Economists and public policy professionals, among others who closely follow the economy, often get asked questions at dinner parties about where the U.S. economy is headed.

Many who ask know a great deal about their own line of work, of course, but often don't know much about the U.S. economy's overall performance, and that's not surprising, given our busy, time-pressured lives these days.

One short-hand I offer those who who don't have the time to review the U.S. Federal Reserve's Beige Book data or the U.S. Labor Department's jobs report, is to keep an eye on General Electric Company's (GE) operational performance, and, by extension, its stock performance.

If, as calculated, you took advantage of Waste Management's (WM) side-ways action this summer to scoop-up some shares, you made the correct move.

Waste Management, which I first wrote about on March 25, 2009 at a price of $25.74, has pushed higher since, and I obviously still like the shares here.

Waste Management, a promising recycler, has the right business model at the right time. The percent of businesses and citizens who recycle is likely to continue to rise -- as the value of just about every resource, scrap, and waste product rises -- and as communities transition from 'low-waste' to 'no-waste' policies.

"Food prices in China have again rising sharply; the average price of 18 staple vegetables rose 62.4% year over year according to the Ministry of Commerce," says global stock specialist Vivian Lewis.

The editor of Global Investing explains, "One way to gain from rising Chinese vegetable prices is Le Gaga Holdings (GAGA). The small cap Chinese veggie producer is a recent IPO.

"Fed by the Kimche crisis in Korea, Chinese shoppers are now paying 10x as much for a head of cabbage (bok choi) as a year ago. Other pricey foods are garlic and ginger, both near double year-ago levels.

OptionsXpress Holdings (OXPS) has been a potential play that's been on my radar screen for a considerable period, and is worth a review.

OptionsXpress provides online brokerage services for stock, mutual, fund, option, and fixed income investors.

The company's primary product is options, and with margins squeezed due to intensifying competition, the initial read was to stand-aside with OXPS.

"China produces roughly 95% of the global supply of rare earth elements and the Chinese have managed to corner the market on rare earth element," says Glenn Rogers.

The contributing analyst to Internet Wealth Builder explains, "Why you should care? Because without them, many of the high-tech devices we take for granted wouldn't exist.

"It turns out there are 17 rare earth elements (REEs) which are critical to the manufacture of numerous high-tech products such as color TVs and flat-panel displays.

If, as outlined in August, you took advantage of retailer Kohl's (KSS) summer dip, you made the correct more, as the shares have rebounded nicely, rising to about $55 from $44.

Simply, Kohl's, which I first wrote about on April 28, 2009 at a price of $43.82, is a retail sector winner amid the most challenging economic conditions for retailers in decades.

Kohls same store sales will likely increase about 5-6% in this year, FY2011, after a 1-2% gain in FY2010.

One of our three value portfolios in the Buyback Letter is the Buyback Income Index, a 10-stock portfolio for those interested in income and growth. It features companies actively repurchasing their own stock that also pay relatively high dividends.

While our main emphasis is on buyback stocks, those stocks that both buy back AND pay a substantial and regular dividend are comforting to some investors who want to know that no matter what, at least they will be getting something back.

And so it goes with Potash Corp. (POT). Potash, first discussed here on March 3, 2009, at a price of $80.81, has been through the valuation ringer, of sorts.

In November, BHP Billiton (BBL) withdrew its unsolicited proposal to acquire Potash for $130.

As traders like to say, "No-oo problem. No problem at all." Potash is worth a lot more than one Benjamin plus a third.

"RioCan REIT (RIOCF), the owner of high-quality shopping malls across Canada that's used the last two years to dramatically boost its portfolio growth potential," says Canadian trust expert Roger Conrad.

The editor of Canadian Edge explains, "Its 6 percent yield has consistently grown since I first added it to the Portfolio as an original member back in July 2004. And growth is accelerating again as recent investments pay off.

"Even the most conservative investors will find much to like in RioCan's reliability, unrecognized growth potential and 6 percent yield.

I am maintaining a buy recommendation on Shaw Communications (SJR) despite an underwhelming year-end financial report.

I originally recommended Shaw in my Internet Wealth Builder newsletter on Feb. 4, 2008 at $20.64. Calgary, Alberta-based Shaw, is a telecommunications company, which dominates the rich Alberta market. It recently also purchased the bankrupt CanWest Global television empire. Shaw is a low-risk company that won't suddenly shoot up in price but that compensates with limited downside, steady cash flow, and long-term growth potential.

"Digital cameras have changed the world of photography; one beneficiary is Shutterfly (SFLY), which has succeeded by allowing photographers to share those digital snaps and plaster them onto on all kinds of merchandise," says Mike Cintolo.

The editor of Cabot Top Ten Weekly explains, "When the company was founded back in 1999, its main business was just providing a place for customers to store and share digital photos.

"The company allows photographers to put photos on greeting cards, into photo books, onto calendars, mouse pads and mugs among hundreds of uses. And this new emphasis has re-energized the company's image.

The shares of professional engineering/construction services provider URS Corporation (URS), first discussed on June 5, 2009 at a price of $51.56, have cleared the danger zone I wrote about earlier this fall, so now would be a decent time to consider scooping-up some shares. URS should trade above $50 in 2011, according to my analysis

Look for URS to post a modest 2-3% revenue increase in 2010, followed by a 10-15% rise in 2011. Long-term, both federal government-related and private sector (industrial and commercial) work should gradually attract more institutional investors (IIs) back to the stock in 2011, after a portion of the less-patient IIs exited their URS position this year.

The Thomson Reuters First Call FY2010/FY2011 EPS estimates for URS are $3.69 to $3.68. That FY2011 EPS estimate looks about 5% low, according to my analysis.

The shares of community bank First Niagara Financial Group (FNFG), which I first wrote about on April 27, 2009 at a price of $13.55, have recovered enough such that it makes sense to continue with the trade.

First Niagara's shares fell in bear-hug fashion this year, with the decline accelerated after the bank bought RTI Insurance Services and Three Rivers Financial Services of Pittsburgh; some selling was due to integration costs.

Still, FNFG's fundamentals remain strong, including a superior residential loan portfolio. Moreover, the stock appears to have bottomed at/near $11 and the recent rise above the key, 50-day moving average -- a bullish technical indicator -- provides further evidence that the short-term investment players are out of the stock.

As outlined, August proved to be a good time to add to shares of oil/natural gas giant Occidental Petroleum (OXY), first discussed here on April 27, 2009 at a price of $54.81, as the stock has soared to $90 from about $76 in the summer. And I still like the shares at this stage. Here's why:

Look for Occidental to post a double-digit volume increase in 2011, after a probable 15%-20% volume increase in 2010.

Occidental, which focuses on oil oil/gas exploration/production and has no refineries, is well-positioned to capitalize on oil's likely, continued historically high (above $50 per barrel) price in 2011. Several global exploration/production projects (Middle East, Latin America) look promising.

"As consumers continue to upgrade to high-end smartphones, they are paying more and more for each device," says Stephen Leeb.

The editor of The Complete Investor explains, "In turn, this is helping Qualcomm (QCOM), which receives licensing royalty for the average price of the phones running its chips.

"Recently reported earnings were quite impressive. Company sales rose 9.7 percent year over year to $2.95 billion, outpacing consensus estimates of $2.85 billion.