Rational Investors that understand the business cycle tends to outperform the stock market over the long term. Depending on the stage of the cycle, those who plan ahead can ride the wave to prosperity. Seeing that the average business cycle lasts 4 years, we can have a pretty good idea as to where to put our money.

Stocks rise and fall for so many different reasons, it's nearly impossible to predict exactly what will happen. Truly confounding is when a stock plummets on what would be interpreted by most to be good news. Case-in-point: Big Lots, Inc. (BIG).

The Beijing Olympics ended Sunday night with a bang and China took a well deserved bow. How could you not be impressed? I was personally struck by the enormity of it all, and frankly, as a capitalist, I was just about drooling!

With most of the market fixated on oil prices and credit during these dog days of summer, few have noticed the incredible run in the technology. This new bull market that began in Mid-July, 2008, may be the return to glory for technology stocks.

These days it seems that Warren Buffett has very low expectations for the stock market. Case-in-point: The recent disclosure that Buffett sold a portion of his stake in Anheuser-Busch (BUD) during the second quarter of 2008.

Here's a riddle for you: If a business makes its profit from the agriculture boom, yet the majority of its products run on oil (and are therefore dependent on oil prices) does its stock go up…or down? This is the conundrum of farm equipment behemoth Deere & Co.

A name and a ticker symbol can have a very powerful meaning in the marketplace. Case-in-point: Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide (HOT). Starwood enforces their brand with a ticker symbol that has powerful implications when abbreviated. Unfortunately for investors, the stock's performance over the past year has not been so hot.

One of the most striking features of the current economic meltdown is the growing chasm between the rich and the poor. To those that study social economics it is well known that the middle class is disappearing.

A name and a ticker symbol can have a very powerful meaning in the marketplace. Case-in-point: Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide.

The U.S. economy is on track to grow only 2.2% in 2008, while China is expected to grow 9%. And this country will grow despite high oil prices, rising inflation and the U.S. housing market collapse. That's why the most profitable opportunities are based on the strength of the Chinese consumer.

The credit crisis has created historical levels of uncertainty for banks, mortgage companies and brokerage firms. Yet, there are some banks that seem to rise from the ashes. MBIA might just be one of them.

It's tough to watch grown men cry, especially when they are unemotional, conservative bankers. But before we all start to feel bad for them, we need to remind ourselves that these guys got rich off greed and the easy lending practices of the past two decades.

China's strong consumer spending, economic strength and low inflation are contributing to the building momentum of the Chinese stock market. But propelling the market forward will be the "Olympic effect," in which the Chinese stock market will experience a bullish run in the weeks, months and years following the Olympics.

Barack Obama visited my hometown yesterday to talk about oil. He suggested that more oil could be saved by simply keeping tires properly inflated and engines tuned. When it comes to oil, I agree with him. We need to change our own behavior. Aside from the obvious environmental benefits, lower oil prices drive stocks higher.

Oil industry executives are partying like its 1999. Actually, out in the oil patch it looks more like the roaring 1920s as oil speculators rake in more money than they ever thought possible. And this is an industry in need of billions of dollars in tax payer subsidies?

Remember that song by Carly Simon, "You're So Vain?" I heard it on the radio the other day and thought it would be good song in an ad campaign for Palomar Medical Technologies (PMTI). Palomar sells lasers and pulsed light systems for popular cosmetic treatments that remove age spots or even that fading college tattoo.

I think most of us would agree that our health care system is far from perfect. Thankfully, health care is now at the front and center of the political debate. No matter who voters choose to elect this November, health insurance companies will be an integral part of the solution.

Was Dr. Seuss a stock and political pundit when he wrote, "Some are red. Some are blue. Some are old and some are new. Some are sad and some are glad. And some are very, very bad"?That sums it up pretty nicely if you ask me. We have some serious choices to make during this election season, and the outcome will impact portfolios in a big way.

Companies that are booming and producing record profits are watching their shares sold off as risk-adverse investors try to lock in any profit they can make. Maybe they figure the good times won't last. Who knows? All I know is that I can take advantage of the irrationality by scooping up shares of undervalued companies.