"Over the past year, ITC Holdings (NYSE: ITC) has been focused on identifying ways to integrate wind and other renewable resources into the power grid," notes growth stock expert Alexander Green.

In The Oxford Club Communique, he explains, "This young company -- that despite being in the midst of the biggest economic slowdown in more than 70 years -- is taking in more than $600 million in annual revenue, enjoying 46% operating margins and experiencing 72% quarterly profit growth.

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.

Broadcom Corp. (NASDAQ: BRCM) shares are trading higher after Friday evening saw a statement from an International Trade Commission judge that recommended the end of an investigation into a Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM) - Nokia (NYSE: NOK) dispute. Broadcom has a similar dispute and while some phones were banned in the US because of this issue, BRCM received a stay while appeals are heard. If you think that the company won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on BRCM.

The stock has climbed sharply over the past two months, hitting a one-year high of $43.07 last week. BRCM opened this morning at $40.32. So far today the stock has hit a low of $40.30 and a high of $41.52. As of 11:15, BRCM is trading at $41.08, up $0.53 (1.3%). The chart for BRCM looks bullish but deteriorating slightly, while S&P gives the stock a positive 4 STARS (out of 5) buy rating.

For a bullish hedged play on this stock, I would consider a January bull-put credit spread below the $32.50 range. A bull-put credit spread is an options position that combines the purchase and sale of put options to hedge risk in case the stock doesn't do what you think but still leverage nice returns. For this particular trade, we will make an 11.1% return in just 3 months as long as BRCM is above $32.50 at January expiration. Broadcom would have to fall by more than 20% before we would start to lose money. Learn more about this type of trade here.

Ted Allrich is the founder of The Online Investor and author of the just released book: Comfort Zone Investing: Build Wealth And Sleep Well At Night. In this weekly column, he'll offer advice to investors who are just getting started.

It's a good time to be a little defensive in the stock market, to look at stocks with a history of increasing earnings as well as dividends. While these don't tend to have a catalyst that will vault them into the stratosphere the way a tech or biotech stock can, they give a lot of comfort when there's so much turmoil in the market.

The first thing to think about when you're on defense is the shape of the economy and the kinds of items consumers always buy, no matter what the economy is doing. Consumer spending makes up about 2/3 of the U.S. economy. What the consumer does matters. Right now many consumers are having trouble paying their mortgages. Housing prices are going down in many areas of the country. Large mortgage lenders such as Countrywide Financial Corp. (NYSE: CFC) and IndyMac Bancorp. (NYSE: IMB) k are having problems with their portfolios. Defensive investors won't be looking into the mortgage lending stocks for comfort.

More likely they'll be looking at companies that supply things that people must buy, things like drugs, toothpaste, gasoline, toilet paper (also known as bathroom stationery), soap, food, utilities, etc. These are the basics. They're supplied by many different companies, and many of those companies are improving, even in these difficult times. Here are just a few ideas (not recommendations for investing, but recommendations for more investigating):

The International Trade Commission (ITC) has banned imports of some cell phones containing chip technology from Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM). The ITC has said that the ban covers cell phones that infringe on a patent held by Broadcom (NASDAQ: BRCM) and that were imported for sale after June 7. The majority of the cell phone import world is up in arms, claiming that the ban will do irreparable harm to the American consumer. Frankly, those that choose to infringe on patents shouldn't be importing technology they aren't ready to sit on when discovered.

James Gerace, spokesman for Verizon Wireless, claims that the ban "essentially attempts to freeze innovation in cell phones." A more accurate interpretation would be that the ban seeks to freeze piracy that circumvents innovation. A Red Herring article says that Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S) has openly declared that it expects to sell 5 million phones this year that contain the infringing technology. That's a pretty bold statement by Sprint, and in light of the current ban, I think it's a pretty stupid statement also. That would be similar to me stopping at the local police station to tell them I plan on driving over the speed limit for 500 miles this year.

AT&T (NYSE: T) doesn't seem to care much about the cell phone ban. It has plenty of handsets available that don't contain the infringing chips. AT&T thought ahead and based the majority of its offering on a different technology. Might we call that decision prudent?

Meanwhile, as the pirates cry and whine about appeals and a stay of execution, Broadcom has eloquently made clear that it will consider discussion about licensing of the patent.