"Global steel producers are thriving, and their stocks are hitting new highs," note Yiannis Mostrous and Roger S. Conrad, who add, "But the best is yet to come."

In the industry-leading Personal Finance, the two advisors explain, "We're still in the early stage of a truly global bull market cycle for steel, and the companies best positioned to take advantage are headed a lot higher." Here, they look at their "Iron Five."

"As is the case with other building blocks of economic growth, steel is enjoying explosive demand from the developing world. And with the world expanding as never before, steel companies are literally selling as fast as they can produce.

"In the August 2007, we highlighted five first-rate global steel producers. Since then, they've returned an average of 67.4%, versus a decline of 3.7% for the S&P 500.

"The Iron Five are five picks that we believe are ripe for even bigger gains. Like the last group, these stocks are often volatile. They're also vulnerable to the possibility of a general stock market slide and most of all to a dip in global demand growth, particularly from China.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Walgreen, Crown Castle and Brunswick were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Thomas Weisel started shares of Walgreen (NYSE: WAG) with an Overweight rating and $43 target. The firm is positive on WAG's steady cash flow and solid growth profile.
  
• Merriman believes Crown Castle (NYSE: CCI) is a core wireless holding given its high-margin, predictable recurring revenue model. They believe shares can trade to the $49-$51 range assuming management continues to execute on its free cash flow growth target. Shares were assumed with a Buy rating.
  
• KeyBanc initiated Brunswick (NYSE: BC) with a Hold rating and expects the recreational marine market to be challenging given weakening consumer spending trends.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Citigroup initiated Gerdau AmeriSteel (NYSE: GNA) with a Buy rating and $21 target.
  
• Piper assumed Teradyne (NYSE: TER) with a Neutral rating and $14 target.
  
• International Speedway (NASDAQ: ISCA) was initiated at Stephens with an Overweight rating and $50 target.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Advanced Micro Devices, Hancock Holding, Town Sports and Gerdau SA were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Nollenberger started shares of Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) with a Buy rating and $18 target. The firm believes the company's issues are widely known and already baked into the valuation and feels the Barcelona ramp and performance are likely ahead of expectations and demand for the latest family of ATI graphics is solid.
• B. Riley initiated shares of Hancock Holding Company (NASDAQ: HBHC) with a Buy rating of $43 target as the firm believes a higher premium is warranted given the company's superior growth prospects and conservative management profile.
• Town Sports International Holdings (NASDAQ: CLUB) was initiated with a Sector Outperformer and a $23 target at CIBC. The firm expects shares to be driven by improving fundamentals.
• Citigroup believes Gerdau SA's (NYSE: GGB) acquisition of Chaparral was expensive and will provide near-term headwinds for the stock, starting shares off with a Hold rating.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• UBS initiated shares of Baker Hughes Incororated (NYSE: BHI), Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) and Schlumberger Limited (NYSE: SLB) with Buy ratings and targets of $102, $52 and $121, respectively.
• BMO initiated shares of Health Care Reit (NYSE: HCN) with a Market Perform rating.
  
• Lazard initiated shares of Micron Technology (NYSE: MU), SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK) and Silicon Motion Technology (NASDAQ: SIMO) with Buy ratings and targets of $14, $63 and $29.

DOW JONES & COMPANY (NYSE: DJ)

Could it happen? Could News Corporation (NYSE: NWS) pull its offer? They could, and the fear is absolutely there. That's why the stock has fallen. For one, the Bancroft family, which controls the majority of Dow Jones' shares, hasn't formally accepted Rupert Murdoch's $5B, $60 a share offer. And no one else has come forward with a competing bid. But it does seem that both sides are moving together in the same direction. Okay, but somebody should make up their mind -- either way -- and stop fiddling around.

EXPEDIA INC (NASDAQ: EXPE), IAC/INTERACTIVECORP (NASDAQ: IACI)

Barry Diller is back at it. The chairman and CEO of IAC/InteractiveCorp, who is also chairman of the board and a senior advisor to Expedia, is working to take online travel firm Expedia private at $30 a share. Part of any deal will involve Expedia's TripAdvisor being spun off with about 400 jobs being lost in that shuffle.

PENN NATIONAL GAMING INC (NASDAQ: PENN)

After many, many laps around the track, this race is over, as race track and casino operator Penn agreed to be acquired today by Fortress Investment Group LLC (NYSE: FIG) and private equity firm Centerbridge Partners. All cash, baby, in a deal worth $8.9B that includes $2.8B of assumed debt. Everyone to the Winner's Circle.