There’s a lot of fear in the markets these days. Jittery investors are glued to the news, waiting for the next item to trigger a move in equities. But WaveStrength Options Weekly editor Adam Lass says the most important information is usually buried way below the headlines. He says checking these ‘hidden’ details is a great way for contrarian investors to find the big profit opportunities.

Good day… And a Terrific Tuesday to you! Well… Folks… The wheels, what was left of them, are really coming off this economy. It’s a sad sight to see, but it’s happening nonetheless, and there’s no bailout, stimulus check, mortgage bill, truck loads of money supply, or whatever, that’s going to stop this recession bus.. Memo to Paulson and Bernanke… Don’t throw yourself under this recession bus…

It takes big cojones to invest in the US banking sector right now. Barely a week passes without another financial giant hitting the wall. The sector has been one of the worst hit this year.

But are there firms that will benefit from the wholesale restructuring of the industry? Money Map editor Horacio Marquez says Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:BAC) “will jump from merely being one of the largest banks in the world to being a commercial-and-investment banking powerhouse.”

Horacio recommends using short-term volatility to buy BAC shares on market dips to gradually build up a long-term position by the end of the year.

Clean energy ETFs became hugely popular in 2007. But they’ve been taking a beating since this August, when crude oil prices began to fall from their year highs.

Nevertheless, Jim Stanton says alternative energy — and the wind-energy market in particular — has a big future. Wind energy is already the second largest source of new power generation in the US, and it now has the backing of the much-hyped Pickens Plan.

Jim says two clean-energy ETFs that look undervalued right now are PBW and GEX. He also recommends FAN for a more wind-specific ETF. 

Congressional negotiators late yesterday reached a tentative agreement on a credit-crisis compromise. It gives the Bush administration about a third of the $700 billion it has requested up front but made sure half that outlay was subject to a congressional veto, reports William Patalon III.