Our economy is definitely struggling, but it has not yet entered a recession—although the job loss report from Friday has me concerned. In this month’s issue, I have added 10 charts; eight of these charts do not yet indicate a recession. In fact, two of the charts hint at continued economic expansion. During these tough economic times, it is important to find investments that offer fairly predictable returns with sustainable and growing cash flows. In this issue, I give you two infrastructure plays that fit the bill—one is an ETF and the other a U.S. based company with an attractive 7.2% yield. I also have added a new timber ETF and two closed-end funds to my Monster Master List. Make it a good month.

Tags: airport, ALCO, Alico, Alliance Resource Parters, American Express, American Society of Civil Engineers, ARLP, Awakening Councils, AXP, BHP, BHP Billiton, BlackRock Asset Equity, BTU, Canadian Pacific, Chavez, Chinese Internet use, chvy volt, Claymore/Clear Global Timber Index, coca-Cola, CP, CUT, depression, ECF, economy, employment, Federated Investors, FII, Forbes, Higway Trust Fund, infrastructure, Iran, Iraq watch groups, iShares S&P Global Infrastructure ETF, J.M. Smucker, Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, KMP, KO, Macquarie Infrastructure company trust, MIC, murder rates, Natural Resource LP, NRP, Obama, oil prices, omega-3, Peabody Energy, Pfizer, Phillip carret, public infrastructure, recession, Rep. Mike Pence, Republican Study Committee, Rio Tinto, RTP, Saudi Arabia, Senator mcCain, SJM, Tortoise Energy, TYY, Walter Schloss, Xstrata, XTA.L

Simple is Sophisticated is my theme for you this month. In this issue, I offer you a new one-stock program that I think may appeal to those of you interested in a shorter timeframe than my usual buy it and forget it strategy. Also this month I cover a lot of ground on mutual fund investing and where you should put new money today. Plus, I talk about some of our Monster Master List companies and what recent news stories mean for your investments. Make it a good month.

Tags: ABX, American Century Global Gold, Barrick Gold, BGEIX, Burton Malkiel, coca-Cola, DayJet, Delta & Pine, DIA, DIS, Disney, DLP, Dow Diamonds, DRAM, dynamic random access memory, EWS, FAL, Falconbridge, FCEa, FICDX, Fidelity Canada, forest City, GE, general electric, General Electric Capital 6.45%, General Thabit, George Tomsco, GG, GLD, Goldcorp, Goldman Sachs 6.20%, harley-davidson, HDI, HOLBX, Holland balanced Fund, HSBC Financial 6.36%, Inco's, iShares MSCI Singapore, Jack Bogle, Japan, Jeremy Siegel, JNJ, johnson & johnson, KO, magnetoresistive random access memory, Marvel Eneterprises, mcCormick, MKC, MRAM, MVL, N, NEM, Newmont Mining, Norman Petty, PEP, Pepsico, Piedmont Natural gas, PII, PLD, PNY, Polaris Industries, Prologis, Retirement Compounders, Saudi Arabia, Simple is Sophisticated, stretTRACKS Gold Shares, Teck Cominco, TEK-SVB.TO, terrorism, The Fireballs, Vanguard Wellington, Vanguard's Value Index, VIVAX, VLJ, VWELX, Wrigley, WWY, Yankee Candle, YCC