Monday PowerRatings Upgrades: KMB, CWT, CSCO

Stocks slipped a little on the first day of the week. Fears of interest rate increases and fast food giant McDonald's earning warnings pushed stocks lower midday Monday. The market has been in a strong uptrend since the March 9th bottom. However, over the last several days, the DJIA has had issues breaking through the technical resistance of the 200-day Simple Moving Average.

One thing is very clear, this is a difficult market. Long term investors need proven tools to locate stocks that possess a statistical edge to close higher over the next year. We have conducted studies and testing during the past 13 years to determine exactly what it is that distinguishes these winners from the herd of mediocre and downright loser stocks. The result of this extensive research into the inner nature of equities has been simplified into our PowerRatings ranking system.

This system rates stocks on a scale from one to ten based on the likelihood of them being higher one year forward. Stocks that have earned a 10 rating have a 81% chance of trading higher one year from now. Those with a 9 rating have proven to have a 79.1% chance of being higher a year later, and so on down the scale. Building a portfolio of top rated stocks and avoiding those volatile and risky ones on the bottom of the rating scale has proven to be a successful method across most market conditions.

Let's take a closer look at several stocks earning upgrades this week:

Kimberly Clark (KMB | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) - This consumer products giant was just upgraded from a 7 to an 8 Long Term PowerRating. Net Sales were off by 6.6% and diluted Net Income was down slightly in the first quarter of 2009. This is due to the unfortunate effects of currency exchange, whereas, actual organic growth was approximately 3%. In fact, double digest organic growth took place in emerging and developing markets. The company just declared its regular quarterly dividend of 0.60 cents/share payable on July 2nd, 2009. They are a major brand name that has over 1.3 billion people using their products on a daily basis. Flagship brands like Kleenex, Scott, Pull-Ups, and Huggies are just part of their large and successful product line. Technically, shares have been uptrending since March 9th with price trading above the 50 day SMA but hugging the 200-day SMA at 52.57/share.

California Water Services (CWT | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) - This water utility company was just upgraded from a 5 to a 6 Long Term PowerRating. They had a strong first quarter 2009 with 19% increase in Revenues and an impressive EPS increase over last quarter. Standard & Poors affirmed it's A+ plus credit rating in April and the company just completed a $100 million dollar bond offering. On the chart, price has bounced off the May 26th lows but is still below the 50 and 200-day SMA.

Cisco (CSCO | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) - A computer networking company that has just replaced General Motors in the DJIA. This is important since index funds and others are required to purchase the company to rebalance their portfolio which should add bullish sentiment to the shares. It was just upgraded from a 5 to a 6 Long Term PowerRating. Technically, shares have gapped higher above both the 50 and 200-day SMA's. Resistance appears at $20.00/share and support at $18.50 on the chart.

Learn what you need to know as an active investor looking to invest in companies with a history of financial strength and a track record for growth. Click the link above or call us at 888-484-8220 extension 1 to get your copy of the "5 Secrets to Successful Stock Investing" today!

David Goodboy is Vice President of Business Development for a New York City based multi-strategy fund.