Lockheed Team To Build

The Lockheed Martin industry team has been awarded a contract to build the third littoral combat ship.It will be the team's second LCS.They also built the USS Freedom(LCS1),while General Dynamics and Austal USA built the Independence(LCS2).The Navy may acquire up to 55 of the ships.The LCS is designed for missions in shallower water such as anti-mine,anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare,as well as maritime interdiction,intelligence-gathering and anti-terrorism.The next contract will be for three more ships,and is to be awarded in 2010.The lowest bid will win.Both versions of the LCS can sail at speeds of more than 40 knots.They have a basic complement of 40,with berthing for 75.Other members of the Lockheed team are Marinette Marine Corporation and Bollinger Shipyard.

No Need To Rush

The low is a fruitless discussion,according to Rich Bernstein of Bank of America Securities/Merrill Lynch.It's best to invest six months after the trough.If this is a real bull,there will be years of returns.If you miss several weeks or months,it doesn't make much difference.People shouldn't be looking at every 500 point move.If you're that worried,perhaps you shouldn't be in the market.Eighty percent of the time,waiting is better than trying to time the market,Mr.Bernstein said.

Target Practice

The following Navy ships were sunk as targets during the RIMPAC 2008 exercises:David R. Ray(DD971) ON 12 July;Home(CG30) on 14 July;Cushing(DD985),also on 14 July;and Fletcher(DD992) on 16 July.On a brighter note,Dolphin(AGSS555) was transferred to the Maritime Museum of San Diego on 18 September,2008.

Kiplingers' Alternative

Kiplingers magazine has published a model non-stock portfolio:5% gold;10% high-yield corporate bonds;15% municipal bonds;15% blue chip corporate bonds;15% REITs preferred;15% energy ETFs;25% cash(CDs,money market funds,Treasury bonds).

U.S. Ship Harassed

The USNS Impeccable,a Special Missions ship,was challenged by five Chinese boats in the South China Sea.The Chinese came dangerously close to the Impeccable;one of their boats got within 25 feet,or 7.62 meters,of her.The Chinese also strewed debris in the path of the U.S. ship and blocked her in,surrounding her.China accused the Impeccable of engaging in illegal activity.China considers most of the South China Sea to be its territorial waters,but the U.S. and many other countries dispute this.The USNS Impeccable has a merchant mariner crew,plus military personnel to carry out its special mission of ocean surveillance.The Impeccable tows sensor arrays and maps the ocean floor with the data they collect.The mapping is used for submarine navigation and antisubmarine warfare.The Impeccable is unarmed.She is part of the Military Sealift Command,an organization that provides utility ships for a wide array of government needs.The MSC is under a Navy admiral.

Ratings Report

Oppenheimer has maintained its outperform rating on Microsoft.Goldman Sachs has added chemical company Celanese to its conviction buy list.UBS has upgraded AT and T to a buy,with a price target of 31.00.It has also added Pfizer to its conviction buy list on valuation.

Successful Basketball Season

Navy achieved some basketball success this year,finishing the season with a 15-14 overall record.The Midshipmen crushed Colgate 67-35 in their final regular season game.That gave Navy an 8-6 Patriot League record,landing them in third place.They scored 6 out of 17 three-point shots against Colgate,while Colgate scored 5 out of 21.The Midshipmen made 33 rebounds and 8 assists,and Colgate made 26 and 6,respectively.The game was played at Colgate University.Colgate is located in Hamilton,New York,which is between Utica and Syracuse.It was founded in 1813,while the U.S. Naval Academy was founded in 1845.

The Bryn Mawr View

Eric Thorne of Bryn Mawr Trust,which has about 120 years of money management experience,says they still think that equities have a place in portfolios.Dividend stocks are a good place to be.See if they have any top line growth and good cash flow.We think there's quite a bit of value in tech stocks such as IBM and Hewlett Packard.These are companies that have an amazing track record,that people will go to when they ramp up.We're just gonna bide our time and then up our position,Mr.Thorne said.We don't think that bonds will outperform stocks as they did in 2008,he added.