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The Standard & Poor's 500 Index ($INX 0.00%) declined each day during the last week of July as investors sought alternative places to ride out uncertainty over Washington's debt-ceiling feud. Some shunned Treasurys and shoveled money into corporate bonds; others put their faith in gold, the Swiss franc or cash.
But regardless of whether volatility is roiling the markets or ratings companies cut the United States' AAA rating, there should be pockets of the global economy, such as food, mining and energy, that continue to thrive and reward investors.http://money.msn.com/money-video/default.aspx?vid=ecff8d4a-c4fd-4ca8-b819-f3689ff65877&src=SLPl:share:email:uuids&from=email
For investors looking for what's working, StockScouter's Benchmark Portfolio for August is an ideal starting point for investment research.
The 50-stock portfolio was created using StockScouter, MSN Money's stock-picking tool.
Each month, StockScouter generates a list of 50 stocks whose business fundamentals, price behavior, valuation and stock-ownership characteristics appear to predict a rising price in the coming weeks, based on how those factors have influenced stock prices in the past.
Here are StockScouter's best investment ideas for August:
| Benchmark Portfolio for August | |||
| Company | Sector | July 29 close | Scouter score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Waters (WAT 0.00%, news) | Technical instruments | $87.89 | 10 |
| Williams Partners (WPZ 0.00%, news) | Natural gas storage and transmission | $55.80 | 10 |
| Vanguard Natural Resources (VNR 0.00%, news) | Oil and natural gas | $30.53 | 10 |
| Mead Johnson Nutrition (MJN 0.00%, news) | Infant formula | $71.37 | 10 |
| Nu Skin Enterprises (NUS 0.00%, news) | Personal-care products | $37.54 | 10 |
| Esterline Technologies (ESL 0.00%, news) | Aircraft components | $76.37 | 10 |
| Fastenal (FAST 0.00%, news) | Building materials | $33.65 | 10 |
| Newmont Mining (NEM 0.00%, news) | Mining | $55.61 | 10 |
| Nordson (NDSN 0.00%, news) | Machinery | $51.03 | 10 |
| Hansen Natural (HANS 0.00%, news) | Sodas, juices, teas | $76.62 | 10 |
| Avery Dennison (AVY 0.00%, news) | Adhesive labels | $31.55 | 10 |
| Core Laboratories (CLB 0.00%, news) | Oil-field services | $108.04 | 10 |
| Vale (VALE 0.00%, news) | Iron ore | $32.44 | 10 |
| W.R. Grace (GRA 0.00%, news) | Specialty chemicals | $50.44 | 10 |
| Noble Energy (NBL 0.00%, news) | Oil and natural gas | $99.68 | 10 |
| Timken (TKR 0.00%, news) | Machine tools and accessories | $43.67 | 10 |
| Olin (OLN 0.00%, news) | Specialty chemicals | $20.91 | 10 |
| Barrick Gold (ABX 0.00%, news) | Mining | $47.57 | 10 |
| Agrium (AGU 0.00%, news) | Fertilizers | $87.38 | 10 |
| Kayne Anderson Energy Development (KED 0.00%, news) | Asset management | $20.47 | 10 |
| Fossil (FOSL 0.00%, news) | Fashion accessories | $125.67 | 10 |
| FLIR Systems (FLIR 0.00%, news) | Sensors, imaging products | $27.46 | 10 |
| Cinemark Holdings (CNK 0.00%, news) | Theaters | $19.49 | 10 |
| EQT (EQT 0.00%, news) | Natural gas | $63.48 | 10 |
| Rockwood Holdings (ROC 0.00%, news) | Specialty chemicals | $60.47 | 10 |
| Alliance Holdings (AHGP 0.00%, news) | Coal | $50.02 | 10 |
| Dresser-Rand Group (DRC 0.00%, news) | Oil-field equipment | $53.42 | 10 |
| EV Energy Partners (EVEP 0.00%, news) | Oil and natural gas | $70.49 | 10 |
| Hanesbrands (HBI 0.00%, news) | Apparel | $30.51 | 10 |
| New Oriental Education & Technology Group (EDU 0.00%, news) | Education | $127.73 | 10 |
| Iconix Brand Group (ICON 0.00%, news) | Brand licenses | $23.33 | 10 |
| Concho Resources (CXO 0.00%, news) | Oil and natural gas | $93.58 | 10 |
| Coach (COH 0.00%, news) | Handbags and accessories | $64.56 | 10 |
| Alliance Resource Partners (ARLP 0.00%, news) | Coal | $76.81 | 10 |
| NetEase (NTES 0.00%, news) | Online commerce | $50.52 | 10 |
| Albemarle (ALB 0.00%, news) | Plastics | $66.58 | 10 |
| National Oilwell Varco (NOV 0.00%, news) | Oil and gas drilling | $80.57 | 10 |
| Cabot Oil and Gas (COG 0.00%, news) | Oil and natural gas | $74.08 | 10 |
| Cummins (CMI 0.00%, news) | Engines | $104.88 | 10 |
| Oceaneering International (OII 0.00%, news) | Oil and gas exploration | $43.20 | 10 |
| OM Group (OMG 0.00%, news) | Specialty chemicals | $36.28 | 10 |
| Goldcorp (GG 0.00%, news) | Mining | $47.81 | 10 |
| B&G Foods (BGS 0.00%, news) | Processed foods | $18.79 | 10 |
| Cosan (CZZ 0.00%, news) | Sugar cane | $12.33 | 10 |
| McDonald's (MCD 0.00%, news) | Fast-food restaurants | $86.48 | 9 |
| Campbell Soup (CPB 0.00%, news) | Soup | $33.05 | 9 |
| ITC (ITC 0.00%, news) | Power transmission | $70.26 | 9 |
| AT&T (T 0.00%, news) | Telecommunications | $29.26 | 9 |
| Idacorp (IDA 0.00%, news) | Electric utilities | $39.21 | 9 |
| Stericycle (SRCL 0.00%, news) | Medical wastes | $82.12 | 9 |
Put StockScouter to work
Investment research firm Gradient Analytics uses StockScouter to create daily and monthly stock lists. Writer Jon Markman, at the time a columnist for MSN Money, collaborated with the company to devise strategies for putting the tool to work.
One of Markman's strategies involved investing an equal amount of money in each of the stocks in the computer-generated portfolio, selling them six months later, then beginning the process again. For investors who prefer to handle fewer stocks, Markman recommended using the strategy with just the top 10 stocks on the list.
An investor who followed Markman's 10-stock strategy since it was launched in January 2001 would have realized a gain of 691% through June 30 of this year, according to Gradient Analytics, and had an average annual return of 22.8%.
Over the same period, the S&P 500 rose by 9%.
An innovative mix
StockScouter depends on advanced mathematics and software and an innovative mix of measurements and historical testing to forecast the short- and long-term outlook for all U.S. companies that have traded on the major exchanges for at least the past six months.The analytical tools score stocks on fundamental, valuation, technical and ownership components.
This score is combined with each company's StockScouter rating to come up with the list in the above chart. Only stocks with a final closing price above $3 are eligible for the list.
by msnmoney.com
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