They are hiding under newspapers and in the newspapers. They are lurking in back alleys and under the stairs, under the sink and on the shelves in the garage. Some are in far-away lands and can easily slip by undetected by the average investor. Some are so obvious you do not give them a second thought. Sometimes they are screaming at you from the radio and television but you tune them out.

Great companies and great stocks can be found everyday and everywhere you look. However, sometimes we look but we do not see. How can that be? Well, just follow me, and I will bring a brighter light to illuminate my picks for 2007 and beyond. Listed here in alphabetical order are my seven for 2007, with links to longer, deeper analyses:

Disclosure: I own shares in DUK, HNP, PTR, and TWX. I do not own DOW, HD, or VLO as of this writing, but I am considering them all right now, as you may be.

The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW): Dow has been trending downward for over two years from its high of $56 per share. Last night it closed at $40.14 -- roughly the same share price as three years ago.Its 52-week low was $33, which I do not believe we will see again, but anywhere between $33 and $40 should be a steal. Consider adding DOW to your watch list and buying it at an even greater discount. I think the company will pay handsomely now and in the long-term.

The Dow (DJIA) moved up nicely, hitting all time highs in the past month. It has been rising consistently from its July low, closing yesterday at 12,471.32 and during the day reaching an all-time high of 12,491.91. For the past couple of weeks it has been moving up and down trading in a 250 point range, about 2%.

Is the Dow just taking a breath before the "January effect" takes place moving it still higher? Is there truly a January effect? Is the current movement just our combined tax planning adjustments? The Holidays affecting volume? A distraction? There are those who say the Dow is pausing just to shrink back to some technical level of resistance. I don't buy this technical analysis (crap) either. The Dow will move with earnings reports, interest rates and employment levels and not benchmarks. For now all three are humming along.

Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) reached an all time high on November 22, 2006 of $513 and has since pulled back to close yesterday at $468.63 with a trailing P/E of 60. It is still over priced in my book. James Cramer of CNBC and TheStreet.com has said it will be at $750 in twelve months (11 now) and quipped that he would like to say it will go to $850 but that might trigger an SEC investigation. I say HOGWASH! GOOG is just as likely to be where I theorized during the summer, closer to $440 than $850. If you listen to Cramer's hype, Google will be bigger than Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT), General Electric Co. (NYSE:GE), Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE:WMT), or even ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) in the foreseeable future.

Google, Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) is up about 20% in the last six weeks, closing Wednesday at $467.50, which is wonderful for the faithful believers who seem to be in the majority. It has gone beyond any projection I could support having passed my top side 12-month value target of $440.00 after only four months. Seems it has gotten ahead of itself again by my reckoning, so I will have to let this one go.

All the excitement created by Google's very positive earnings report followed by numerous upgrades including James Cramer projecting a 12-month target of $560.00 per share still seems too volatile. This is not the next big thing, it is THE CURRENT THING.

While this GOOG euphoria has captured the imaginations and headlines, it is not the only success story. My last stock buy has also gone up just as much without all the fanfare over the same six week period.