Trade: 1) Food Stamps: Family Dollar Store (FDO): As of September 2008 an estimated 14 million households relied on food stamps; an increase of approximately 17% from September of 2007. Over 3,000 Family Dollar stores accept foods stamps nationwide. FDO just reported a 14% rise in quarterly profit and raised its fiscal year forecast. For the quarter that ended Nov. 29 profit rose to $59.3 million, or 42 cents per share, from $51.9 million, or 37 cents per share, a year earlier

Trade: 2) Law enforcement assistance: Axsys Technologies (AXYS): Axsys Technologies is a global leader in the design and development of high performance surveillance cameras. From 2004 to 2007 Axsys’s net sales went from $78.2 million to $171.6 million, while operating income went from just $6.8 million t $23.3 million in that time period. Overall, the firm’s backlog, which is a measure of existing orders versus current production levels, grew from $75.6 million to $140.2 million from 2004 to 2007. Axsys has creditability on Wall-Street, J.P Morgan (JPM) analyst Paul Coster upgrading the stock on January 15th with a neutral rating and $56 price target saying “We are upgrading AXYS to Neutral based on valuation. Despite some cyclical risk, we believe AXY’s fundamentals are solid, and the company is well-positioned for the economic downturn owing to exposure to diverse US defense and HLS programs. Our estimates are unchanged, and we maintain our December 2009 price target of $56”

Trade: 3) Modernizing the nation’s electricity grid: MasTec (MTZ) As of 2008, 60% of MasTec’s revenue came from the communication sector; this involves contracts with such companies as AT&T (T) and Charter Communications (CHTR). Utilities represented 34% of revenue; contacts included deals with such companies as XTO Energy (XTO). For the full year 2008, MasTec is on track to report revenues of $1.21 billion to $1.23 billion, a nearly 18% increase from its 2007 earnings. More important, earnings which will come in for the full year 2008 in the range of 88 cents to 92 cents, up 35% for the year. MasTec has a backlog, an important figurer when analyzing construction companies, of around 18 months deep, with a total value of $1.5 billion dollars.

Trade 5): Astec Industries (ASTE): Astec the single based way to play Obama's stimulus package, particularly with regards to the $30 billion dollars or so that will be allocated towards road and highway pair. This under the radar name, trades for just 5x cash flows, and sported 40% growth last year

Trade: 4) Water projects: Calgon Carbon Corp (CCC): A pureplay in the purification-of-water sector is Calgon Carbon Corp (CCC). Their products are used to remove organic compounds from water, air, and other liquids. The company is ramping up their profitability with analysts expecting the company to go from losing money last year to 16 cents share earnings this year and 30 cents a share in earnings the year after.

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