Who said big oil was a dying business? Fortune has released its Global 500, their "annual ranking of the world's largest corporations," and topping the charts is Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS.A), which, much like a Mariah Carey song, bumped up into the coveted number-one slot after some time at number three. The Netherlands-based oil company trumped its U.S. rival, Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) by $15 billion in sales and saw its revenue spike nearly 29% from 2007.

Speaking of Exxon, the company once again had a tiger in its tank, ranking number two in the world as oil futures bounced around in a nearly $100-dollar range, hitting $146 per barrel at its heights.

Not that long ago, investing in the oil sector was a no-brainer. It was an easy way to make some quick bucks.

But, now, there's mostly doom and gloom as oil prices have plunged since reaching a peak in July.

So, is it time to come back into the market? Well, this is the view from the front-page story in this week's Barron's [a paid publication].

However, for the next year, the forecasts for oil are wide-ranging. After all, it's really dependent on if the economy comes back. And, does anyone have a good grasp of that?

Instead, investors need to take a long-view of things. Yes, eventually the economy will rev again. And, at the same time, OPEC will find ways to cut back on production.

Yet, it's still important to focus on global oil operators, because they have the resources to expand their platforms as well as maintain dividends. And, according to Barron's, the top ones include companies like: ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM), Total (NYSE: TOT) and BP (NYSE: BP).

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Streetsmart Guide to Short Selling: Techniques the Pros Use to Profit in Any Market. He is also the founder of BizEquity, a valuation website.

I am the Global Editor at MoneyShow.com and each week I interview an investing expert. This week, I spoke with Charles de Vaulx, partner and portfolio manager at International Value Advisors, who brings us up-to-date on what his funds are currently buying.

Q. Charles, global markets have really taken it on the chin recently, yet you have bravely launched two new funds, IVA Worldwide (IVWAX) and IVA International (IVIOX). Does that mean that you are near-term optimistic on the markets?

A. The October 1st launch date of our two new funds was somewhat coincidental. We realized this spring that the private funds IVA offered were not sufficient and that there was a considerable demand for mutual funds. It took us a few months to get the registration of these mutual funds effective. But, though we believe our strategy is resilient to downturns, we are thrilled to launch these two funds now that stocks have become so much more attractive than a year ago.

Q. Your funds are not constrained by any particular sector or capitalization concentration, as long as the investments are value-oriented. What is your definition of value and in which sectors and countries are you currently investing the funds' money?

You know it must be serious if the French fall into line. French oil giant Total (NYSE:TOT) became the last large Western oil firm to decide to forgo a deal with Iran.

According to a Marketwatch article: " Christophe de Margerie told the Financial Times that it won't invest in a project to develop natural-gas fields in Iran, leaving Iran without the technical know-how to significantly raise its gas exports until late next decade."

This obviously comes as good news as the US urges world leaders in both Europe and China to enforce tough sanctions against the Iranians. The feeling is that if they don't, an Israeli strike on the Iranian nuclear program is inevitable, and that could cause a full-fledged war in the Middle East.

While the other global oil titans were quick in announcing that they will refrain from doing business with Iran, Total basically only did it out of political pressure. The CEO basically reasoned that if they went ahead with the deal, people would say that Total has no principle whatsoever and that they would do anything to make a buck.

I guess as long as the ends justify the means we should applaud the Total position.

Aaron Katsman is the lead Portfolio Manager and Managing Director of America Israel Investment Associates, LLC. and Senior Editor of IsraelNewsletter.com. DISCLOSURE: Writer's fund has no position in any stock mentioned, as of 7/10/08.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Hershey Foods, Genentech and Garmin were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• Bernstein downgraded Hershey Foods (NYSE: HSY) to Market Perform from Outperform, citing commodity cost pressures & slowing volume growth.
  
• Thomas Weisel downgraded Genentech (NYSE: DNA) to Market Weight from Overweight after the company reported Q1 results, due to Avastin growth concerns and a lack of meaningful drivers of long-term revenue growth until 2009.
  
• Oppenheimer cut Garmin (NASDAQ: GRMN) to Perform from Outperform on concerns regarding PND pricing and the company's profitability dynamics.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Blackrock (NYSE: BLK) was downgraded at Goldman to Neutral from Buy and to Market Perform from Outperform at Wachovia.
  
• Baird downgraded Millennium Pharma (NASDAQ: MLNM) to Neutral from Outperform.
  
• JP Morgan lowered Total SA (NYSE: TOT) to Neutral from Overweight.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Total SA, HLTH Corp, Aflac First Solar and Town Sports were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Citigroup upgraded Total SA (NYSE: TOT) to Buy from Hold following the company's Q3 results. JP Morgan upgraded shares to Overweight from Neutral, as they believe the company's Q3 results underlined the strength of exploration and production growth prospects versus peers.
  
• Friedman Billings raised its rating on HLTH Corporation (NASDAQ: HLTH) to Outperform from Market Perform following the company's proposal to merge into WebMD Health Corp (NASDAQ: WBMD) for a combination of cash and stock.
  
• The firm also added shares of Aflac (NYSE: AFL) to its Top Picks List, as they believe Aflac is the only high quality, defensive growth story in the Life Insurance sector.
  
• CIBC upgraded shares of First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR) to Sector Outperformer from Sector Performer following the Q3 upside and set a $230 target on the stock.
  
• Banc of America upgraded shares of Town Sports (NASDAQ: CLUB) to Neutral from Sell on valuation as they believe the downside risk is now priced into the stock.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Credit Suisse upgraded Nortel Networks (NYSE: NT) to Neutral from Underperform.
  
• Merrill upgraded Lincoln National (NYSE: LNC) to Buy from Neutral.
  
• Tyson Foods (NYSE: TSN) was raised to Market Perform from Underperform at Wachovia.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Ericsson, Total SA, Research in Motion, MasterCard and Sun Microsystems were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Goldman upgraded shares of Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) to Buy from Neutral and added the company to their pan-Europe Conviction Buy List, as they believe the factors that lead to the October earnings miss will be rectified and the company will report upside to Q4 estimates.
  
• Credit Suisse upgraded Total SA (NYSE: TOT) to Outperform from Neutral based on valuation and expectations for a return in upstream volume growth in 2008.
  
• Credit Suisse also upgraded Research in Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) to Outperform from Neutral, citing RIMM's expanding international market share.
  
• MasterCard (NYSE: MA) was raised to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank, as they believe the company's margin potential is yet to be fully priced into shares or Street estimates.
  
• Citigroup raised shares of Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ: JAVA) to Buy from Hold to reflect the company's improving product line, restructuring, and share buyback. They find the risk/reward attractive and expect solid Q2 results.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Goldman added Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) to its Conviction Buy List.
  
• Citigroup upgraded American Eagle (NYSE: AEO) to Hold from Sell.
  
• KeyBanc raised its rating on Comstock Resources (NYSE: CRK) to Buy from Hold.
  
• Millennium Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ: MLNM) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Cowen.
  
• Roth Capital upgraded Gevity HR (NASDAQ: GVHR) to Hold from Sell.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says names in this group are now trading vehicles, not long-term investments, but that doesn't mean they're any less critical to own.

Here we are again in the weeklong pullback in oil where the stocks all get thrown out and no one wants to touch them. We will soon hear from the chartists (as I call technical analysts) that these stocks were unable to take out their highs, or they are getting the right -- and cold --shoulder.

How long until I hear that now that the bubble has popped and you are looking at Exxon (NYSE: XOM) (Cramer's Take) as Toll (NYSE: TOL) (Cramer's Take) at $50 and Chevron (NYSE: CVX) (Cramer's Take) as Lennar (NYSE: LEN) (Cramer's Take)?

Plus you have the ne'er-do-wells, like the ridiculously poorly run BP (NYSE: BP) (Cramer's Take), truly stinking up the joint.

So, what should you do?

How about buy them?

MAJOR PAPERS:

• According to the Wall Street Journal (subscription required), citing people familiar with the matter, E*Trade Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: ETFC) and TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation (NASDAQ: AMTD) have been in serious merger discussions for weeks, but are still not close to a deal.
• Dubai World, a holding company for the Persian Gulf state, will purchase a 9.5% stake in MGM Mirage (NYSE: MGM), the Kirk Kerkorian controlled Las Vegas casino company, for $5B. The deal will also give Dubai World 50% ownership in CityCenter, MGM's most ambitious development project, reported the Wall Street Journal.
• The Wall Street Journal reported that almost 10 months after Google Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) acquired YouTube for $1.65B, the video-sharing site is rolling out its first advertisements in the videos.
• The Financial Times (subscription required) reported that private equity firm WL Ross is looking to get involved in the subprime lending business, said the firm's owner, Wilbur Ross. WL Ross may look to acquire lenders, mortgage portfolios or even companies that service loans, Ross added.

OTHER PAPERS:

• The New York Times reported that Kazakhstan's government is threatening to suspend one of the world's largest oil projects, due to environmental damage it says the work is causing in the Caspian Sea. The consortium developing the field includes Eni, Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM), Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS.A), ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP), and Total SA (NYSE: TOT).

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Novartis AG (NVS), Intel (INTC), Total S.A. (TOT), Syniverse Holdings, Inc (SVR) and Kindred Healthcare (KND) were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• Merrill cut Novartis (NYSE: NVS) to Neutral from Buy based on a lack of near-term catalysts. Credit Suisse downgraded shares of the company to Underperform from Neutral on expectations of slowing sales growth in 2H07.

• JMP Securities downgraded Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) to Market Perform from Outperform based on valuation and lower estimates.

• JP Morgan cut Total S.A. (NYSE: TOT) to Neutral from Overweight on valuation.

• Syniverse (NYSE: SVR) was cut to Strong Sell from Sell at Matrix USA as competition in North America is creating a cut in Network Services and Number Portability Services revenue.

• Kindred Healthcare (NYSE: KND) was cut to Underperform from Market Perform at Wachovia based on valuation...

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• DaVita (NYSE: DVA) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank.

• Citigroup downgraded the coal sector, including Arch Coal (NYSE: ACI), Peabody Energy (NYSE: BTU) and Foundation Coal (NYSE: FCL) to Hold from Buy.

• Credit Suisse downgraded ACA Capital Holdings (NYSE: ACA) to Neutral from Outperform.

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

MAJOR PAPERS:

• The Wall Street Journal reported on how the prospect of Cadbury Schweppes (NYSE: CSG) and the Hershey Co. (NYSE: HSY) merging would be bad news for the already struggling WM. Wrigley Jr. Co (NYSE: WWY).
• The Wall Street Journal's "Ahead of the Tape" column wrote that Best Buy Co., Inc.'s (NYSE: BBY) Q1 earnings report, due out today, will help the Street deduce whether Circuit City Stores Inc. (NYSE: CC) cost cutting measures announced last week were company issues, or if it was a sign of a larger industry problem.
• The Financial Times reported that U.S. authorities are planning to interview Total (NYSE: TOT) CEO Christophe de Margerie as part of an inquiry into whether his company violated U.S. bribery laws.

OTHER PAPERS:

• According to the U.K. Times, citing research by Prudential Equity Group and AXA Framlington, AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) could lose 38% of its revenue because key drug patents, including Arimi-dex, Seroquel and Symbicort, will expire in the next five years.
• Investor's Business Daily's "The New America" column mentioned Israeli defense firm Elbit Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ: ESLT) positively. Elbit is a small, flexible company that works with industry giants such as the Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA).