Let's Go and Watch Iron Man

Want to watch a movie and help your investment at the same time? Watch Iron Man. The movie which went debut on May 2 has brought $223 million so far and was still the second most watched movie for the week on its third week. So if you are a smart investor you should be wondering which companies are benefiting from this block buster hit. Take a look at these ones:

• Marvel Entertainment(MVL): the New York based company makes the movie Iron Man as well as owns the licensing rights to the movie characters. As reported from Business Week, the movie could bring profit about $200 million. Not bad for a company which made net income of $45 million in the latest quarter. The stock is currently trading at $32.53 with P/E of 18.95.
• Viacom (VIA): the entertainment company's subsidiary Paramount Pictures is responsible for marketing and distribution of the movie. The company gets 10% on net revenue from movie and DVD sales. However the movie sales is probably not as effective to this entertainment giant as Marvel Entertainment.

The Infrastructure Holding Up

The weakness in the housing and financial sector terrorizes the markets. Fears of the economy already in recession causes most investors to stay on the sideline. So nowhere to put your money now? Can't find any sector that's growing?

In my little suburban town in Southern California where the epic center of the housing collapse is happening, I see something different that puzzles me. I actually see a lot of constructions going on. Are the builders crazy? No. Not them. We are talking about a different construction - the infrastructure, the roads, the highways.

To catch up with the booming population moving to the suburban area of Southern California for cheaper housing, local governments are leveraging the newly approved transportation fund as well as the increasing revenue from growing population to improve road condition, widening street and construct new highway exchange. So which companies are receiving the benefits from the infrastructure boom? Take a look at these ones:

• AECOM Technology Corporation (ACM): the Los Angeles based company helps plan and design construction of highways, airports, bridges, mass transit systems, government and commercial buildings. The revenue has been growing for the past three years with P/E ratio at a respective 26.73.
• Trinity Industries Inc. (TRN): the company's Construction Products group produces concrete, aggregates, and asphalt and makes beams and girders used in highway bridge construction. The stock is trading at a attractive P/E of just 9.02.
• Valmont Industries, Inc. (VMI): the Omaha based company makes steel and aluminum poles for lighting and traffic signal on streets, highways and parking lots.

Flying Again - Airline Stocks

The whole airline industry is on the brink of total collapse with gasoline price soaring above $110 per barrel and major airlines forcing to ground the fleet due to safety concern began when FAA found fuselage cracks at some of Southwest Airline's fleet. Worried investors flee away from the airline stocks as the big B word - bankruptcy arises in each one's mind. So all the sudden a lot of the brand name carriers such as Northwest Airline, Delta Airline, US Airways and American Airlines are all trading in single digits.

However while everybody is jumping off the airline industry, the smart investors are steping in and grab shares in deep discount just like what they did for financial and home builders. And the recent merger between Delta and Northwest probably signals the bottom. Take a look at how much these airline stocks have dug out from the low point this year:

• Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL): Low - $6.5, Current - $8.5, Percent Up - 30%.
• Northwest Airlines Corp. (NWA): Low - $7.06, Current - $9.83, Percent Up - 39%.
• AMR Corporation (AMR): Low - $6.81, Current - $9.38, Percent Up - 37.7%.
• US Airways Group, Inc. (LCC): Low - $6.1, Current - $8.72, Percent Up - 43%
• UAL Corporation (UAUA): Low - $12.78, Current - $15.89, Percent Up - 24%
• Continental Airlines, Inc. (CAL): Low - $15.82, Current - $18.79, Percent Up - 18.8%.