investing

The first time the Obama administration did a hatchet job on Boeing (NYSE: BA), it was just business. This time, it feels ... personal.

We've seen a lot of sunny solar reports this season. SunPower (Nasdaq: SPWRA) (Nasdaq: SPWRB) set a positive tone, which has been carried on by the likes of JA Solar (Nasdaq: JASO), Canadian Solar (Nasdaq: CSIQ), and Yingli Green Energy (NYSE: YGE). Strong results, all, but Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL) truly stands out from the crowd this quarter.

At times like this, it's hard to count on anything. Banks are still too big to fail, and although Ford (NYSE: F) earned a profit during the most recent quarter, GM is still losing huge amounts of money. People even think the recent rally is on its last legs.

You remember how this story began: Over the years, AIG (NYSE: AIG) sold billions of dollars worth of credit default swaps
-- derivative insurance on pieces of debt -- to banks and investors
around the globe. When that underlying debt turned into confetti, AIG
was on the hook for more money than it could ever dream of having.
Taxpayers jumped in, making the banks and investors whole, to the tune
of about $62 billion.

There are many reasons to love cash-rich retailers, and Urban Outfitters (Nasdaq: URBN)
is sitting on a mound of well-earned dough. The company recently
revealed that it might use that filthy lucre to acquire new brands for
future growth -- a strategy that could either prove profitable or
disastrous.

Well, that could have been embarrassing. Pfizer (NYSE: PFE)
bought Wyeth in large part for one of its top-selling products --
pneumococcal vaccine Prevnar. Now, just a month later, the newly merged
pharmaceutical giant faces a potential disappointment over the
product's next generation, Prevnar 13. Fortunately, the vaccine seems
to have slipped through its Food and Drug Administration advisory
committee unscathed.

You probably know that most managed stock funds underperform the overall stock market. You can bypass that danger by investing in index funds. Or you can seek out the relatively few funds with above-average records and prospects.

Between shareholder-friendly stocks expected to underperform the market, and highfliers that pay little heed to their owners' interests, you'll find top-flight companies that also treat their shareholders with respect.

Together, we are all trying to build our fortune by finding well-run
companies at bargain-basement prices. But it takes work -- scouring
company earnings reports, scrutinizing key data, and assessing the
competition.

Together, we are all trying to build our fortune by finding well-run
companies at bargain-basement prices. But it takes work -- scouring
company earnings reports, scrutinizing key data, and assessing the
competition.