Emerson Electric. My all-time favorite stock. Held July 2005-late 2006, sold, bought again 3//7/2007. I am up 23% in EMR after almost 12 months; if I had held my 2005 purchase til now I would be up 70 or 80%. Live and learn. EMR is a "cyclcal" that often doesn't cycle down- it doesn't often act cyclically. It "should" be down 0-10% to me now. Top rate management and products. Dividend solid and always increasing. If the price ever dips I will buy more.

Republic Services. With WM, AW and ECOL, a solid performer in waste recovery and disposal. Active in 12+ states. Small dividend. Held since 4/25/2007. Not sure if it is "best of breed". Will keep watching. Up 10% for me now.

Manulife. Solid, reputable insurance company. Has excellent exposure to China, Japan, US. Highly regarded Canadian company. Dividend is good. Held since 6/8/23007. Up 6% now.

Annaly Capital Management. Technically a REIT, they actually invest in high quality mortgage-backed securities. Wisely avoided all sub-prime issues. Superior management. Now a bit squeezed in the overall credit crunch. Stock fell 20% but is recovering quickly. Very high dividend, between 6-11%. Held since 10/11/2007. Tempted to buy more, but will hold off to see how economy recovers. Bought near the 52 wk low. Price up 9%.

Corning. Traditional, solid, conservative company, now very hot with: glass for LCD TV & computer screens, glass-optical fiber for telecommications, Internet and more. Small dividend. Held since 11/05/2007. Up 5%.

Grupo Televisa SA. Mexican media company. Large exposure to Spanish language TV markets in Mexico, the US, and Latin America. Future of growth in US bright. Bought 3/18/2008. Hope to add shares soon. Shares up 11% in just a month.

Aluminum Corp. of China. Rising demand. First Chinese stock I have bought. Have been very wary of hot Chinese market but a good friend who is highly placed at STT (State Street Bank) has very positive thoughts about many Chinese large caps. I will track this closely with hopes. Large dividend. Bought 3/18/2008, at $40 below the 52 wk high. Down 3.4% since 3/18. I am thinking about Tibet. The protests bloomed after I bought. If things get worse I might trade out in protest. Once committed, I want to wait to see if ACH rises.

McDonald's. Held this for a few months in 2005-06. Should have held it! Stock price up 25-30% since. Great exposure to fast-rising international sales. Improving on health issues, very big on community aid and charity. Domini Social Awareness Fund approves McDonald's. Big dividend, room for upward price. Bought 4/18/2008. Any dip in price may see me buy a bit more. I sold my fav Brazilian and Chilean stocks which had made fine profits (TNE and CU) to buy MCD, EPD and BMY. Shares off 0.6% after 3 days trading.