"One of the simplest and most genuine global long-term investment stories is the food sector," notes Yiannis Mostrous in Silk Road Investor. Here's a look at two ways to play this trend.

"Long-term, this should reward patient investors handsomely. As the world's population increases, demand will also grow, allowing companies in the food industry to handsomely profitWe continue to favor the theme and recommend you allocate some of your funds to it.

"There are myriad ways to play the burgeoning demand for vital resources used in food production. Our favorite is portfolio holding PowerShares DB Agriculture Fund (AMEX: DBA). It's an exchange traded fund that is based on the Deutsche Bank Liquid Commodity Index.

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.

"My favorite conservative pick for 2008 is Mobile TeleSystems (NYSE: MBT), the largest cellular operator in Eastern Europe, with 50 million subscribers," says Yiannis Mostrous in The Silk Road Investor.

"The company has licenses in 87 Russian regions, Ukraine, Belarus, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, covering a population of more than 233 million people. Russia accounts for almost 80% of consolidated revenue, while Ukraine is the second largest contributor.

"This is a company that offers good exposure to Russia's domestic demand growth. Russia is currently in a sweet spot: It's a net oil exporter, has good GDP growth, isn't dependent on foreign capital flows, is relatively stable politically, boasts reasonable market valuations and, above all, enjoys solid exposure to the biggest growth story of our time, Asia.

"Mobile Telesystems will continue to experience strong growth given the regional economic strength. Its valuations are still reasonable and it actually trades at a discount to a lot of its peers in the emerging market universe. This should make it a stock to own going into what is shaping up to be an uncertain New Year.

"The company's investments in its various markets have started producing positive results and it also continues to consolidate operations while taking advantage of market growth. Buy Mobile TeleSystems up to $110."

"Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) has the 'Swedish blues'," jests global expert Yiannis Mostrous, noting the stock fell sharply after issuing a warning. Nevertheless, he remains bullish.

In his The Silk Road Investor, the adviser explains, "Ericsson issued a warning for its gross and operating margins for the third quarter, which fell to 35.6% (43.0% last quarter) and 12.9% (19.4% previously). Promptly, the stock tumbled 24%."

He contends, "Although this is a severe blow to the stock price, the company remains one of the long-term holdings in the global infrastructure area."

The reason? He suggests, "Wireless telecom remains one of the best long-term growth stories. The beauty is that this growth story is applicable to both developed and developing economies. Emerging markets, in particular, are important because they continue to build huge wireless networks, with China and India at the forefront."

"Investors continue to underestimate the growth potential at Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC)," says global analyst Yiannis Mostrous in The Silk Road Investor. He considers the stock a core holding.

The Sweden-based company develops and produces advanced systems and products for wired and mobile communications in public and private networks and produces mobile phones through a joint venture with Sony.

Mostrous notes, "The company operates in one of the most promising segments of the global economy, where the demands of bigger and better networks increase almost daily."

According to the advisor, "It's currently upgrading networks for more than 50 phone companies, with about 6 million customers signing up for faster mobile access each month globally." Industry experts, he points out, expect mobile subscribers to surpass 5 billion in the next five years.

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.

United Overseas Bank Limited (Other OTC: UOVEY) is the top speculative idea for 2007 from Yiannis Mostrous. The global expert and editor of The Silk Road Investor -- and author of a new book by the same name -- explains, "United Overseas is a play in the positive changes taking place in Singapore, which continues to improve its image and attract the affluent from across Asia.

"United Overseas has been steadily improving operations and asset quality while expanding into Thailand and Indonesia.The bank has achieved a healthy mix of non-interest and interest-based income, with non-interest income growing strongly -- always a good thing. Its non-performing loan ratio dropped from 8.5% to 5.6% during the past year.

"Though Singaporean banks have been slow growers for sometime, improvement is visible as the economy enjoys strong growth amid a reflationary environment. As a result, loan growth could easily reach double digits next year. Banking stocks should eventually trade at a premium to the market, especially as return on equity improves through growth.