"We have very few buy recommendations currently; one exception is Franco-Nevada (Toronto: FNV.CA)," says resource expert Adrian Day.

In his The Global Analyst, the advisor explains, "Franco Nevada is one of our all-time favorites; it has top management, a solid balance sheet, and risk-averse business plan.

He continues, "The company previously merged with Newmont, and was reborn in a spin off nearly two years ago. Although the stock has nearly doubled since the IPO, it still represents good value.

Under the radar: Some trends are obvious enough and visible to all investors. Others are more-subtle, but are just as potent, and these often slip 'under the radar.'

Case in point: Saudi Arabia's oil exports to the United States have fallen to a 22-year low, at 745,000 barrels per day (bpd) in August, the latest month for which data is available, from 1.14 million bpd in July, according to data compiled by the U.S. Energy Information Agency. August's 745,000 bpd total is the lowest since December 1987. On a year-over-year basis (August 2008-August 2009), those exports are down about 50%.

"Silver Standard Resources (NASDAQ: SSRI) has set a new standard for silver resources; simply put, its boasts the largest published in-ground silver resource of any publicly-traded silver company," says mining stock specialist Brien Lundin.

In The Gold Newsetter he adds, "We were fortunate over the years that the great idea behind this company was combined with a great management team, as CEO Bob Quartermain is among the best in the business."

"Silver Standard has 1.127 billion ounces in measured and indicated resources, plus another 195 million ounces in proven and probable reserves, and another 456 million ounces in inferred resources.

"Its resources come from a portfolio of properties spanning the globe from Argentina, Peru, and Mexico, to Canada, Chile, the US and Australia. Now the companyis making the transition to production with aggressive development programs on five core properties.

The G-20 is meeting again, this time in Pittsburgh, and as is so often the case when the world's industrial powers gather, the operative phrase is 'lower your expectations.'

What can investors look for? Well, one thing investors should not look for is any G-20 type of action on banker compensation/bonuses, other than a call for each nation, 'to do more to ensure that constructive incentives are in place' to prevent a repeat of the lending practices/perverse incentives that helped trigger the global financial crisis. There is support for compensation caps in Europe (except Germany); however, the United States and United Kingdom oppose them, so the issue is a non-starter.

We are all familiar with the "Buy American" clause that is part of the $787 billion stimulus package and is designed to help U.S. companies battle foreign competition. But is it really doing what it's supposed to? This Wall Street Journal article takes a look at an American company that is losing a good deal of its business to foreign competition -- thanks to the Buy American provisions.

Apparently, there is growing resentment toward America for the Buy American provisions that has lead to a Buy Canadian campaign. In fact, one town in Canada (Halton Hills) is cited as one of roughly a dozen Canadian communities that are trying to freeze out American companies. The town's mayor stated, "We won't be taking any products from any country that is discriminating against us."

Employment in Canada rose by 27,000 in August, however, the unemployment rate also rose to 8.7% from 8.6%.

Here's why we shouldn't get excited over this report. The employment gain was mainly in part time jobs which rose by 30,600.

By sectors the numbers break down this way:

• Manufacturing lost another 17,300 jobs, with 12 months losses at 231,000 or 12%.
• Government jobs fell by 11,500.
• Self-employed fell by 10,600

"We rate both Burlington Northern Santa Fe (NYSE: BNI) and Canada's CN Rail (NYSE: CNI) as buys," says analyst Tom Slee.

The contributing editor to Gordon Pape's Internet Wealth Builder suggetss, "Burlington Northern remains my number one pick in the sector but CN is excellent value at these levels." Here's his bullish review.

"Burlington Northern Santa Fe had a relatively good second quarter, posting earnings of $1.18 a share. This is down from $1.34 in 2008 but beat the consensus estimate of $1.01.

"Year-over-year revenues fell 26% although this was offset by a 33% reduction in costs as a result of tighter controls and lower energy prices.

Toyota Motor Company (NYSE: TM) plans to sell 100,000 Prius cars this year and 180,000 next year. The Prius has become the hottest selling hybrid car in the U.S. with 70% of the U.S. market. That's good news for Toyota.

Now for the bad news. The Prius uses what are called "rare metals" in its batteries, magnets, and electric motors. We've perhaps never heard of these metals. So why are they so important?

The government's "cash for clunkers" has been far more popular than anyone thought, prompting General Motors to boost production at several factories to keep up with demand.

While not everyone is so convinced that the "cash for clunkers" program is good for the economy, there is no doubt that the big American car makers are enjoying the benefits. Five days ago I wrote about the decision by Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) to boost production by 15% above its prior estimates, and today General Motors announced it will raising output and bringing back employees that it had been forced to lay off.

A judge in Texas has ordered Microsoft (MSFT) to stop selling some versions of its Word software in the United States within two months. This follows a May decision that found Word infringes on a Canadian tech firm's patent.

The offending programs are Word 2003 and Word 2007, which seem to have borrowed technology on how to encode and display information. In addition, MSFT was ordered to pay $290 million to the Canadian firm i4i for damages and interest. The judge also issued an injunction that will take effect in 60 days, this move will not allow MSFT to sell Word products including the patented technology.

"Kinder Morgan Energy Partners L.P. (NYSE: KMP) is a paragon of consistency; the stock continues to rise and the company continues to deliver on its expectations," says Jack Adamo.

In his Insiders Plus newsletter, he explains, "The master limited partnership has made great strides in cost controls to compensate for the weak economic environment. When things turn around, it could really take off."

"KMP is one of the largest and most respected pipeline and energy storage LPs in North America. It operates or owns interests in more than 26,000 miles of pipelines and 170 terminals.

In this market and economy, you take the good news where you can get it, and on Friday U.S. investors received one from up north. Namely: oil sands.

Tar-sands oil in Canada is cleaner than previously calculated, according to an Alberta government report.

Carbon-dioxide emissions from producing oil in Western Canada sand deposits are roughly 10% higher than competing U.S. crude imports, the Alberta Energy Research Institute announced, Bloomberg News reported. Earlier studies had found that greenhouse gases from oil sands were as much as 40% higher.

"Our focus this summer remains on building positions in the bombed-out natural gas market; there's no other commodity this depressed, this unwanted and trading at such distressed levels," says resource expert Eric Roseman.

In his industry-leading, The Commodity Trend Alert, he explains, "Indeed, the bombed-out natural gas sector is screaming 'buy'." Here, he looks at TransCanada Corp. (NYSE: TRP).

"The way prices have been heading over the last several months you'd think the world doesn't use this clean-burning fossil fuel anymore.

"Natural gas prices remain 70% off their 52-week high and more than 75% below their all-time highs almost four years ago when Hurricane Katrina smashed the Gulf of Mexico.

Suncor Energy (NYSE: SU) is a vertically-integrated oil company located in Canada. Unlike its vertically-integrated brethren in the United States, this Canadian stock is up more than 40% this year. By comparison, Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) is down 13%, and ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) is down more than 20%.

The reason for the big difference in performance is the weakness in the dollar. That makes Canadian-based Suncor more valuable to investors.

After interviewing 10 US-based financiers in this post and here, I decided to cross the border and ask our neighboring Canadian investors for their insight on the current market conditions and forecast for the year to come.

Danielle Park is President and Portfolio Manager of Venable Park Investment Counsel Inc. She is author of the best selling book "Juggling Dynamite: an insider's wisdom on money management, markets and wealth that lasts" as well as a popular financial blog JugglingDynamite.com. Having become more optimistic near 12 year lows in February 2009, recently Ms. Park has been voicing concern again about the likelihood of another down leg ahead.