"We do have a select number of speculative stocks and growth funds in our portfolio; among them, my favorite is Ford Motor Co. (F)," says Mark Skousen.

The editor of Forecasts & Strategies explains, "The stock, which has been my favorite speculation for 2010, reported another blockbuster quarter.

"Its second-quarter earnings blew past Wall Street estimates last month and the stock now is up more than 20% from our recommended price.

U.S. automaker Ford (F) will be investing $200 million in Brazil. The details: it will use its facilities in that South American country to develop and build a small, eco-friendly SUV for sale in many global markets. The model: the Ford EcoSport (should be interesting, right?).

This adds to Ford's existing investment and more that the automaker plans, which bring Ford's total investment in Brazil to $2.4 billion in the 2011-2015 time frame. Right now, the EcoSport is a best seller in Brazil and if recent times are any indication, the model would be a hit in the U.S. and in other countries.

Ford (F) CEO Alan Mulally was paid $17.9 million in total compensation in 2009, according to an Associated Press calculation, based on a securities filing.

Mulally took a 40% pay cut in 2009, with his salary reduced to $1.4 million, and he received no bonus for the second year in a row. However, the value of his stock options and stock awards increased by 9% to more than $16 million as Ford's shares rose later in the year, AP reported.

Ford's (F) Alan Mulally believes that the U.S. automaker stands to gain more market share in the U.S. at the expense of Japan's Toyota, which is in the midst of a huge product recall and public relations nightmare. Mulally's statement sounds pretty obvious, but it's true. It's already happening.

Ford Motor (F) is currently riding a wave of positivity. The lone automaker not to be bailed out by the U.S. government in 2009 said Tuesday that February vehicle sales soared 43% over the prior February, with the automaker also picking up 3% more market share in the U.S. (bringing its total to 17%). With the near-collapse of GM and Chrysler, and with Toyota's (TM) current product malfunction and recall nightmare, Ford is poised to continue winning more and more sales.

Is Ford the next Toyota? Could be -- it's making all the right moves, is winning product accolades and is making the best cars it has in decades. Not only did Ford sales rise 43% from the same 2009 period, they were up 22% over the January period, the exact same time as Toyota's carpet started slipping out from under its own feet. For February, Ford surpassed GM in U.S. sales (possibly short-lived; possibly not). The total was not large, but it happened.

Ford Motor Co. (F) has reported its first annual profit in four years due to cost-cutting and improved market share.

Specifically, the automaker's 2009 earnings totaled $2.7 billion, or 86 cents per share, while the fourth-quarter earnings came to $868 million, or 25 cents per share.

Ford (F) CEO Alan Mulally celebrated December auto sales that came in stronger than anticipated by stating that Ford's sales forecast for 2010 were "conservative." In 2009, auto sales in the U.S. dropped to 10.5 million units -- the worst performance since the early '80s.

Mulally believes 2010 will bring industry sales of 11.5 to 12.5 million vehicles, saying "we think that is relatively conservative looking at the data for this year." December's upswing put the annualized forecast sales rate at 11.6 million units, and Mulally indicated that Ford should be solidly profitable in 2011 -- just two years after both its U.S. competitors took federal bailout money and saw GM declare bankruptcy.

Alan Mulally, president and CEO of Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F), said Wednesday that he expects U.S. auto sales to rise during the next two years. Vehicle sales in 2009 are expected to range between 10.5 million and 11 million units, and Mulally predicts that number will increase to 12.5 million in 2010 and 14.5 million in 2011.

"It has started to pick up right now because we have had the stimulus packages," said Mulally, speaking before reporters in India. "So, it will be up a little now, then will go down. But overall in the long term, the sales will grow with the GDP number." The CEO added that Ford expects to be profitable by 2011.

The domestic automakers have all but given up and declared bankruptcy in an effort to survive in some form. Chrysler is about through its process, and GM is well on its way to becoming a completely new company. The standout: Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F).

Ford is not only doing much better than the competition (and has been for a few years now), but it's actually increasing auto production while the bankrupt competitors are having a hard time getting rid of old inventory and shutting down dealers.

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) is scheduled to release fourth-quarter and full-year 2008 results tomorrow morning, January 29, before the market opens. Alan Mulally, president and chief executive officer, and Lewis Booth, executive vice president and chief financial officer, will discuss the results and company outlook in a conference call at 9:00 AM ET. You can catch the live webcast of the call at the company's website.

For the quarter that saw a new CFO for Ford and visits to Congress to discuss a possible bailout, analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect Ford to report that its net loss deepened to $1.19 per share, from $0.20 a year ago. Revenue for the quarter is expected to total $26.3 billion, which is 42.3% lower than a year ago. Ford's losses were deeper than expected in the past two quarters, which followed a surprise profit in the first quarter of 2008.