I have written over the past few months that Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) is dead money at least for this year, and possibly next. The company has structural issues to address before sustainable growth is viable again. The question remains, what has been holding the stock up? For one, the stock market rally. Also, a raft of analysts "seeing a potential turn around." Potential is one thing, probable is another.

Dell built itself into a huge, global player through a direct sales model, eliminating the middleman and the attendant costs associated with the middleman. Dell soared as it embraced both the enterprise and the consumer segments. Dell began to fall victim to lousy service and follow through. Its call-centers jokingly became known as Dell's hell-centers. If the model is direct, the corresponding service must be excellent or customers are vulnerable to other vendors. So, with Apple Inc.'s (NASDAQ: AAPL) mega-success with the retail store model and Hewlett-Packard's (NYSE: HPQ) and Gateway's (NYSE: GTW) strong positioning within major retailers like Best Buy, what can Dell do to forge a presence? Is Radio Shack the answer?

Radio Shack has been a decent turn around story as management has carved out its excess costs and begun to realize some leverage to its earning base. If Dell were to acquire Radio Shack (NYSE: RSH), it would be an instant 4,000 stores for distribution. But it is not as easy as it sounds.

RadioShack Corp.'s (NYSE: RSH) past problems are still lingering for the oddball retailer, but give it some credit (I think). The retailer's latest quarter showed profit growth amid changes like closing stores and selling more popular electronics items. With new leader Julian Day at the helm, under-performing stores are seeing the axe while a focus on personal electronics and wireless sales are helping the company stay afloat.

I have to admit, many recent visits to the retailer have resulted in rabid-dog sales associates pushing new cellphones and contracts faster than I can say no. I hope RadioShack is not relying solely on wireless sales to prop up sales and profits, but that is the impression I've had lately.

Although I've only been here for the second half of it, I have been pleased to find out that your own BloggingStocks team is celebrating one full year of bringing you the best financial insight on the web. We'd like to think that we've had some responsibility for the healthy bull run that the markets have undertaken over the last 12 months. I myself certainly have had a great deal of fun so far. Thank you for letting me be a part of a web site that has met with your approval.

I thought it appropriate that I nominate myself for "The most unlikely financial blogger of the year" award. Someone who has been instrumental in growing this web site picked up on my no-holds-barred, in-your-face style and suggested that I might find a niche here. I suspect that it's gone pretty well, based simply on the fact that the checks still clear. I hope the readers have enjoyed at least some of what I've written because the fact of the matter is that I really and truly enjoy writing for you.

In celebration of our anniversary, the management team has suggested that we writers may indulge in some outlandish prognostications for you. If you haven't picked up on the fact yet, I'll tell you that outlandish is much of what I do.

Here are some on the edge financial predictions for the next twelve months that I have to offer you:

RadioShack Corp. (NYSE: RSH) has had some disastrous years recently; frankly, it's hard for me to believe the company stays in business in an era of Best Buy and Wal-Mart. Except for small electronic parts and miscellaneous gadgets, does anyone shop at RadioShack for anything? Judging by the small parking lots at the RadioShacks I see, the foot traffic is pretty darn small. Yet, the chain just keeps on going and going. Perhaps partnering with Cingular Wireless and Sprint Nextel is keeping margins afloat in some way.

Since the firing of RadioShack's former CEO based on resume falsification in the midst of a terrible-performing year, RadioShack recently landed Oxford-educated Julian Day (subscription required) to take the helm and fix the fortunes of the electronics retailer. Day's already started the task by cutting costs at every angle and by instituting very strict financial controls, as the results for RadioShack's recent fourth quarter show. Earnings were up 60% YoY (year-over-year) on $1.5 billion in revenue, and RadioShack shares are up 61% in 2007.

Can this rapid turnaround continue? With Day at the helm, it probably will. Most likely, more underperforming stores will be closed and advertising spending will be cut and spent more responsibly. Alongside that will be Day's penchant for tight inventory management at all stores and distribution centers. In other words, Day is instituting standard management (competent) procedures to help get the retailer consistently in the black. So far, after eight months on the job, he's succeeding.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: RadioShack Corp (RSH), Juniper Networks, Inc (JNPR), H.B. Fuller Co (FUL) and Sepracor Inc (SEPR) were today's more notable downgrades:

• Morgan Stanley downgraded RadioShack (NYSE: RSH) to Underweight from Equal-Weight on concerns over the company's wireless fundamentals and top-line growth.

• Juniper Networks (NASDAQ: JNPR) was downgraded to Strong Sell from Buy at Matrix USA. The firm sees downside to the intrinsic value calculation of $12 given the company's deteriorating fundamentals.

• H.B. Fuller Co (NYSE: FUL) was cut to Sell from Hold at Gabelli following a meeting with management to reflect the recent management exists and the broker's expectation for a challenging first-half of 2007.

• Sepracor (NASDAQ: SEPR) was cut to Underperform from Market Perform at Friedman Billings, as the firm believes generic availability of Ambien may be a bigger challenge to Seprecor's Lunesta than investors expect.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Jackson Hewitt Tax Service Inc (NYSE: JTX) was cut to Underweight from Market Weight at Thomas Wiesel as they believe the potential near-term competitive trends coupled with potential issues with rising financial product contribution will weigh on valuation.

• Bear Stearns cut Cerner Corp (NASDAQ: CERN) to Peer Perform from Outperform.

• Matrix USA downgraded InfoSpace, Inc (NASDAQ: INSP) to Hold from Buy on valuation.

• Prudential cut Unilever plc (NYSE: UL) to Neutral from Overweight.

• Breen Murray downgraded Century Casinos, Inc (NASDAQ: CNTY) to Hold from Buy.

• Cowen downgraded PeopleSupport, Inc (NASDAQ: PSPT) to Neutral from Outperform based on near-term visibility concerns.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

Note: The Daily Option Update is provided by Stock Options Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Volatility Index S&P 500 Options-VIX up 1.17 to 10.44.

Applied Materials Inc.-(NASDAQ:AMAT) option prices suggests risk levels below average into EPS.

Applied Materials is expected to report EPS of .27 cents tonight after the close. Stifel Nicolaus has a buy rating with a $23 price target on Applied Materials. AMAT February straddle is priced at .85 above its theoretical value of .47 cents. Applied Materials March option implied volatility of 32 is near its 26-week average of 30 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price fluctuations.

Nvidia Corporation -(NASDAQ:NVDA) option prices suggests risk levels are flat into EPS & Outlook

Nvidia, a designer, developer and marketer of graphic processing units, is expected to report EPS of .42 cents tonight. American Technology Research says "Nvidia is very well positioned entering in 2007 given its favorable exposure to the PC segment entering a large upgrade cycle, favorable exposure to the gaming segment with PS3 ready to ship high volume, and increasing share in the consumer mobile segment." Nvidia February straddle is priced at $2.15, above its theoretical value of 41.49. NVDA March option implied volatility of 45 is near its 26-week average according to Track Data, suggesting reduced risk levels after EPS.

Option volume leaders today were: Alcoa (NYSE:AA), Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ), AK Steel (NYSE:AKS), RadioShack Corp. (NYSE:RSH), Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) and Onyx Pharma (NASDAQ:ONXX).

Having just completed the Top Picks report for 2007 – the 24th consecutive year I have surveyed the newsletter advisors for their favorite stocks -- I thought I would share some observations to help readers best use the information in this feature.

And over the next few days, I will post articles to share observations on the stocks and sectors chosen, discuss the participating advisors, and highlight some of last year's top performers to help guide you in assessing this year's report.

I'll begin today by noting some caveats that should be kept in mind by those who are considering buying stocks from among the list of Top Picks. The advisors who have participated in this year's project were asked to submit a favorite speculative and/or conservative stock for the year ahead.

Each year Steven Halpern, editor of TheStockAdvisors.com, surveys the leading financial newsletter advisors asking for their favorite stocks for the coming year. This article is part of his 24th annual Top Picks Report.

Radio Shack Corp. (NYSE: RSH) is the top speculative idea for 2007 from Dylan Jovine. The editor of The Tycoon Report notes, "The sale of the season is being offered by an emotionally unstable 'Mr. Market,' who, at the moment, happens to be very depressed on the retail sector in general and Radio Shack in particular.

"Meanwhile, I believe quality management is particularly important to the future prospects of any value investment. It's not the only thing I look at by any means, but with Radio Shack, it's what has me so excited.

"On July 7th of 2006, Radio Shack's board elected Julian Day to become Chairman and CEO of the company. This is the same man who took over at K-Mart and led them out of bankruptcy, increasing the company's value from $1.5 billion to $9 billion.

"The easiest and fastest thing Day will do is to focus on increasing operating margins. I would bet a lot of money -- based on Day's track record -- that he'll turn this ship around inside of the next 18 to 24 months. When Day is done doing his job, the chances are high that Radio Shack's margins will look similar to how they looked in 2000.