"Seattle-based Plum Creek Timber (NYSE: PCL), the nation's largest private landowner with more than eight million acres, has caught our eye," says Bill Martin.

In his BullMarket.com advisory, he explains, "Earnings have been stunted in recent quarters by the housing slump, but the company sports a strong balance sheet and an asset base that thanks to nature only gets larger and more valuable as time goes by."

"Plum Creek, which operates as a real estate investment trust, reported surprisingly solid Q3 profit. It posted net income of $69 million, or 40 cents per share, for the quarter ended September 30th, compared with a profit of $59 million, or 34 cents per share, for the same period a year ago.

"In the 2007 quarter, fire losses in Montana forced the company to report a $4 million non-cash expense, or two cents per share, related to fire losses experienced in Montana.

"The company's EPS results topped the expectations of Wall Street analysts by a penny a share. Revenue grew to $414 million, up 2% from $407 million last year. The sales results were a bit short of the consensus of $419.8 million.

"The CEO of McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) is bullish on his own stock; he recently bought $1.1 million in shares," says trading and investing expert Bill Martin in BullMarket.com.

"On October 23, CEO Jim Skinner purchased 20,000 shares at $55.00, increasing his holdings to 236,700 shares. The buy was the first for Skinner in at least five years. "Under the terms of McDonald's stock ownership guidelines, Skinner is expected to hold 6 times his annual base salary in shares, or $7.65 million in stock.

"He exceeded the ownership guidelines prior to his recent purchase and presently owns more than $12.55 million in shares, excluding unvested restricted stock, phantom stock, and options.

"Excluding dividends, shares of McDonald's have risen nearly 90% during Skinner's approximately four-year tenure at the helm, no small feat considering they rose just 2% in the preceding four years and 43% in the preceding eight years.

"The Grand Old Opry's owner is sparkling after a billionaire buys a big stake," says Bill Martin in his top-notch advisory service, BullMarket.com.

He notes, "TRT Holdings, an investment vehicle for Robert Rowling. has quietly taken a 10%+ stake in Gaylord Entertainment (NYSE: GET), becoming its largest shareholder.

"The latest buys came as shares of the $1 billion market cap company hit a multi-year low. Rowling's firm bought more than 608,000 shares of Gaylord at $20.44, increasing its holdings to 4.693 million shares, or an 11.49% stake.

"Nashville-based Gaylord owns and operates hotel properties, including the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee and the Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center in Kissimmee, Florida.

"The company also owns and operates the Radisson Hotel at Opryland and the famous Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. Other business include a Nashville radio station, a paddle wheel showboat, performance venues, a golf course located near the Opryland complex, and a corporate events production company.

"With a projected net worth of $6.2 billion, Rowling was #158 on the latest Forbes list of the World's Billionaires. The press-shy Rowling rarely pops up as a major shareholder in a public company, and has only done so three times in recent years, including Gaylord.

"In bear markets, a traditional safe haven for investors has been to seek out stocks with high dividend yields and ideally the potential for share-price appreciation," notes Bill Martin.

In his exceptional trading and investing service, BullMarket.com, he notes, "One of our favorites for income is Hospitality Properties Trust (NYSE: HPT), a real estate investment trust, which offers an 8.5% yield.

"Hospitality Properties Trust invests in hotels and travel centers, the latter being otherwise known as truck stops. If it doesn't sound very glamorous, this REIT nonetheless currently pays a $3.08 a share annual dividend, good for a pre-tax 8.5% yield with the stock trading in the mid-$30s range.

"It buys hotels principally for income and secondarily for appreciation potential. All of its properties are run under long-term combination agreements that usually require the operators to pay the company minimum returns or rent plus a share of the increased cash flows realized over time.

"It doesn't favor any one hotel brand, operating under such names as Hyatt Place, Spring Hill Suites, Marriott Residence Inn, Radisson, Staybridge Suites, Crowne Plaza, and Courtyard hotels.

For 25 years, Steven Halpern, editor of TheStockAdvisors.com, has surveyed the leading financial newsletter advisors asking for their favorite stocks for the coming year. This article is one of 100+ ideas in the Best Stocks for 2008 report.

"Our favorite conservative pick for 2008 is natural gas transmission, storage, and distribution company Southern Union (NYSE: SUG)," says Bill Martin, editor of BullMarket.com.

"Over the last few years, Southern Union has transformed itself from a staid utility company to a faster-growing pipeline and LNG-centric company. The company recently announced plans to create its own master limited partnership (MLP) into which it will transfer a portion of its gathering and processing assets.

"Southern Union's stock has been under some pressure recently, as investors were disappointed that the company didn't sell its pipeline assets to another MLP after being offered a substantial premium to its purchasing price a few years ago. However, management believes these assets can create greater shareholder value over time as a standalone MLP, and we agree.

"We expect several catalysts to kick-in for Southern Union in 2008. Under the favorable tax structure of an MLP, the market should value Southern Union's pipeline assets at a much higher multiple than they are currently priced at.

For 25 years, Steven Halpern, editor of TheStockAdvisors.com, has surveyed the leading financial newsletter advisors asking for their favorite stocks for the coming year. This article is one of 100+ ideas in the Best Stocks for 2008 report.

"Our favorite speculative play for 2008 is auto supplier Tenneco (NYSE: TEN)," says Bill Martin, editor of BullMarket.com. "The stock has been hammered along with the rest of the auto parts sector of late due to weak US auto sales and a slew of analyst downgrades.

"However, the company is taking market share, and is a solid play on tightening global emissions standards. On a macro level, there is considerable momentum in favor of emissions regulations right now, and this is allowing Tenneco to expand into additional markets, rapidly expand its technology road map, and win customers with the most innovative products available. In fact, we view Tenneco more as a technology company in a high-growth market than simply an auto parts supplier.

"The company faces a number of headwinds, including production cuts by the Big Three US automakers and rising steel prices. So far, though, the company has been able to 'outgrow' its weaker markets and mitigate input costs through aftermarket price increases to OE customers.

"Tenneco should also benefit from reducing the leverage on its balance sheet. We anticipate that growing cash flows and the increased size and diversity of its business will lead to a lower cost of capital and allow shareholders to benefit from reduced interest expense. Taken all together, we think Tenneco will be a solid performer in 2008 amidst low expectations."

Each year Steven Halpern, editor of TheStockAdvisors.com, surveys the leading financial newsletter advisors asking for their favorite stocks for the coming year. This article is part of his 24th annual Top Picks Report.

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD) is a favorite speculative idea for 2007 from Bill Martin, editor of FindProfit. The advisor explains, "Gilead is best known as a biopharmaceutical company with a leading HIV treatment franchise (Viread, Truvada, and Emtriva).

"Gilead is also a player in the fungal infection area, with treatments for chronic hepatitis B and influenza. Gilead's Tamiflu product is licensed to Roche, which produces and markets the product. The company has had a wonderful growth run in recent years, and now commands a $30 billion market cap.

"Trading just above 25 times 2007 earnings estimates, the stock is obviously not a bargain on the surface, but we believe that the stock remains a compelling investment opportunity, with several key drivers in hand.

"Foremost, Gilead's HIV franchise is truly best-in-class, and recent advances (including unique 'one-pill-a-day' regimes) and international expansion should power the company to double-digit growth in the coming years. Also two recent acquisitions (Myogen for $2.5 billion and Corus for $330 million) have materially improved GILD's pipeline, which was previously looking somewhat barren in the medium term.

After reviewing third quarter results from Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX), Bill Martin - who founded Raging Bull - remains bullish on the shares, a holding in his portfolio at his FindProfit newsletter.

Martin notes that while the company missed expectations slightly, it was still "a strong quarter on a number of fronts." In particular, due to $13.5 billion in stock buybacks, the company has reduced its share count by 16% this year. He also notes that it sold $4 billion of non-core assets – assets, he points out, that contributed just $11 million in operating income last year.

For the quarter, the cable unit continued to drive the overall growth, and, according to Martin, the completion of the Adelphia acquisition during the quarter should provide "a further tailwind in 2007 and contribute to growth next year."

He notes that "AOL was a bright spot, beating income estimates thanks to a big jump in advertising revenues and a huge cut in marketing expenditures."

He was most impressed by AOL's Advertising.com network business, which grew by 96%, as its search revenue grew 27% and display advertising revenue grew 39%. Says Martin, "Add it all up and TWX shares are on a mission to move higher, and expect to continue riding this trend for the next quarter or two."

Steven Halpern is editor of TheStockAdvisors, a daily overview of investment ideas from the financial newsletter community.