S. companies. The farm and energy industries are booming. One strategy is to find companies with pricing power: the ability to raise prices to offset higher costs. Tobacco is one such business, another might be steel, where companies can raise prices because they're shielded from foreign imports by the cheap dollar.

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