We begin with Albemarle (ALB), which develops, manufactures and markets specialty chemicals around the world; the stock has been rated a buy since December 2004. The company's strengths include its robust revenue growth, good cash flow from operations, notable return on equity, solid stock-price performance and largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures. TheStreet.com Ratings feels these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had subpar growth in net income.

Precision Castparts (PCP) manufactures metal components and products for aerospace and industrial gas turbine applications. It has been rated a buy since December 2004. The company is expected to benefit from its recent acquisitions and capacity expansion plans. This, together with higher defense spending worldwide, may enable it to repeat its recent strong financial performance.

Designer and clothing manufacturer Polo Ralph Lauren (RL) has been rated a buy since August 2004. The company displayed a strong financial performance for the first quarter of fiscal year 2007, and TheStreet.com Ratings expects it to benefit from growth initiatives and a positive industry trend. Global sales of luxury goods are expected to grow 6% annually through 2010, compared with 2% annual growth in the last five years, according to Bain & Co., a business consulting firm. Polo has a presence in 38 nations and plans to expand further internationally.

Real estate and money management service company Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) has had a buy rating since December 2004. The company boasts a number of impressive strengths, including a return on equity in the third quarter of fiscal 2006 that exceeded its return on equity of a year ago (a sign of internal strength). La Salle also had revenue growth of 41.64% for the quarter compared with the previous year (nearly double that of the industry average) and EPS growth of 19.7% for the quarter. The company's positive EPS has shown a pattern of reliable increases for the last two years, seen most clearly in its share price, which jumped 80.19% during 2006.

Moscow-based dairy product and beverage manufacturer Wimm Bill Dann Foods (WBD) has earned a buy rating since December 2005. When compared with the same period in the previous year, the company's net income growth of 44.2% to $19.44 million in the third quarter of 2006 is striking. During the same quarter, net operating cash flow soared by 133.69% to $16.37 million compared with the same period last year, which is impressive enough even without noting the 4.9% average cash-flow growth in the food products industry.

Allegheny Technologies (ATI) deals in specialty metal production and has retained its buy rating since July 2005. With increasing margins, steady demand from customers willing to pay increasingly higher prices and a strong, diversified revenue growth, ATI has recently been trading at or above its 52-week high.

BlackRock (BLK), an asset management company, has earned a buy rating since January 2005. Though the company's steep stock appreciation over the past year has lifted its price level well above its industry peers, we believe its considerable strengths -- expanding profit margins, small debt-to-equity ratio and stockholders' equity increasing 1,123.17% from the same quarter last year -- validate the high price level.

Lincoln Electric (LECO), which manufactures and resells welding and cutting products, has been rated a buy since December 2004. The company has demonstrated a pattern of positive earnings-per-share growth over the past two years as of Jan. 3, and TheStreet.com Ratings expects this to continue.