Sleeping pills for kids, exploding laptops, lead toys. There is a lot of dubious stuff out there. Lots of dangerous, bad-for you, waste-of-money products that are brazenly pitched to you and me, the hapless consumer. Sometimes the products are so bad you almost have to admire the companies with the chutzpah to put them out there. Almost.

Consumer activists had the same idea. But with a twist. Today, leading global consumer rights groups met in Sydney, Australia to hand out awards for the worst products and the companies that make them. The Consumers International World Congress hopes to hold major corporations accountable for their unrepentant and irresponsible hucksterism.

The envelope, please? And the winners of the 2007 International Bad Products Awards are:

In the weeks ahead, BloggingStocks will take an in-depth look at the U.S. dollar's decline, its impact on the global and U.S. economies, as well as on job creation, trade, and investment.

Remonstrations about the weak U.S. dollar are getting to be a little bit like what Mark Twain said about the weather:

"Everyone seems to complain about the weather, but no one ever seems to be able to do anything about it," Twain said.

Similarly, everyone seems to complain about the weak U.S. dollar, but no one ever seems to be able to do anything about it.

This time it was former U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, who Tuesday told Bloomberg News that relying on a falling currency to increase exports isn't a "sound approach" and said policies should be implemented to strengthen the dollar.

So far this year, McAfee, Inc. (NYSE: MFE) has put together a strong turnaround. Now, the company is ramping its mergers and acquisitions (M&A) efforts.

The latest deal is the $51 million acquisition for ScanAlert (there's another $24 million for meeting certain performance milestones). The company, which provides Web security, has customers like Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE: HPQ), Sony Corporation (ADR) (NYSE: SNE), and Yahoo!, Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO).

The deal is also a part of McAfee's attempt for "triple play protection," which involves security for PCs, the Web, and mobile devices.

In today's trading, McAfee's stock is up about 1.5% to $40.51. Actually, today the stock hit a 52-week high.

To get more perspective on things, I talked to Nick Selby, who is the Research Director and Enterprise Security Practice Director at the 451 Group.

According to him:

"Hacker Safe is a more solid and relevant product than was SiteAdvisor in that it addresses issues to both consumers and the e-business websites they buy from. This is a good, incrementally valuable tool in McAfee's quiver, with the added bonus of helping bring the McAfee name back to the fore of the consumer market."

Also visit DealProfiles.com to check out other recent M&A deals.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.

Sometimes the lesser-known / least glamorous companies make for the most intriguing defensive plays. A defensive play that doesn't receive a great deal of media attention is Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE: DCI).

Donaldson manufactures filtration systems designed to eliminate contaminants from air liquids, with the bulk of the company's applications addressing intake/exhaust systems and liquid-filtration systems. About 56% of DCI's business is engine product-based, 44% industrial products-based.

That's hardly a glamorous, famed-filled business but Donaldson doesn't mind: it's operations span the U.S., Europe, Asia and other regions, with 30 strategically-located facilities. Donaldson's shares gained 18 cents to end at $41.89 in Tuesday afternoon trading.

ClickSoftware Technologies (NASDAQ: CKSW) a provider of mobile workforce management and service optimization solutions, is set to report earnings tomorrow morning before the market opens. Investors expect a strong quarter as ClickSoftware has been showing strong growth. The company raised guidance for annual revenue growth of about 26.5% to 29.5%, compared to the 20% growth projection given at the beginning of the year.

Analyst Matthew Weiss of Maxim Group initiated coverage of ClickSoftware in the summer, with a "buy" rating and an $8 price target. Weiss cited market trends for his optimism, explaining that "Gartner predicts that the market for field service management software/services will grow at an 18% CAGR (compound annual growth rate) through 2009. We expect CKSW to grow in excess of the market and model 32% and 25% year-over-year top-line growth in 2007 and 2008, respectively."

With the stock trading around $6.15, this presents an intriguing investment for those looking for micro-cap. With a market-cap of $170 million and a small float, any upside earnings surprise will send the stock soaring. Estimates range from flat to $0.03 EPS. As the company already guided numbers higher for the rest of 2007, it will be interesting to hear management give us a peak into what's in store for Q1 '08.

Disclosure: Author holds a position in CKSW as of 10/30/07.

Aaron Katsman is the lead Portfolio Manager and Managing Director of America Israel Investment Associates, LLC. and Senior Editor of IsraelNewsletter.com.

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage

Given that the markets continue to exhibit a choppy/consolidation pattern (or perhaps worse), it's best to consider including a few defensive stocks in your portfolio. Low-profile Harsco Corporation (NYSE: HSC) is worth a review.

Harsco is a diversified industrial services and engineering products company that caters to the steel/metals industry. The company offers metal reclamation, slag processing, scrap management and related services for steel/metal manufacturers. HSC's access services business rents/sells concrete-forming equipment, scaffolding, and bridge-decking products, primarily for industrial maintenance and commercial construction clients.

Typically, companies like Harsco would be more-sensitive to the business cycle, but that risk is lessened by HSC's revenue stream diversity, wide 5-continent geographic footprint, and a contemporary trend: recycling. Fortunately for Harso, recycling and reclaiming processes are likely to increase in popularity, for both cost and environmental reasons, in the years ahead. Harsco is well-positioned in this regard, and analysts generally project 13%-20% annual revenue growth for HSC for the immediate years ahead. The Reuters F2007/F2008 EPS consensus estimates for HSC are $2.97/$3.35.

AMR Corporation (NYSE: AMR), better known as American Airlines, recently announced that it will begin "test new food for sale options", including $3 Cliff Bars, $3 Vitamin Waters, and a $5 turkey sandwich.

The Consumerist points out that, for those of you who have been living under rocks, that's a little expensive: "No offense, but according to internet grocer FreshDirect, we can have a Chocolate Brownie Energy CLIF Bar thing delivered to our house right now for $1.50. Just saying." and goes on to say that "Yes, perhaps we are cheap, but if we're going to pay $10 for cheese it won't be because we were extorted on an airplane."

Should consumers be upset about this? Absolutely not! We should be happy. If you think it's a rip-off, don't buy it! I sure as hell won't, and I doubt that the quality of my travel experience will be effected.

And for the morons who do shell out $3 for Vitamin Water: Your contributions to American Airlines' coffers are helping make airfare cheaper for the rest of us. The more dumb, overpriced crap that airlines can sell, the cheaper airfare will be. Perhaps they should try hawking shares of Overstock.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: OSTK).

Google, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) recently trading up $20.58 to $699.78:

GOOG call option volume of 100,723 contracts compares to put volume of 62,126 contracts. GOOG November option implied volatility of 27 was below its 26-week average of 29 according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing risk.

Daily options Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

With the markets in a choppy/consolidation mode (or perhaps worse), it's best to consider including a few defensive stocks in your portfolio. CNH [Case New Holland] Global (NYSE: CNH) is worth an evaluation.

CNH is the second biggest manufacturer of agricultural equipment behind Deere (NYSE: DE), and also is a major manufacturer of construction equipment.

Like Deere, CNH is riding the global agricultural wave: emerging market development is increasing demand for agricultural products as food and as energy. (Example: corn for ethanol.)

Further, CNH has established brands in Case and New Holland, a reliable distribution network, and demonstrated marketing proficiency. Further, continued, strong demand for agriculture and construction equipment in Latin America represents a solid revenue tailwind.

The downside points? Above-average debt and a slowing domestic (Europe) market for Amsterdam-based CNH are on analysts' radar screens, but those are not large enough to offset the company's solid operational prospects, moving forward.

(Note: Technical analysis agnostics stop reading here; all others continue.)

Technically, CNH's chart looks good. The stock's only serious breach of its 50-day moving average occurred during the August 2007 market sell-off, and CNH has been above its 200-day moving average for about a year.

Stock Analysis: CNH Global is a moderate-risk stock not suitable for low-risk investors. With a p/e of 30, CNH is selling for an above-average price, hence investors should wait for a pull-back to $58-$60 before purchasing shares, if the market presents the opportunity. Sell / Stop Loss: $39.

Hear Music, the joint record label venture between Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) and Concord Music Group, has signed its first "developing artist" in Hilary McRae, reports Billboard. McRae's first album for the label is not due until next spring, but her song "Consider Me Gone" is the Starbucks Song of the Day for November 1. Billboard also notes that Hear Music plans to "release records by eight artists in the next year, but all of the signings remain under wraps for the time being."

McRae is the first "new" artist to join Hear Music's repertoire, following in the wake of legendary musicians like Paul McCartney, Joni Mitchell, and James Taylor. It will be interesting to see how Starbucks and Hear Music market an unknown artist, one without the years of popularity and large fan base that the label's signings to date bring with them. Assuming the Song of the Day program is successful, Starbucks will at least get McRae's name to coffee drinkers. Unfortunately, that's where the comfort of a well-known artist's career comes in handy.

Hear Music has had a very successful first year, starting in June with the company's first release, Paul McCartney's Memory Almost Full, which went to #3 in the Billboard 200 and sold 161,000 copies in its first week. In September, Joni Mitchell's Shine debuted at #14 in the same chart -- not bad either. Both of those albums featured heavy promotion and were played all day long in Starbucks stores. There is no doubt that McRae's first album will enjoy the same treatment when it is released, but for Hear Music, this is more than just artist development.

The military and security applications of thermal imaging devices that allow users to see in the dark and poor weather are obvious. The potential enhancement of operations in such arenas as navigation safety, vehicle vision, environmental assessment, predictive maintenance and manufacturing control are becoming obvious. A leading provider of a range of application-specific instruments is headquartered in Wilsonville, Oregon.

FLIR Systems (NASDAQ: FLIR) designs and manufactures thermal imaging systems and infrared cameras, for a wide variety of thermography and imaging applications. The devices detect heat, allowing effective operation in darkness, fog and smoke. Clients use them in research and development, manufacturing process control, airborne observation, search and rescue, surveillance, reconnaissance and environmental monitoring. U.S. government agencies account for about one-third of FLIR's sales. Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) is a major competitor.

FLIR pleased investors last week, when it reported Q3 EPS of 45 cents and revenues of $191.1 million. Analysts had been expecting 39 cents and $180.8 million. The firm set quarterly records for orders, backlog, and revenue. Management also guided FY07 EPS to $1.73-$1.78 ($1.69 consensus) and FY07 revenues to $755-$770 million ($749.31M consensus). The board declared a 2-for-1 split for December 10th. The share price popped on the news and then moved into a bullish "pennant" consolidation pattern. Stocks frequently exit pennants moving in the same direction they were traveling on entry. In this case, that would be to the upside.

Brokers recommend the issue with three "strong buys," three "buys," nine "holds" and a "sell." Analysts expect a 21% growth rate through the next year. The FLIR Sales Growth rate (43.47%), Operating Margin (25.47%), Net Profit Margin (17.97%), Return on Assets (15.53%) and Return on Investment (18.88%) compare favorably with industry, sector and S&P 500 averages. Institutional investors hold about 95% of the outstanding shares. The stock is one of those used to calculate the S&P 600 SmallCap Index. Over the past 52 weeks, it has traded between $29.62 and $72.70. A stop-loss of $60.75 looks good here.

Larry Schutts is a contributing editor for Theflyonthewall.com and the Vice-President of Stockwinners.com.

Construction tends to be a local business, but a limited number of firms have managed to establish international reputations. One of them employs some 27,000 skilled workers and operates locally from 140 locations worldwide.

EMCOR Group (NYSE: EME) plans, installs, operates and maintains the systems that create facility environments. These include installations for power generation, power distribution, lighting, security, communications, plumbing, waste treatment, heating, ventilation, refrigeration and air-conditioning. The firm also provides facilities management and maintenance support. It serves commercial, industrial and institutional clients such as Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY), Wachovia Corporation (NYSE: WB) and the U.S. Senate. Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI) is a major competitor.

The Street was surprised last week, when EMCOR reported Q3 EPS of 55 cents and revenues of $1.5 billion. Analysts had been looking for 47 cents and $1.44 billion. Management also guided FY07 EPS to $1.75-$1.80 ($1.58 consensus) and FY07 revenues to $5.8 billion ($5.71 billion consensus). Morgan Joseph and Friedman Billings subsequently reiterated "buy" recommendations and boosted their price targets to the $44.00-$45.50 range. The share price popped on the earnings news and then moved into a bullish "flag" consolidation pattern. Stocks frequently exit flags moving in the same direction they were traveling on entry. In this case, that would be to the upside.

Corporate governance experts will tell you that executives generally perform best when their interests are aligned with those of their shareholders -- a CEO who owns a big chunk of stock tends to be more concerned about the interests of investors. After all, he is one! But does the same idea apply to baseball players?

Alex Rodriguez's super agent Scott Boras is said to be looking for a 10-year, $300 million deal for the star, and The Wall Street Journal has an idea (subscription required) for a novel way for a team to come up with the cash:

That is an awful lot for any team without the Yankees' payroll to commit to. But what if, as with a Wall Street firm, a chunk of it came in the form of equity? Such risk-sharing might be attractive for some team owners, though the compensation might need to be deferred to comply with league rules...

It sounds like an interesting idea. It might encourage Rodriguez, who has developed a reputation for being enigmatic at time, to engage in PR activities and really add value to the team, on and off the field.

It's probably a long shot, but definitely interesting to think about.

Well, the speculation (finally) turned into a news story: Israel's prime minister, Ehud Olmert, announced yesterday that he's fighting prostate cancer.

Whether the market agrees or not with Olmert's Kadima government politics, the Tel Aviv stock market was spooked yesterday at the premonition that something was wrong, really wrong with Olmert. Rumors arose that he was suffering from an advanced neurological disorder that would prevent him from continuing in office.

I could almost hear Benjamin Netanyahu buttoning-up to come in off the bench.

In spite of the ongoing instability in the Israeli government, the Israeli economy and stock market continues to smoke. The Israeli shekel has appreciated strongly versus the dollar (8.5% since August alone) and the country has seemed to rein in inflation (1.5% over 12 months). Export growth has moderated somewhat, but should still put in a strong showing at somewhere between 9% and 10%. GDP growth probably will check in around 5% this year. Check out what Bank of Israel governor (and previous vice chairman of Citigroup) Stanley Fischer had to say earlier this year about Israel's macroeconomic strength.

Israel's economy from a macro perspective is interesting. But as a whole, there are other economies with higher GDP growth. What makes Israel really interesting is its technology export industry. After the United States, Israel has the most number of companies listed on the NASDAQ. Recent high-fliers like Zoran Corp. (NASDAQ: ZRAN) and Ceragon (NASDAQ: CRNT) make for some interesting investment opportunities in small cap and mid cap companies.

I like to think of investing in some of the smaller Israeli companies as late-stage venture investing. Home runs are certainly possible; you just need to do the work.

Stay tuned.

By now you've probably heard the reports. Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER) CEO Stan O'Neal is being pushed, making him the first CEO of a big investment bank to be held directly accountable for his company's exposure to the subprime debacle. Of course, his clandestine efforts to sell the company without the knowledge of the board didn't help his case.

The Wall Street Journal wonders (subscription required) when Washington will take some responsibility:

And speaking of Washington, that's one place where no one is being held accountable for the subprime boom and bust. That includes in particular the Federal Reserve, whose far too easy monetary policy created a subsidy for debt that fueled the housing and subprime mortgage excesses. One difference between Wall Street and Washington is that in the latter no one ever admits a mistake, much less suffers for it.

This is exactly right. Last week, I wrote about Washington's obsession with increasing homeownership -- seemingly at any cost, even if it meant encouraging mortgages for people who couldn't afford them. The Fed's lax monetary policy combined with this to make a subprime crisis an almost forgone conclusion.

But all that we hear is Congress blustering with calls for investigations and lawsuits against the lenders. They need to look in the mirror.