"The boom in natural gas prices has been good for North American producers and their investors, both of which continue to be upbeat on the sector as share prices also keep rising," says Bill Martin.

In his exceptional BullMarket.com, he looks at SandRidge Energy (NYSE: SD), where its billionaire CEO as well as a director have continued to buy shares, despite the stock trading near "peak levels."

"Oklahoma City-based SandRidge focuses on the exploration, development, and production of oil and gas in the West Texas Overthrust, East Texas, and Mid-Continent (Oklahoma) regions.

"President, and CEO Tom Ward purchased 460,000 shares at $48.95 on May 19th/20th, which increased his already substantial holdings to nearly 36.95 million shares, or a 25.27% stake.

"It was the first purchase for Ward since he announced in March his attention to buy up to $100 million in stock on the open market this year. His only other open-market purchase came in November 2007, when he took down 4.17 million shares at $26.00 in the company's initial public offering.

MBIA (NYSE: MBI) executives recently slashed in half the price they will be paying for shares in the company's recapitalization, but bullish observers are still pointing to their token investments as signs of confidence in the company's future.

The Wall Street Journal's Inside Track column (subscription required) gives investors good reason to be skeptical of these deals -- which appear to me to be little more than publicity stunts where the investments made by executives represent a pittance compared to the compensation they have extracted from the company's shareholders in spite of scandalously horrendous performance.

Here's the thing: Jim Cramer has said frequently that insider selling happens all the time for many different reasons, but insiders buy for only one reason: they think their stock is going higher.

In my day job as an analyst, I hear time and time again the conspiracy theorists, claiming that "the big guys" are out to get us, making it impossible to make money in the market. While insider buying is a good divining stick when analyzing companies, the idea that the institutions and insiders are just sitting, crouching in waiting, to sucker us into making investments decisions just to swipe our money is ludicrous.

While there are certainly cases of misdeed or asymmetrical information, this is not the case. Playing fields are generally level for all parties. That's what the SEC, FINRA and many governing bodies are there for -- to protect investors.

So, I find it interesting to read, on a couple of accounts, about Oscar Pistorius, the double amputee sprinter making a go at qualifying for the 2008 Olympics in China. The NY Times ran a story today that cites that the amazing sprinter may hold an unfair advantage with his prosthetics and may subsequently be disallowed to compete.

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.

"For more conservative investors, my favorite idea for 2008 is First Horizon National Corp. (NYSE: FHN), the Tennessee-based holding company for First Tennessee Bank," says Keith Fitz-Gerald, editor of Money Morning.

"Its banks feature all the offerings you might expect from a good regional bank: Savings, checking, mortgages, investment banking, and brokerage services. It's not exactly an innovative idea -- minimize risks and maximize profits.

"But let's face it, it's a tried-and-true strategy that most US banks have abandoned as they chase after the (allegedly) big profits that subprime-backed debt, leveraged buyouts and other similarly esoteric investments appeared to promise.

"Yes, FHN really over-extended itself in the credit markets and recently announced a loss of $14.2 million. More losses may be coming. And its ultra-high dividend yield off 7.93% may be in jeopardy. Nonetheless, we think the stock's beating was overdone.

With the market experiencing a continued downturn and with Thanksgiving upon us, I thought we could highlight two stocks that have been turkeys so far this year (dogs maybe be more appropriate, but 'tis the season). However, unlike our favorite bird, these are poised to fly.

Radvision (NASDAQ:RVSN), which specializes in video conferencing over IP and 3G networks, has lost more than 40% YTD. It has produced successive earnings disappointments. While it has great technology, it has been struggling to execute its business plan. It's important to note however, that it has a very close relationship with Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO), and every few months rumors surface as to a potential M&A. I think that management has taken the Cisco relationship for granted and hasn't done enough to hustle new business.

That being said, as I mentioned the stock is down over 40% on the year. The company today received permission to purchase up to $30 million in stock. While some may see that as a PR stunt to boost the stock, more interesting was that Yehuda Zisapel, a former Chairman of the Board of RVSN and the brother of the company's current Chairman of the Board, bought $2 million of stock. With the stock getting creamed so far this year, I would look at it as a nice turnaround play going forward.

With all the bad PR surrounding the departure of Citigroup's (NYSE: C) CEO Chuck Prince, along with Merrill Lynch's (NYSE: MER) CEO Stanley O'Neill, not to mention their huge severance packages, it's refreshing to see a company where the CEO actually puts his money where his mouth is and invests in the stock of the company he runs.

News that Wachovia (NYSE: WB) CEO Ken Thompson bought 100,000 shares this past Friday, to go along with the 37,000 he bought earlier last week, is a telling sign that not only does he pay lip service to his company's stock being undervalued, but has actually invested millions of his own dollars to back it up.

With the debate over executive compensation heating up, and investor cynicism towards CEOs at an all time high, this move buy Thompson is commendable. How many stories have we read about CEOs making large salaries, getting enormous bonuses and the stock price continues to drop?

Kudos to Thompson, and may his large investment pay off.

Aaron Katsman is the lead Portfolio Manager and Managing Director of America Israel Investment Associates, LLC. and Senior Editor of IsraelNewsletter.com. Disclosure: Writer holds no position in any stock mentioned as of 11/21/07.