Next week marks the beginning of 2008 and my two high school kids will also receive their first semester report cards, the moment of truth for them. It got me to think perhaps it was time to grade my own performance for 2007 on BloggingStocks. So here goes, the A's to the F's...

The A's:

• My recommendation of Aquantive Corp at $24 and stating that Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) needed to buy this company. It did at $66.50. Many readers and members of my investment web site made a near three bagger in less than six months.
• Recommendation of Color Kinetics at $19 back in May to only watch it get bought out at $34 by LG Phillips (NYSE: LPL) of the Netherlands.
• Recommendation of Kyphon at $37 and have Medtronic (NYSE: MDT) buy it at $71
• Recommendation of Opsware at $8 back in March and then again in May at $9 and have Hewlett-Packard Compaq (NYSE: HPQ) buy it out at $14.50
• Recommending Apple ( NASDAQ: AAPL) all year and re-iterating the buy since $80, now at $198 with a new price target at $300 for 2008
• Writing the exhaustive series of the Top 25 Stocks for the NEXT 25 Years back in May/June. Many of the stocks have been bought out and several are up more than 20%.

The B's:

• Recommending Crocs (NASDAQ: CROX) at $40 ( $20 post split) back in March to only watch it go up to $150, split 2 for 1 to $75. But I didn't get readers out at $75 and it fell back to $35, now at $39. Stock still a double for the year, but the momentum is gone for awhile.
• The five part series titled "the Good, the Bad and the Ugly: The Financial Stocks". I explained from soup to nuts how we got into the credit crisis and hopefully, how we get out of it!!
• Recommending Costco (NASDAQ: COST) at $54 and now at $69. Probably the best American retailer and should be a core holding.

The C's:

• Recommending Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) at $28 and then again recently at $22. This company is having its growth pains and should rebound more in the second half of 2008 as it faces easier comps.
• Recommending Target (NYSE: TGT) at $58. I was right till $68, but missed the top and the stock is back down to $51.
• Trashing Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) but not trashing it enough!!

The D's: OUCH!!

• Recommending the financials way to early back in July/August. I thought the second quarter results would have tempered the financial issues and credit crisis. I was way, way early.
• Still recommending the better managed financials like Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC). I know these two will emerge as stronger, more dominant companies sometime in 2008, but we are not there yet.

The F's: I don't think I have any yet, but I will let the readers decide!!..Wait, there is one: my defense of Countrywide Financial this past summer..

My proudest articles:

I have written 430 articles for BloggingStocks since I began this wonderful journey back in February 2007. My proudest piece is the one I wrote about remembering 9/11. It was personal. My other proudest piece was my defense of Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) after it allegedly missed the June quarter. The stock fell from $550 to $500 and has since risen $200 per share. Google is the most relevant company of our time and will likely become the most valuable company in the world over the next five years...but that's another article yet to be written!!

My overall grade, at least in my mind, is a B to a B- ... but you be the judge. Now for my kids report cards ...

Georges Yared is the CIO of Yared Investment Research .

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In my book about Baby Boomer investing I highlight what I feel are the five major growth industries going forward. The industries are health care, alternative energy, technology, communications and lifestyle. I also mention 42 companies within those industries that could be the leaders, the game changers. Since the book has been published, five of the 42 stocks I wrote about are being acquired!

The latest one to go is Checkfree (NASDAQ: CKFR). Fiserve (NASDAQ: FISV) has announced its $4.4 billion bid. Checkfree made our banking-transactional life much easier. The other four that will be part of larger companies are Opsware (NASDAQ: OPSW), Color Kinetics (NASDAQ: CLRK), aQuantive (NASDAQ: AQNT) and Kyphon (NASDAQ: KYPH). Other than aQuantive, the other three were also part of my Top 25 stocks for the NEXT 25 years series.

As the 42 companies are down to 37, it causes some reflection for the future. Great, emerging companies will always be on the radar screen of larger, well-financed suitors. If growth cannot be internally generated through research and development efforts, larger companies will need to acquire growth and next generation products or technology. With interest rates still historically low, the borrowing necessary to buy these young, up-and-comers is not a significant issue. Investors will reward mature companies if they acquire intelligently and strategically.

Other stocks that have run significantly are Chipotle (NYSE: CMG) and Zoltek (NASDAQ: ZOLT). Back in Decemeber, Chipotle was barely $40 and is now at $99 -- this one will not get bought out. The current P/E ratio is too high, so any buyer would have to absorb huge dilution to their own current earnings -- investors do not like that!Zoltek, was $19 then and now trades at $46. Several investors I speak with seriously feel Zoltek, now at a $1.35 billion market capitalization, could be a $10-12 billion market cap company. Zoltek is also another top 25 stock for the NEXT 25 years.

I believe at least 20-25 of the 42 will be acquired before the decade is finished. That's the nature of capitalism.

I will replace the three names for the Top 25 stocks for the NEXT 25 years before the weekend, but I am not ready to write a new book!

The book Baby Boomer Investing ... Where do we go from here?, released In December 2006, is also about the past 30 years and the incredible accomplishments achieved in technology, health care and life style as well as companies that changed and improved our lives. More importantly, at least I think so, I write about where I think our generation is going from here in terms of investing. There are 78 million of us Baby Boomers and the challenges we face in the next 20+ years are huge.

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July 19 marks the day that the Dow Jones industrial average closed at the magical 14,000 number. We had a similar magic number just three months ago when the Dow hit 13,000. Back then, the purveyors of doom and gloom said we were going up too far, too fast. They certainly were wrong.

Now that the market is back below 14,000 after falling more than 100 points on July 20, those same bearish talking-heads will no doubt be describing the same scary scenarios. Professional portfolio managers are more concerned with the S&P 500, but the Dow is important and individual investors still follow it more than any other index.

Let's peel back the onion a bit and ask the question all investors are wondering: Can the Dow Jones get past 14,000 and go all the way to 15,000 and by when? My answer is an unequivocal yes. We can reach 15,000 -- by year-end quite possibly. Here are the three main reasons why I'm so bullish (followed by some stocks to consider if you agree with my analysis):

Plenty of earnings strength: On April 20, when the Dow was approaching 13,000, I wrote that the elements were in place for the stock market to continue its upward trajectory. Earnings results from the March quarter were healthy, robust and sustainable.

The same holds true for the early earnings results announced so far for the June quarter. Sure, we have pockets of difficulties like the financials, housing and some pharmaceuticals. But there is plenty of strength in sectors like energy, technology, medical devices, specialty retailers and infrastructure. Many other sectors are also reporting strong current earnings and solid guidance for the remainder of the year.

Robust M&A volume will continue: Relative interest rates are still low and basically unchanged from Dow 13,000. The cost of capital is attractive and many corporations have put their money where their mouths are, leading to record share buybacks and active merger and acquisition ( M&A) activity. The private equity/merger and acquisition transactions may slow down a bit, but it won't dry up as some are predicting. Wall Street and investment bankers have a way of "making it work." Deal terms and pricing structures may change a bit, but the deals will not go away. There will be some terrific, well-thought out deals and, as always, with any "hot transactional" market, some dumb deals. The potential for M&A will keep many stocks valuations attractive.

Mortgage market should stabilize: The US markets were trying to decipher the sub-prime mortgage mess back in April, and here in June they are still trying. The issue has not gone away, but the major banks appear to be handling the problem. The banks are aggressively identifying customers at risk and are trying to re-finance the loans, lower the rates, or whatever it takes. Reserve requirements have been raised after the first quarter and second quarter, but no major bank has missed its quarterly estimates. Higher fee income has absorbed mortgage delinquencies. The sector is still depressed, but value players are and should be looking at the group.

Also giving the market a boost: consistent and ongoing share buybacks, stronger than usual US sales overseas partially due to a weak dollar and foreign investors finding the US market under-valued.

If my crystal ball is right and these scenarios play out the way I see them, the Dow should continue to rally. Sure, 15,000 sounds high, but that magical number is only a 7.5% lift from the 14,000 milestone.

I wrote back on April 20, that two stocks to buy were Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) and aQuantive (NASDAQ: AQNT). Apple was at $90 and aQuantive at $32. Since Dow 13,000, Apple is now at $140 and aQuantive is at $66, having accepted a cash bid from Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) of $66.50 with the sale set to close in the third quarter.

So what couple of names should you look at as this market heads from 14,000 to 15,000?

I like, at these levels, American Express (NYSE: AXP), General Electric (NYSE: GE), Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) and Hewlett Packard (NYSE: HPQ). These are four Dow component names that have strong earnings momentum and powerful international sales growth. Keep in mind: with the continued weak dollar, international revenues priced in local-currencies translate back to healthy earnings growth.

Other names that are not Dow components that I like? Apple, yes Apple!! Sure it's at $140 and I realize it is very tempting to take profits or at least some off the table. If you bought it anywhere between the teens through to $100, this could be a good time to take your initial seed capital out of the stock. But the earnings explosion and product cycle are still in full bloom and I believe the stock could reach $200.

Crocs (NASDAQ: CROX) has also been a great performer. Since I started recommending it back in February, the stock has doubled. But I think it is still a buy here at $45. With at least a $2 per share profit number expected for 2008, the shares are trading at a 22 price-earnings ratio on conservative numbers. With the growth rate approaching 40% and healthy and sustainable operating margins at 27%, this stock should trade comfortably at a 30 - 32 PE. I see a good $20-plus appreciation potential.

Dow 15,000 is certainly attainable within the next six months. As usual, the road will be rocky. Markets are rarely calm, but you don't want to miss out on the excitement and all the potential. I've said it before and I will say it again -- let the games begin!

Georges Yared is the CIO of Yared Investment Research.

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Insider trading has been running rampant on Wall Street and now the SEC has sent a Wells Notice to David Li, a board member of Dow Jones for insider trading and leaking information about the Rupert Murdoch's News Corp (NYSE: NWS) bid for the company. David Li is Chief Executive of the Bank of East Asia -the third largest bank in Hong Kong so he is a little harder to get, but that is why they are filing suit.

Insider trading has given me plenty to talk about in recent blogs. Dow Jones (NYSE: DJ), aQuantive (NASDAQ: AQNT), Hilton (NYSE: HLT) and Energizer (NYSE: ENR) are a few of the companies I have spotted funny activity on recently.

Trading with inside information is illegal and everyone knows it. But it can also be very profitable. If you know what you are doing you can get 100%, 300% or 5,000% returns over night. Some of the options traded on Dow Jones had an over 5,000% return. Options bought for 30 cents became worth $15. If you have insider information and know what you are doing it can be like picking the winning lottery numbers. However, it does not take long for people to get suspicious, as it is sort of like winning the lottery multiple times in a row. Many times the illegal activity takes place and then it becomes a game of moving the money around, but sometimes the SEC catches up.

I hope the SEC gets hold of Sir David Li and throws him in stocks. No not the kind he was trading in but the kind medieval criminals were put in. As someone knighted and with a honorary Doctorate Degree from Cambridge, he should know better. Some may say insider trading seems like a victimless crime, but those investors who had their stock called away were wrongfully robbed of the higher buyout prices. It is truly sad some of the individuals who have been caught doing this in recent years. They are smart educated successful individuals who should know better. They deserve the punishment they get for knowingly breaking the law.

I was checking the board on the company he works for,but now he can add common "crook" to his biography. I think "Crook" should go between "The Order of the Rising Sun" and "Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon." I kid you not... Check this out...

"Dr. The Hon. Sir David LI Kwok-po, GBM, GBS, OBE, MA, Hon. LLD (Cantab), Hon. DSocSc, Hon. LHD, Hon. DBA, FCA, FCPA, FCPA (Aust.), FCIB, FHKIB, FBCS, CITP, FCIArb, JP, Officier de L'Ordre de la Couronne, Grand Officer of the Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity, The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon,
(Chairman & Chief Executive)"

i am sure there will be plenty more before this saga comes to an end...

Kevin Kersten is an Options Analyst with InvestorsObserver.com. Do you have any deadwood in your portfolio? Check out the 18 Warning Signs That Tell You To Dump A Stock. Disclosure note: Mr. Kersten owns and or controls a diversified portfolio of long and short positions that may include holdings in companies he writes about.

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In the past Mike Fowlkes, Sarah Gilbert and I have pointed out what seems blatant illegal activity in Dow Jones (NYSE: DJ) and Aquantive (NASDAQ: AQNT). Now there is activity in Hilton Hotels (NYSE: HLT) worth taking a look at.

Hilton Hotels closed up 9.34 to $45.39 today on news the company agreed to be acquired by Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX) in a deal valued at $26 billion. A reader pointed out interesting activity on Hilton Hotels.

With the stock up, let's look and see how many "lucky" traders picked up calls on the stocks. A call option gives the buyer the right to buy the stock at a set price. If you think a stock is going to go up you can buy the right to buy that stock at a set price, in the hopes that it does in fact go up, as you expect.

The Hilton July 35 calls (HLTGG) had a volume of 3,660 Tuesday with a high price of $1.90. That is above the average volume of 314 calls per day since the options were issued and just above the previous record high daily volume of 3,616 on 5/31. Those calls are now worth about $10.50 a piece so a 450% gain over two days isn't bad. I have to say this looks suspicious; sort of like a man running from a bank with a bag of money.

Looking at the Hilton August 40 calls (HLTHH) it becomes a little more obvious. Tuesday there were 5,844 contracts for 0.85 cents or less. In the past three weeks -- since the options came out there were only a total of 70 contracts traded. The contracts bought Tuesday are now worth about $5.80 a piece. A 582% gain in two days, representing about $2.8 million in profits.

If that isn't enough money ...there is more. The July 40 calls (HLTGH) saw 3,312 contracts trade Tuesday for less than 0.40. Now at 5.50 it is a 1,275% return for another $1.6 million in profits.

While I do not know who made the trades, their intentions and what they knew when; I am betting they will soon be getting a call from the SEC. In all fairness, just because I see a man wearing a black ski mask running out of the bank carrying a bag of money and a gun doesn't mean he is a bank robber. These trades could be legit, but they trades have all the tell-tale signs of insider trading. By the way has anyone been following Paris recently? Has she been meeting with Martha Stewart?

Kevin Kersten is an Options Analyst with InvestorsObserver.com. Do you have any deadwood in your portfolio? Check out the 18 Warning Signs That Tell You To Dump A Stock.

Disclosure note: Mr. Kersten owns and or controls a diversified portfolio of long and short positions that may include holdings in companies he writes about.

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Google's (NASDAQ: GOOG) deal to buy DoubleClick seemed certain to get a government review. Google is too dominant in text advertising and DoubeClick too big in display ad serving and targeting. Of course, competitors like Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) said it would put too much online advertising power in one set of hands.

Now the eyes of the Federal Trade Commission have turned on Microsoft and Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO). Their respective deals to buy aQuantive (NASDAQ: AQNT) and Right Media are going to get the antitrust once over, at the very least.

Right now, the FTC's review of the Google deal is more formal [subscription required] than the other two, but that could change. More than one industry association has asked that the government to take a close look at all three transactions.

Although the odds are that none of the M&A activity that is designed to bring advertising targeting under the umbrellas of big web portals will be stopped, perhaps the FTC work will be more than a formality. When these three transactions are added to AOL's ownership of Advertising.com, the concentration of private data about individual's web habits will be in very few corporate hands.

Perhaps there should be a divide between those that have the information and those who have the advertising inventory. But, that would be in a too perfect world.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.

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This will conclude the whittling process of the 30 Dow Jones Industrials with the last six below. Although the Dow has done very well in the last six months there still appears to be plenty of value here from everything I am able to surmise.

So far I have whittled the Dow down to six stocks: Alcoa Aluminum (NYSE: AA), American International Group (NYSE: AIG), Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT), The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS), Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) and The Home Depot (NYSE: HD). You can link to the previous posts, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 or Part 5 for your own review and comments.

Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) is a tough one for me to review because there are a lot of mixed signals in the data and the market about Pfizer concerning its pipeline of products. Most notably it has a P/S of 4.14 (TTM) which would place it outside of my consideration by a factor of two under most situations. This is a result of declining sales, but the decline has not hurt earnings in a big way, so the P/E has been coming down as a result. The P/E is about average for the DOW but historically low for Pfizer. If the "pipeline" is truly bare then this trend will continue. However, the stock is supported by a 4.2% yield, almost no long-term debt, and trailing margins that are HUGE at about 40%. Back to the less than appealing issues: PFE has a price-to-cash-flow ratio of almost 15, too high for me. In the long run Pfizer may be a great hold. If you are looking for a solid dividend payer with resistance to much downside risk it would be great for your Roth IRA, but here and now, it might be a short term value trap. In the absence of an acquisition or great new drug where is the upside?

Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) is another great company and great stock but does not offer any value at this time. It has no debt at all, a mountain of cash, $40 billion, and is rock solid in just about every way you consider. It has money to burn and just burned some in buying aQuantive for $6 billion. Microsoft has the most cash of any Dow stock, the highest profit margins, the hardest charging Chairman, Steve Balmer, and prospects galore. It also pays a paltry dividend yield of 1.3%. I think MSFT should double or triple its dividend, given its cash and margins. You may want to put it on your watch list but it's up 35% in the last year and I do not see any way to call this stock a value play.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) like many of the household names in the Dow, PG needs little introduction. This is one heck of a company and one that I easily could save time on by just pointing you to this: Johnson and Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), and leave it at that. Well-managed, diversified, nice yield 2.2% and its largest shareholder is Warren Buffett's, Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A). I usually do not discuss stocks with price-to-sales ratios over 3.0 as a value but in the case of PG perhaps a closer look is 'Warren-ted' (couldn't resist) and might be the exception. The ROE, ROA, ROIC, profit margins and low debt are very good. That makes its higher than average PE of 21.34 seem like there might be reason to pay up...but is it a value stock? I have not been cutting any of the stocks any slack in my review so I tend not to want to here either but I am tempted. I think I will say this, PG is a close call and investors may want to add this stock to their portfolios for the long haul. It is definitely a safe bet and I do not think there is a Wall Street analyst or hedge fund manager anywhere who would say this is not a great defensive stock with a great risk versus reward situation. It will probably expand faster than the DJIA given the expanding global markets and the strength of its brands.

United Technologies (NYSE: UTX) pays a very generous dividend yield of 4.5%. It is one of the smallest Dow stocks capitalized at $8.6 billion, closing Friday at $54.31 70.78 just shy of it's 52-week high of 71.62.. UTX has been written up several times as a possible turnaround stock in my readings over the past six months, however, insiders don't seem to think so and have been mostly selling. I can't think of a lot of good reasons to be consistent sellers if you thought this stock was worth a ride. So if they're selling I'm not buying. If you want a consistent dividend payer for your Roth IRA UTX may be for you. It has been doing so since 1912. Otherwise there are just too many questions for me.

Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) is very tempting indeed. Like AT&T (NYSE: T) it has a nice dividend, currently yielding 3.67%. But it has many better metrics than AT&T. It has a lower P/S of 1.42, a much lower P/CF of 5.04. So what's not to like? The ROE, ROA, and ROIC are all meager and less than the P/E of 21.79 which is higher than the Dow average. Like AT&T, Verizon will be competing for business with cable and media, and like AT&T may lose a battle for every one it wins. I think VZ should be on watch lists because a lower P/E and improving margins created by further industry consolidation could change the value landscape, but given the opportunities elsewhere, I just can't place my bet here.

Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE: WMT) is huge at a capitalization over $200 billion and I'm not sure where it goes from here. The bigger problem: I'm not sure Wal-Mart management knows where it goes from here, either. Readers will find it astonishing and shareholders will find it depressing but WMT's shares hold about the same value they did on the April 20, 1999 closing (over 8 years ago) Friday at 49.47, which was the last time it split. Among the various metrics I could quote only the price-to-sales of 0.57 stands out. Otherwise everything looks average or below average. Municipalities nationwide have hampered WMT's expansion, employees have revolted and some have sued for various reasons. Wal-Mart has already decimated so much of its competition that there might not be anyone's lunch left to eat. In the meantime, foreign competition is relentless and Tesco from the United Kingdom is going to be stepping on Wal-Marts toes in North America. Buy the index, not Wal-mart.

Conclusion: Except for Procter & Gamble, there is nothing that I view as a value among these six stocks and even PG does not make the cut in comparison to the previous stocks I am considering. I do like PG along with PFE, VZ and MSFT for investor watch-lists. The Dow is at an all-time high and it may have room to run some more but some caution is in order at these prices. So the Dow 30 has been whittled away to six stocks. See Part 7 tomorrow for the conclusion. The data I used was from the close on June 1, 2007.

Those of you who are new to BloggingStocks can check out my other stories and read Chasing Value or Serious Money to find more potential opportunities and verify my track record as well.

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In my continuing series of the top 25 stocks for the NEXT 25 years, the next company is SourceForge (NASDAQ: LNUX). The company just changed its corporate name from VA Software to SourceForge, but has elected to retain its original NASDAQ ticker symbol of LNUX. SourceForge was founded in 1995 as VA Linux Systems and sold primarily Linux-based hardware systems.The company has transformed itself these past few years and recently sold off its unprofitable software business.

LNUX departed the software business to focus on the on-line business. SourceForge is made up of two major divisions: on-line media, which is made up of Open Source Technology Group, a network of technology related web sites that generates revenues by selling advertising on the web sites, and E-Commerce, which sells consumer goods targeted to the massive technology community. The principle web site is ThinkGeek.

The recent quarter saw ThinkGeek improve its sales by 31% as it shipped over 84,000 orders. The products are "rather geeky" toys and accessories that appeal to the tech world of ... aah ... geeks. The traffic to the site is now up to 200 million unique visitors this past quarter. Geeks do buy this stuff!

SourceForge's on-line media campaigns are driving growth as well. With over 30 million unique visitors and 1.6 million registered users, SourceForge is able to offer quite a community for any technology company wanting to advertise. The site is so tech-driven that the quality of visitors and registered users is superb and exactly what the tech companies desire: an educated potential buyer.

SourceForge has cleaned up the unprofitable software business and is now focused on its core competencies. I estimate revenues for 2007 at $51-52 million growing to $60 million and $76 million for 2008/2009 respectively. The earnings per share should be about $0.10 this year followed by $0.20 and $0.32 for 2008/2009. These numbers could prove to be quite conservative.

The operating margins for SourceForge should also ramp up quite well. Currently I estimate operating margins at 6% this year and going to 18-19% by 2009. The leverage in the financial model is just beginning to yield results.

The on-line marketing/advertising sector is growing at 35-40%. Recently, Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) announced its intended acquisition of privately held DoubleClick and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) is acquiring aQuantive (NASDAQ: AQNT). As SourceForge continues to build its revenues and unique visitor traffic the franchise becomes only more and more valuable. The technology world is huge and obviously populated by well-trained individuals. The traffic numbers should only continue upwards and on-line advertising revenues more high-margin driven due to the scale in the model.

SourceForge is at the start of a mega-growth cycle in its development and has the opportunity to become a significant, relevant player in the sector.

Georges Yared is the CIO of Yared Investment Research. For more growth stock ideas please visit the web site.

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Jim Cramer proposing on CNBC's Mad Money that Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) and eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) should get together and merge. He is calling for this because the growth is slowing for both companies, and a merger could jump start it. Cramer contends that companies with slower growth have to do something to get their sizzle back. Cramer said that Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) was reportedly in talks to buy Yahoo! and that the aQuantive (NASDAQ: AQNT) buyout signals it is willing to do deals. If these companies had better areas to invest in they wouldn't be propping shares up with buybacks. A merger would allow Yahoo!'s massive users to use Skype and PayPal to buy goods. Cramer thinks this would bring back growth, and would finally get Semel out of Yahoo!

This is just after Yahoo!'s chief technology officer bailed out of the company today. As Cramer is long Yahoo! in his charitable trust and as he's been touting ideas for something like this, this "call to merge" is hardly a surprise to me or to others. The market caps are very similar, although eBay is the larger company. You should know that if you are playing these stocks based only on Cramer's comments, then know that you are buying what is probably his third or fourth round of recommendations calling for this. This is the first time he made an entire segment on this would-be merger, but this is best defined as "re-information."

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

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Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) made it clear, once and for all, that it does not need Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) to be successful with its internet advertising strategy. Microsoft's Yusuf Mehdi, the head of ad strategy at the world's largest software company said that [subscription] its current internet products plus customers and tech it will get from buying aQuantive (NASDAQ: AQNT) round out the arsenal that it needs to compete for online advertising.

The announcement leaves Yahoo! in a a difficult position. With Google's (NASDAQ: GOOG) purchase of DoubleClick, Yahoo! does not have a large presence in the internet ad serving business. Its share of the search market is still dropping according to Hitwise, and there is still little evidence that the company's Panama advertising search product is bringing in a large slug of new revenue. Yahoo!'s top line only grew about 10% in the last quarter.

Yahoo!'s shares jumped from $28 to over $33 when the press published reports that Microsoft was interested in buying the web portal. But, the stock has sold off to $28.60 since then. Investors are likely to do very little with the shares until Yahoo!'s next quarterly earnings report. If it is weak, and Panama has not produced a quarter of solid results, it will be a long year for Yahoo! shareholders.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.

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I have been involved in the investment industry for almost 29 years. The first 13 I spent with Dean Witter Reynolds (now Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS)) and the last 16 years as a senior partner with two investment banking-research boutique firms. I have worked with over 150 stock research analysts just on the sell-side and another 200 plus on the buy side. Categorically, the title research analyst does not make an analyst a rocket scientist. There are a few myths that need to be explored and more importantly, explained.

There are two and only two types of analysts in the stock research world. 1) those that "get it" and are ahead of their particular industry and can pretty accurately predict what is "going to happen" within the sector they follow, and 2) analysts that are strictly reporters of the news affecting their sectors and do not think outside the box.

Case in point: Stewart Barry of ThinkEquity Partners (my alma mater) has been absolutely brilliant in the internet services sector. Forward thinking, cutting edge research and the ability to separate the news from the noise. Stewart nailed the strong possibilities of Aquantive (NASDAQ: AQNT) and 24/7 Real Media (NASDAQ: TFSM) being acquired. Both are getting acquired. What Stewart nailed wasn't the rumor mill about these two -- he was dead-right on the fundamental issues affecting Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) and how AQNT, TFSM, and DoubleClick could fill those needs. Stewart Barry is an all-star analyst because he is ahead of the curve and ahead of his peer group. Stewart has reiterated his buy rating on ValueClick (NASDAQ: VCLK) not because it may be acquired, but because the basic fundamentals are superior and the company's growth rate is accelerating.

Since the Aquantive announced acquisition by Microsoft, a few analysts, who shall remain nameless, moved ValueClick to a "hold" rating due to the valuation. Talk about missing the forest from the trees. These analysts are looking-backwards and thinking the stock is too expensive. The company is experiencing accelerating revenues, earnings and a general industry growth rate and these guys are out to lunch. It never ceases to amaze me.

What do you do as an investor?

When your broker/adviser brings you a recommendation from "my analyst" ask a couple of key questions. Tell me about the analyst? Tell me the analyst's background? Is the analyst from industry or just follows it after getting his MBA? Tell me about the analyst's last 5 recommendations--the timing of the recommendations. Did the analyst accurately predict the revenue and earnings model? Does the analyst have an industry theme piece laying out the dynamics and driving forces of the sector? I think you get the idea--ask meaningful and poignant questions. As an investor, you need and should know these critical data points about any research analyst's recommendations.

Like portfolio managers... all analysts are not created equal...

Georges Yared is the CIO of Yared Investment Research. For well thought-out growth stock ideas please visit the web site

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MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Deutsche Bank and ABN Amro cut GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) to Hold from Buy following the New England Journal of Medicine warnings from Avandia.

• Merrill Lynch cut SanDisk (NASDAQ: SNDK) to Neutral from Buy due to concerns that oversupply in the industry will extend through next quarter.

• Cowen downgraded shares of Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) to Neutral from Outperform based on slower 2007-2008 EPS growth and less cash redeployment upside than General Dynamics Corp (GD) and Raytheon Co (RTN).

• UBS downgraded aQuantive (NASDAQ: AQNT) to Neutral from Buy and RBC Capital cut shares to Sector Perform from Outperform after the Microsoft (MSFT) acquisition...

• Piper Jaffray downgraded Cytyc Corp (NASDAQ: CYTC) To Market Perform from Outperform.

• NetBank, Inc (NASDAQ: NTBK) was downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform at Friedman Billings.

• Merrill Lynch downgraded shares of Aeropostale, Inc (NYSE: ARO) to Neutral from Buy.

• AG Edwards downgraded BHP Billiton Ltd (NYSE: BHP) to Hold from Buy.

• Gabelli downgraded shares of Alltel Corp (NYSE: AT) to Hold from Buy.

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MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Baird cut ValueClick Inc (NASDAQ: VCLK) to Neutral from Outperform, citing the FTC inquiry.

• aQuantive (NASDAQ: AQNT) was downgraded to Sell from Buy after the company was acquired by Microsoft (MSFT) and because aQuantive no longer trades on fundamentals. Kaufman and Gabelli also cut aQuantive to Hold from Buy.

• Cigna (NYSE: CI) was downgraded at Prudential to Neutral from Overweight on valuation.

• Warner Music Group's (NYSE: WMG) downgrade to Sell from Neutral at Pali Research was based on the lower industry outlook, which Pali believes revenues are likely to fall at least 10% for the industry in 2007, along with the company's release schedule.

• Bear Stearns downgraded Clear Channel Communications (NYSE: CCU) to Peer Perform from Outperform on the acceptance of the higher bid.

• Medtronic Inc (NYSE: MDT) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley...

• Georgia Gulf Corp (NYSE: GGC) was downgraded to Sell from Hold at Matrix USA.

• Stifel cut Core Laboratories (NYSE: CLB) to Hold from Buy.

• UBS downgraded Intuit Inc (NASDAQ: INTU) to Neutral from Buy.

• Occidental Petroleum Corp (NYSE: OXY) was removed from Goldman's Conviction Buy list.

• Friedman Billings downgraded downgraded CapitalSource, Inc (NYSE: CSE) and Countrywide Financial Corp (NYSE: CFC) to Market Perform from Outperform.

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MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• DA Davidson upgraded Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT) to Buy from Neutral, as the firm is no longer concerned the tech giant will acquire Yahoo! (YHOO) following the recent acquisition of aQuantive, Inc (AQNT).

• HSBC upgraded shares of Sony Corp (NYSE: SNE) to Overweight from Neutral to reflect improving profitability at Sony's electronics business.

• Pacific Crest upgraded Adobe Systems (NASDAQ: ADBE) to Outperform from Sector Perform to reflect the strong CS3 outlook and growth in new areas such as mobile.

• Citigroup upgraded their cable sector view as they continue believe cap ex will remain at elevated levels at a time when the marginal cable investor is likely more willing to forego near-term FCF growth to achieve robust EBITDA growth. Along with the raised sector view, Citigroup upgraded Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) and Comcast Corp (NASDAQ: CMCSA) to Buy from Hold. The firm believes investors can benefit from owning both EchoStar Communications (DISH) and cable equities...

• Bear Stearns upgraded Tiffany & Co (NYSE: TIF) to Outperform from Peer Perform.

• RBC Capital raised American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE: AEO) to Outperform from Sector Perform.

• Sepracor Inc (NASDAQ: SEPR) was raised to Neutral from Underperform at Cowen.

• ING upgraded BP plc (NYSE: BP) to Buy from Hold.

• Valero Energy Corp (NYSE: VLO) was added to Goldman's Conviction Buy list.

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If anyone wonders why Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) paid $6 billion for aQuantive (NASDAQ: AQNT), they need look no further than the report from Leichtman Research Group for first quarter 2007. In these three months alone, 3 million people joined the broadband revolution. Read that as 3 million more potential YouTube visitors, Second Life devotees, advertisees. This represents almost 6% growth in this quarter alone, bringing the total of U.S. broadband subscribers to 56.2 million.

Of that audience, 55% buy through their cable company, while the telephone industry pulls in 43%. For this quarter, though, the telephone side accounted for 51% of the growth. In fact, the telephone companies have led cable in acquisitions in each of the last 10 quarters.

Leading the pack overall is AT&T (NYSE: T) with 12.8 million subscribers, followed closely by Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) at 12 million. Verizon (NYSE: VZ) and Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) both have more than 7 million subscribers. Others with over a million are Cox, Charter, Cablevision, Qwest (NYSE: Q) and Embarq. Top performer for the quarter? AT&T, with almost 700,000 new subscribers.

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Recent mergers between traditional and online advertising firms suggest a deep flaw in the advertising business -- a flaw exposed by Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG)'s evidently unstoppable technology edge. How so? While traditional advertisers deliver open-loop systems, Google delivers a closed-loop solution.

The reason that online advertising is growing is because it offers a closed-loop solution -- a notion that I first described in Net Profit. By contrast, TV and newspaper advertising is an open-loop system -- one in which a company pays to reach a viewer without getting any specific feedback on whether the advertising money leads to increased sales.

By contrast, a closed-loop solution measures the specific response to the advertising dollar -- tracking whether a user clicks on an ad and whether that clicking leads to an online purchase. I call it a solution because it lets the advertiser measure the extent to which advertising expense leads to increased sales. The closed-loop solution's ability to measure return on advertising is an enormous breakthrough for advertisers.

As everybody knows, Google's algorithm for linking tiny text advertising to Internet s