"The agriculture, mining and oil and gas businesses are booming globally, and mining firms have been plagued by a lack of available earth-moving and subsurface mining equipment," notes Paul Tracy.

To benefit from this trend, the editor of The StreetAuthority Market Advisor recommends Ritchie Brothers Auctioneers (NYSE: RBA), the "largest auctioneer of used industrial and agricultural equipment in the world."

"The prices of wheat, soybeans, corn and other basic food commodities are surging to new multi-year highs. There are two main drivers of this trend: rising consumption of agricultural commodities in emerging markets and increased consumption of crops for biofuels production.

"The developing world is also driving demand for petroleum products and other raw materials. A building boom in China, for example, is driving demand for steel, copper and aluminum used in building construction.

"One problem holding back these industries in recent years is a shortage of equipment. Mining firms have been plagued by a lack of available earth-moving and subsurface mining equipment. And agricultural products producers need tractors, combines and other equipment that are in short supply globally to efficiently run their farms.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Gen-Probe, Monster Worldwide, LabCorp and Quest Diagnostics were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Deutsche Bank initiated shares of Gen-Probe (NASDAQ: GPRO) with a Buy rating and $78 target and expects the company's broad product portfolio in Clinical Diagnostics and Blood Screening to drive growth.
  
• CIBC initiated Monster Worldwide (NASDAQ: MNST) with a Sector Performer rating, as they believe their macro concerns are more important than the company's intermediate-term prospects and its position within the global recruiting market.
  
• William Blair views the valuation of LabCorp (NYSE: LH) as compelling given the company's growth outlook. The firm started shares off with an Outperform rating.
  
• William Blair also initiated Quest Diagnostics (NYSE: DGX) with a Market Perform rating, and prefers a wait-and-see approach as the company's diversification strategy unfolds.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Wachovia initiated Cleco (NYSE: CNL), ITC Holdings (NYSE: ITC) and Aqua America (NYSE: WTR) with Outperform ratings and American States Water (NYSE: AWR) with a Market Perform rating.
  
• Baird resumed coverage of Ritchie Bros (NYSE: RBA) with a Neutral rating and $78 target.