The ‘consensus trade’ would have you believe the world is teetering on the edge of GFC Part II.

Industrial giant GE’s revenue came in a little light this past quarter due to a mix of slower sales of some lines of equipment, a stronger dollar and the economic slowdown in Europe. However, our investment thesis for the stock remains intact. We had the view that the conglomerates strengths significantly outweighed its weaknesses and this continues to be the case.

Last year was a challenging one for companies operating in the nuclear energy space with the unforeseen event of the tragic earthquake and ensuing tsunami in Japan causing the Fukushima Daiichi reactor to meltdown.

The PowerShares Dynamic Oil & Gas Services ETF endured a brutal sell-off beginning in August of 2011. As a late cyclical play, the sector took a particular beating, only beginning its recovery after dropping below the $16 mark in October. We believe that the sector has a long runway of positive earnings prospects from this point as we view oil prices likely to remain elevated for some time.

Taiwan Semi holds the leadership position in the foundry space due to its technology dominance and scale. The companies scale has enabled it to build a lead over foundry peers in the more advanced technologies that we estimate to place it almost a year ahead.