"Many analysts feel that we are in a bear market or soon will be; we disagree," says Dan Sullivan. In his The Chartist, the advisor looks at several seasonal and sentiment indicators that remain bullish.

"The overall sentiment amongst individual investors is extremely negative, which in the upside down world of Wall Street is a very healthy sign.

"In their most recent poll, the bearish contingent of the American Association of Individual Investors had 55% in the bearish camp. This means that 55% of the investors polled by AAII expect the market to be lower over the next six months.

"The current bearish reading has only been surpassed on two occasions over the past four years. There were 58% AAII bears back on July 14, 2006. Over the next six months, the Dow posted a gain of 14.79%. And the AAII bearish contingent hit 56% on November 23, 2007, one day before the bottom of the October/November sell-off.

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 more conservative idea for 2008 is MasterCard (NYSE: MA)," says relative strength expert Dan Sullivan in The Chartist. "The card for 'everything else' is the credit card of choice for millions of Americans. MasterCard offers credit payment solutions, processes payment transactions, and also provides consulting services to customers and merchants.

"Despite a sluggish housing market, people are still spending, and for MasterCard, that's great news. The credit giant announced that its third quarter earnings leapt 63%, helped by rising spending volume and the sale of part of its stake in a Brazilian credit and debit card network.

"Third quarter earnings were $314 million, or $2.31 per share, compared with $193 million, or $1.42 a share in the year-ago period. Third quarter results included a $70 million gain from the sale of a stake in Redecard S.A. Revenue rose 20.1% to $1.08 billion.

"MasterCard is owned in the Chartist Aggressive Account and recently broke out into record-high territory. This stock has a highly bullish chart pattern and continues to exhibit tremendous relative strength. We think this stock could be a big winner in 2008."

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.

"First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR) is my favorite speculative idea for 2008," says relative strength technician Dan Sullivan, editor of The Chartist.

"First Solar is the fastest growing manufacturer of solar modules in the world. And that's just the beginning. The company manufactures solar modules with an advanced thin film semiconductor process that significantly lowers solar electricity costs.

"Offering clean renewable electricity at affordable prices enables First Solar to provide an economic alternative to peak conventional electricity and fossil fuels.

"The solar module maker recorded a significant increase in revenue, easily beating Wall Street estimates. The company earned $46 million, or 58 cents per share, compared with $4.3 million, or 7 cents per share in the year-ago period.

This article is part of a 20 article special report on "Metals, miners and money".

Dan Sullivan, a specialist in relative strength rankings, maintains a position in Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold (NYSE: FCX) in his model portfolio. The editor of The Chartist explains, "The world's largest publicly traded copper company, Freeport-McMoRan operates large, long-lived and geographically diverse assets around the world.

"The company owns significant proven and probably reserves of copper, gold, and molybdenum and has an extensive portfolio of expansion and growth projects.

"The company conducts its operations primarily through its principal operating subsidiaries, PT Freeport Indonesia, Phelps Dodge, and Atlantic Copper. PT Freeport Indonesia's principal asset is the world-class Grasberg mine which was discovered in 1988.

"This mine contains the world's largest single copper reserve and the world's largest single gold reserve. It is also a 25% owner of PT Smelting, which operates a copper smelter and refinery in Gresik, Indonesia.

"Phelps Dodge is a fully integrated producer of copper and molybdenum, with mines and processing facilities in North and South America and Europe. Atlantic Copper operates a copper smelter and refinery in Huelva, Spain.

"The company's second-quarter profit surged year-over-year due to the acquisition of Phelps Dodge and increased metal pricing. Net income rose to $1.10 billion, up from $367 million in the year-ago period. Revenue also surged to $5.81 billion, from $1.43 billion last year."

Garmin International (NASDAQ: GRMN) is the latest Spotlight Stock from relative strength expert Dan Sullivan. The editor of The Chartist newsletter explains, "Since the time Garmin's GPS handheld units were first used in the Gulf War, the company has build a reputation for innovation, quality products and superior customer service."

He continues, "Its GPS products employs a proprietary integrated circuit and receiver designed to collect, calculate and display location, direction, sped as well as other information depending on the specific use of the customer.

Products, he notes, are sold in more than 100 countries with its consumer products being sold through retails chains, consumer electronic stores, sporting good, marine retailers and catalogs.

"Once in critical condition, Schering-Plough has staged a remarkable turnaround," says Dan Sullivan, who recently selected the drug maker as his Spotlight Stock of the month.

The editor of The Chartist -- a top performing newsletter that uses a relative strength model in determining its portfolio holdings -- explains, "Earlier in the decade Schering-Plough drug maker was plagued with a series of problems and it appeared that the recovery process would be long and difficult."

Under its previous CEO, Richard Kogan, he notes, it faced record government fines for quality control problems in its manufacturing plants, an SEC investigation, alleged Medicaid fraud, and the loss of its patent for its allergy drug Claritin, which accounted for about 34% of worldwide sales in 2001.

The shares, he observes, traded at a high of 60 in 2001 and fell into the mid-teens in 2003. He states, "To rescue it from life-support, Schering-Plough hired Fred Hassan to replace Kogan as CEO."

The advisor suggests that most analysts doubted that Hassan could overcome the problems facing Schering-Plough (NYSE: SGP). The consensus, he notes, was that the company would be broken up or sold off to one of its rivals. So far, says Sullivan, the critics have been proven wrong.

Although taking different approaches to investing, Dan Sullivan and Nick Vardy are both recommending the same stock -- Cognizant Technology (NASDAQ: CTSH).

The company provides IT consulting and technology services -- and is best known for its leading role in outsourcing.

Sullivan, editor of The Chartist, points out that for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, the company earned $69.5 million, up 21% while sales rose 65%, to $424.4 million. For the full year, earnings rose 40% sales were up 61%.

The advisor notes, "Despite recent selling pressure over the past few weeks, Cognizant holds the #1 spot in our relative strength ratings."

Nick Vardy, editor of The Global Stock Investor, calls the stock the "best in class." He explains, "The Indian outsourcing play continues to garner accolades. Congnizant was just recently named one of Business Week's 50 Best Performing Companies, ranking 12th overall and second in the Information Technology sector."

He points out that the rankings are meaningful, since Business Week selects the 'best in class' from each of the 10 sectors that make up the S&P 500. Companies were chosen based on sales growth, average return on capital, total return, profitability and rank within industry sector.

For more stock picks from the leading financial newsletter advisors, visit Steven Halpern's free daily website, TheStockAdvisors.com.

A long term investor, and not one to be deterred by short, sharp swings in the market, Dan Sullivan has developed one of the advisory industry's most successful track records over some three and a half decades, based on relative strength.

In his newsletters, The Chartist, he says, "Technically it is extremely difficult not to be bullish." He explains, "The advance decline line is at bull market highs along with advance decline volume. Over the past 50 years the advanced decline line has always topped out ahead of the major indexes."

Meanwhile, his latest relative strength Spotlight Stock is Akamai Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM). The advisor says, "The Internet created a monster and Akamai helps to tame that monster. It was started as a challenge in early 1995 by MIT Professors, Tim Berners-Lee and Tom Leighton, to invent a fundamentally new and better way to deliver Internet content.

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.

International Game Technology (NYSE: IGT) is a favorite speculative pick for 2007 from Dan Sullivan, editor of The Chartist. The advisor, who specializes in relative strength, notes, "IGT is a leading designer and maker of microprocessor-based gaming devices, including video poker machines and video and reel-spinning slot machines.

"Due to its market share, financial strength, and innovative game designs, IGT is well-positioned to benefit from industry growth both in the U.S. and abroad. Many states have -- or are considering -- legalizing or expanding gaming as a way to generate tax revenue. Currently, casino gambling is legal in 20 states. And increasingly slot machines are being introduced to race tracks across the country.

"Also, many of the old-style machines, which are not chip-based, are candidates for replacement as casinos strive to provide the newest and hottest games for their gamblers. Both areas should be a strong revenue source for IGT over the next several years.