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The interest in using natural gas as an alternative to crude has helped natural gas-based companies appreciate in value. Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK) has benefited from that interest, with a gain of more than 20% this year.

CHK is an interesting story in that during the craze in energy prices in 2008, the CEO of the company was forced to liquidate his entire position. That forced selling created an opportunity to buy the stock at an incredibly cheap price, even beyond the artificially low energy prices reached earlier this year.

The China miracle is back on track, and with it comes speculation for resource demand as a result of huge economic growth. Within the oil sector, the coal group has seen big gains given its use in power generation. In China, that is particularly true, with the country seeing new power plants open on a regular basis.

Yanzhou Coal Mining (NYSE: YZC) appears to be in the sweet spot. Investors seem to agree and have pushed YZC up almost 70% in 2009. China is an appealing play, but by no means certain.

Drill, baby, drill was the calling card of the Republican Party during the last presidential election.

With high oil prices and rising demand, finding new sources of oil is imperative. Given environmental concerns, offshore drilling is one space that still offers meaningful potential to increase domestic supply.

Diamond Offshore Drilling (NYSE: DO) operates some 45 deep water rigs that are keeping extraordinarily busy with oil prices on the rise.

Suncor Energy (NYSE: SU) is a vertically-integrated oil company located in Canada. Unlike its vertically-integrated brethren in the United States, this Canadian stock is up more than 40% this year. By comparison, Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) is down 13%, and ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) is down more than 20%.

The reason for the big difference in performance is the weakness in the dollar. That makes Canadian-based Suncor more valuable to investors.

McDermott International (NYSE: MDR) is a global oil engineering and construction company that specializes in offshore oil and gas construction and power generation systems.

Although more diversified than pure oil plays, McDermott has benefited greatly from the increase in price in crude.

The speculation is that McDermott will be quite busy with construction projects, as drillers are more active with the higher prices.

You have to love OPEC. It's not uncommon for the barons of the giant cartel to voice their interest in seeing oil at such-and-such a price.

Recently, OPEC reiterated its desire to see oil prices at $80 per barrel. This, they claim, is the price needed to spur additional investment in crude projects. Apparently, anything less will result in oil sitting idle in the ground.

Investor and trader Mishko Janusevich had a mantra that he used to repeat while outlining the top, new stock shorts that appeared that day, as determined by technical indicators.

He would stand next to the overhead projected stock chart at the front of the trading room, point to the stock chart and recite, "You see this stock? You see that it's dropped $8 in past two days? You think it can't drop any more? SELL THAT STOCK it's dropping more!!"

Short these shares if you can tolerate high-risk and are an experienced investor that does not remove Buy/Stop Losses:

Surviving this recession is foremost on peoples' minds, but giving to charity is especially important in times like these. So how can you effectively give while preserving your net worth?

If you plan on liquidating any profitable, or taxable, positions in the stock market thanks to the current uptrend and also want to give to your favorite charity, the strategy outlined below is key to optimizing your gift, as well as your capital.

Though giving cash to causes is the most popular form of charity, desperate times call for creative measures, and any type of gift will be gladly accepted. By giving stock directly to charity, and bear in mind that the stock must be in your portfolio for one year or more as short-term capital gains are not applicable, you not only avoid capital gains taxes on your gains, but you can actually use the gift of your stock as a tax deduction. Hence, the cost of your gift is lower than giving cash directly. Think of it as an overall investment for yourself and the charity.

In the most recent edition of Barron's, fund manager Scott Black touted shares of Cal-Maine Foods (NASDAQ: CALM), the country's largest egg producer, as a stock worth buying. The company generates a return on equity of over 30%, and Black said that at just over 5x earnings, the stock is extraordinarily cheap. When the market revalues Cal-Maine at "just eight times [next year's estimated] earnings, you've got a $38.50 stock." Shares of CALM, which closed Friday at $22.90, were up to $24.86 by Wednesday morning.

I'm familiar with Cal-Maine, having been introduced to the company more than a year ago when it was the focus of a presentation at the Boston College Investment Club. Last summer, I spoke with the company's CFO, Tim Dawson, who gave me a much better understanding of the egg business. Though I came away convinced that Cal-Maine is in very capable hands, I believed then -- as I still do now -- that the stock is not a buy. Here's why.

The move in Skechers USA (NYSE: SKX) from the March lows pales in comparison to the triples or more seen in some retail stocks.

That said, SKX did more than double in value before pulling back in early May. Much of that gain happened on the heels of a better-than-expected earnings report that showed the company making a small profit.

Does it make sense to buy a stock that is up 300%?

If so, I would want to be darn sure about future earnings prospects needed to support a premium valuation.

In the case of AnnTaylor (NYSE: ANN), I'm not convinced that future prospects are secure.

Recently, the company announced cautious guidance suggesting that difficulties will persist through the remainder of the year. This comes in the aftermath of announcing a first quarter loss and decline in same-store sales.

One of the first movers seeing an uptick in spending due to increased consumer confidence is the restaurant space. Only a few diehards really like to stay home and cook. Dining out is a great way to escape. Even better is going to a restaurant for a meal that's affordable.

The fact that dining has suffered during this recession is indicative of how bad things really have been.

Given that confidence is rising, it's no surprise then that Landry's Restaurants (NYSE: LNY) has almost tripled in value since hitting bottom in early March.

Pier 1 Imports (NYSE: PIR) hit the rock bottom price of 10 cents per share in early March as the market bottomed.

Now two months later, PIR trades around $2.00 per share. In early May, the stock gained more than 10% as it regained compliance with the New York Stock Exchange.

I can appreciate the enthusiasm for PIR and its turnaround play, but there is still a lot of risk here.

The problem with using consumer confidence as a guide to buy stocks is that consumers tend to be fickle.

Nowhere is that more true than in the clothing space, especially the teenybopper clothing space. Fall out of favor with the younger crowd and your business can be destroyed. Poor management decisions don't help, either.

As such, Pacific Sunwear (NASDAQ: PSUN) lost its mojo and has yet to find its way.

While consumer confidence might have soared in April, the move seems to be in response to a two-month surge in stocks versus any real strength on the home front.

The jobs market is still poor with stagnant or declining wages. Corporations are still in lay-off mode and oil prices are marching ever higher. In other words, there are still hurdles to overcome before the "all clear" can be given.

I don't mean to rain on the parade of recovery, but let's not get too far ahead of ourselves.