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

Many successful capital management firms and hedge funds took a scalding bath in August. In fact, Jeremy Grantham believes that up to half of the hedge funds and many of the private equity firms “will cease to exist.” But taking investment risks isn’t our method. Rather, my consistent advice to you over the years has been to rely first and foremost on adding cash to your retirement account through interest and dividends. The more you focus on compounding, the better you will sleep. This month I have a bank stock and three other companies that I am adding to my Monster Master List for you to invest in, as well as updates on my Top Ten Common Stocks. Also this month, I cover a mutual fund with a large stake in big bank stocks and what they are doing to make sure that shareholders have a reliable source of income. Make it a good month!

Tags: American Century Global BGEIX, Andarko Petroleum, Anglo American AAUKF, Apache APA, APC, BA, BAC, Bank of America, BDJ, BDV, BlackRock Dividen Achievers Trust, BlackRock Enhanced Dividend Achievers Trust, BlackRock Global Opportunities Equity trust, BOE, Boeing, boton globe, butterfly effect, C, Chevron, citigroup, compound interest, Corp. SYY, CVX, DODBX, Dodge & Cox balanced, Dodge & Cox income, DODIX, EWJ, Garmin, GDX, general electric AAA-rated 6.45%, GRMN, iShares MSCI japan, JM Smucker, Long-Term Capital Management, Market Vectors Gold Miners Index, mutual funds, NEM, nestle, Newmont Mining, NSRGY, PBG, PEP, Pepsi Bottling, Pepsico, PG, PRJPX, Procter & Gamble, RGR, ruger, SJM, Sturm, Sysco, T-bills, T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price Japan, TROW, United technologies, UTX, Vanguard GNMA, Vanguard Precious Mining & Mtals, VFIIX, VGPMX, wall street journal

This month, I talk about the impact of terrorism on our economy and what that may mean for our economic outlook. The outlook looks great for our gold holdings
and I think you should add to them. There are other commodities that are cheap right now, which I think you should look into. Plus, I have some good ideas
for new money and a new addition to the Common Stocks Monster Master List. Also, since the issue went to print, one of my buy recommendations is no longer
a buy based on our updated charts. Don’t miss this update in the November issue. Make it a good month.

Tags: ABER, Aber Diamonds, agricultural commodities, AIPAC, American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Anheuser Busch, BDJ, BOE, BUD, CAG, Clinton, coca-Cola, ConAgra Foods, Defense spending, Delta & Pine Land, Democrats, DIA, DLP, DODBX, Dodge & Cox balanced, Dodge & Cox income, DODIX, Dow Diamonds Trust, Enhanced Dividend Achievers Trust, Federated Investors, FII, Franklin Mutual Shares, GE, general electric, Global Opportunities Equity Trust, gold, hard-liners, harley-davidson, HOG, Hormel, Howard Dean, HRL, Iran, Israel, Jim Talent, JM Smucker, JNJ, Joe Lieberman, johnson & johnson, Kerry, KO, Lt. Col. Patterson, Massoud, mcCormick, MCD, McDonalds, MKC, MUTHX, NATO, Netanyahu, Patriot Act, PEP, Pepsico, Piedmont Natural gas, PII, PNY, Polaris, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, RGR, ruger, Salafi jihad, SJM, Sturm, TAREX, TAVFX, TAVIX, terrorism, Third Avenue International, third Avenue Real Estate, Third Avenue Value, TimberWest, TWF.UN, Vanguard Equity Income, Vanguard Precious Metals & Mining, Vanguard Value Index, VEIPX, VGPMX, VIVAX, VWELX, VWINX, Wellington, Wellsley, Wrigley, WWY, Yankee Candle, YCC

I need to remind you of what I wrote last month — most of the unique mutual funds are closing. But this month I have another option for you to consider. Along with the fund updates, I give you a tool to help you become an insightful investor — a way to review a company’s cash flow and determine if it is a good investment. Also, I have four new stock offerings for you to consider — a few laggards that I believe are really good buys right now, along with a new layout for the newsletter. Make it a good month.

Tags: Alliance Resource Partners, American Express, AXP, BA, BlackRock, Boeing, C, citigroup, DIS, Dividend Achievers, dividends, Dow Diamonds Trust, Enhanced Dividend Achievers, ETF, Fiduciary Claymore MLP, GG, Global Opportunity, Goldcorp, HBC, Holland balanced Fund, HSBC, J.M. Smucker, Jardine Matheson, JMHLY, JNJ, johnson & johnson, Mutual fund, Mutual Series, PEP, Pepsico, PetroFund, PTF, SJM, Sysco, SYY, T. Rowe Price New Era, time warner, TWX, United technologies, UTX, Vanguard Precious Metals & Mining, Walt Disney

There’s no doubt in my mind that the world’s greatest and most successful rock and roll band is the Rolling Stones. However, this success would not have been possible without an enormous amount of focus and patience by the band. Focus and patience are what this issue is all about. What are you doing to make sure your portfolio maximizes its compound interest and dividends? This month, I provide some options to help you stay on point. Also, I revisit a few funds that you need to increase your holdings in, as well as introduce two new funds and three new stocks that I believe should be a part of your portfolio. Read this month’s issue for all the exciting details. Make it a good month.

Tags: ABER, aber diamond, ABX, American Century Global Gold, Australia, Barrick, Ben Grahm, Blackrock Enhanced Fund, Canadian General Investments, CAT, Caterpillar, Century Bank, Chemistry and Synergy, China, coca-Cola, diamonds, DIS, Disney, dividends, FAL, Falconbridge, Federated Investors, FII, FLEX, Flextronics, GE, general electric, harley-davidson, HDI, Hong Kong, Inco, iShares, iShares Goldman Sachs Natural resources Index fund, J.M. Smucker, Janus Fund, JOE, KO, Marvel, MVL, N, Norfolk Southern, NSC, Oak family funds, PDG, PEP, Pepsico, Placer Dome, power investing, presidential cycle, quadrennial theory, RGR, Rio Tinto, RTP, ruger, Singapore, SJM, St. Joe, streetTracks Gold Shares, Sturm, T. Rowe Price, T.Rowe price Dividend Growth, Third Avenue International Value, Third Avenue Small-cap value, TimberWest Forest, TROW, Union Pacific, United technologies, UNP, UTX, Vanguard GNMA, Vanguard Growth & Income, Vanguard Precious Metals & Mining, Warren Buffett, WFMI, Whole foolds

In this month’s issue I focus on the effects of Hurricane Katrina and what it means for your investments and for the U.S. economy. No matter the outlook, your investment strategy need not be altered, as I have been guiding you in the direction of a fully counterbalanced portfolio capable of riding out even catastrophic events like Katrina. Remember a conservative approach to investing wins. I devote the bulk of this issue to review our portfolios and what kind of return you need to plan for. And as promised I’ve included my end-of-summer “Mostly Stocks” section, which provides intelligence on many of our Monster Master List names. You must act now to take care of your portfolio as I have been stressing for the past few months.

Tags: AA, AL, Alcan, Alcoa, ALEX, Alexander & Baldwin, artom Whitman values Fund, BHP, BHP Billiton, BPL, Buckeye Partners, CAG, CAT, Caterpillar, Cleveland-Cliffs, CLF, coca-Cola, ConAgra, ConocoPhillips, COP, Delta & Pine Land, DLP, Enerplus resources fund, ERF, ExxonMobil, FAL, Falconbridge, FDG, Fording Canadian Coal trust, harley-davidson, HBC, HDI, Hormel, HRL, HSBC Holdings, ITW, J.M. Smucker, JOE, JPM Chase Capital XIV, Katrina, Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, KMP, KO, Legg Mason, LM, Mandarin Oriental International, McCormic, MCD, McDonalds, Microsoft, MKC, MOIL.SI, MSFT, Natural resource Partners, NRP, O;;onois tool Works, PCL, PDG, PEP, Pepsico, PFE, Pfizer, Piedmont Natural gas, PII, Placer Dom, Plum Creek, PNY, Polaris, Rayonier, RGR, Rio Tinto, RTP, ruger, RYN, SJM, St. Joe, Sturm, T. Rowe Price New Era, Teck Cominco, Third Avenue International Value, Third Avenue Real Estate Value, Third Avenue Small-cap value, Third Avenue Value, Third Avenue values, Valero LP, Vanguard GNMA, Vanguard Precious Metals & Mining, Vanguard Short Term Investment Grade, Vanguard Wellington, VLI, XOM