So, what's the probability of a recession? The leading indicators have long since declined enough to signal the potential for a recession, but the broad-based economy to date is fighting off a recession. Furthermore, transportation stocks -- not including airlines -- remain in an uptrend.

As for a housing slump causing a recession, you need to look objectively at housing data before drawing this conclusion. You see, both new housing starts and new home sales peaked in mid-2005 and have moved down consistently since then. So, if you only looked at this, you may improperly conclude that we are only halfway though the real estate recession.

A better indication, though, of where we are in the real estate cycle can be determined by comparing the level of housing starts with the number of U.S. households. The minimum growth rate for housing starts over long periods of time is equal to U.S. household growth. If housing starts do not keep pace with U.S. household growth, there will be a housing shortage. U.S. household growth averages about 1.4% annually, and is the natural floor when supply and demand are balanced. Right now, the current ratio is 1.15%, which is lower than the 1.4% needed to meet growing demand. Sure, the ratio can fall further, but an extended stay below 1.4% is not likely. So rather than being halfway though the real estate recession, we are likely nearing a bottom.

In addition, foreign economic growth is solid, with a plentitude of big U.S. exporters racking up huge gains in earnings. The editors of BusinessWeek reported that both Japan and South Korea are "supplying steel, heavy equipment and construction services to their fast-growing Asian neighbors. My continued top-favored sector of U.S. companies is dividend-paying exporters.

With a bottom in housing likely approaching and no significant weakness in other sectors of the economy, a recession now seems like a long shot.

Anglo America (OTC: AAUK) is one of the world's largest mining companies, with interests in gold, platinum, diamonds, coal, base metals, industrial minerals, iron ore, and paper and packaging. Anglo's big profit generators are the platinum business and the base metals business. Anglo is the world's largest platinum producer with a market share of more than 33%. Unlike gold, platinum doesn't suffer from an overhang of supply in central bank vaults.

Anglo shares have lagged the likes of BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP) and Rio Tinto (NYSE: RTP) over recent years, but a restructuring plan is under way and a new American CEO who spent time at Alcan (NYSE: AL) and Amoco are helping Anglo gain traction with investors.

A new imperative by Coca-Cola's (NYSE: KO) CEO E. Neville Isdell should please the green crowd. Coke has pledged to recycle 100% of its plastic bottling and much of its cardboard. This recycling effort centers on a new $60-million plant that will recycle enough plastic each year for around two billion 20-ounce bottles. Is Coke going green? Doubtful. Coke's raw materials and packaging costs rose over 22% in the last quarter. This is a cost-cutting maneuver elegantly disguised as a go-green campaign. What does Coke do with the recycled materials? They turn them into T-shirts and jewelry and hawk them on the Internet. This redefines the phrase "cheap plastic crap." You have to admire the creativity.

General Electric (NYSE: GE) is taking advantage of the world's infrastructure boom. The 2008 Beijing Olympics will not just be a show of China's new wealth, but will also showcase the talents of GE. GE has helped transform Beijing from a backward second-rate capital city into a world-class destination fit to host the Olympics. From security and power to clean water and transportation, GE has been instrumental to the preparation of Beijing. The Olympics will be an advertisement for GE's world-class infrastructure and construction capabilities. GE is also hoping that its success with the Olympics will make it the choice for further Chinese infrastructure developments for the Asian Games and the Shanghai World Expo in 2010. The two events have planned budgets of around $30 billion and $50 billion respectively.

PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP) is changing the label on their Aquafina brand bottled water to read: "The Aquafina in this bottle is purified water that originates from a public water source." The bottle should really say: "Ha, ha sucker! You just paid $1.55 for 20 ounces of tap water you could have gotten for less than a penny from your faucet. And it would probably taste better than the metallic water we push." The marketing department at Pepsi is genius.