If you fire enough bullets, eventually one of them is bound to hit the bull’s eye. After spending a trillion dollars on an array of stimulus packages, the Obama administration is scrambling to “enhance” a billion-dollar program that actually hit its mark.

By now, we have all heard of the popularity of Washington’s Cash-for-Clunkers initiative. Drive, push or tow any old gas hog into a local dealer and Uncle Sam will give you a check for $3,500 or even $4,500 if you buy a new car.

In the short-term, the plan appears to be nothing but success. Car dealers actually have a reason to turn on the lights each day. Thanks to the program, inventories are no longer measured by months of supplies, but days or even hours.

For now, we are going to overlook the long-term detrimental ramifications of free money, including inflation and disruptions throughout the nation’s auto market. Prices could be brutally different in six months, even less, if the free markets still exist by then.

But, as of this writing, there is at least a semblance of capitalism in America and that means somebody is getting rich.

Is it you? It should be.

In an article yesterday, I wrote about some of the more obvious investment possibilities created by the Cash-for-Clunkers plan. Today, it is an even better, much less talked about chance to make some money.

Thanks to the weakening American dollar and Obama’s free money for new wheels, the nation’s platinum sector has had a fantastic week. Yes, platinum.

Like usual, a strong equities market weakens the greenback and increases demand for precious metals like gold, silver and platinum. The latter of the three is critical in the auto manufacturing industry as it plays a key role in exhaust gas management.

This single piece of legislation is a double-whammy for the sector.

With nearly 250,000 cars sold through Cash-for-Clunkers, savvy investors realize manufacturers are going to have to increase their production in order to replace the inventory.

That means platinum demand is on the rise.

It also means shares of companies like North American Palladium (AMEX:PAL) and Polymet Mining (AMEX:PLC) are increasing in value.

In just the last five days, shares of these miners surged by as much as 40% and 25%, respectively.

Even better, one of my favorite mining stocks – if you are a TFN Strategic Trader subscriber, it is already in your portfolio – is leading the charge.

While I am not about to anger my loyal paying customers by giving away the stock for free, I will tell you it is the month’s top performer, with gains of over 24%.

Of course, thanks to the leverage of options, our gains are significantly larger than that.

Thanks Obama!

As an American, I cannot possibly give my support for reckless subsidy spending, like Cash-for-Clunkers. It is unfair to taxpayers and the countless other individuals and companies that could benefit from similar handouts.

But as an investor, hey, you can’t beat free money. We are making plenty of that.

Source: Mining Stocks: The Surprising Cash-for-Clunker Winners

• Tech stocks spurred a rally among U.S. markets yesterday (Wednesday), as by Intel Corp.’s (Nasdaq: INTC) earnings exceeding of Wall Street expectations. All three major indices rose: The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 3.07% to close at 8,616.21, the Standard & Poor’s 500 was up 2.96%, closing at 932.68, while the tech-laden Nasdaq Composite was up 3.51%, closing at 1,862.90. “There’s no doubt that the catalyst started with the report from Intel,” Chemung Canal Trust Co. Senior Investment Officer Tom Wirth told Bloomberg News. “It seems obvious to me that there’s more optimism, that we’ve seen the bottom and things are getting progressively better.”

• Crude oil futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) rallied $2.02, or 3.37%, to $61.54 a barrel yesterday (Wednesday) after Energy Department figures showed a smaller-than-expected increase in oil and diesel inventories. “There’s no demand number that you can point to … it’s just that (distillate) inventories didn’t build as much as expected,” Standard Chartered PLCcommodities trader Morgan Downey told The Wall Street Journal.

• The newly launched Bing search engine from Microsoft Corp.(Nasdaq: MSFT) couldn’t touch the stranglehold Google Inc.(Nasdaq: GOOG) has on the market. Bing recorded just a 0.4% gain in its market share to settle at 8.4% last month. The gain came at the expense of second-place Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO), which saw its market share fall to 19.6% in June, down from May’s 20.1%, The Washington Post reported, citing data from Comscore Inc. (Nasdaq: SCOR). Google’s share, meanwhile, held steady at 65%. Bing was launched in early June to much buzz from tech pundits and Wall Street analysts.

• States will get a $4.7 billion boost in federal stimulus funds to weatherize drafty homes, dwarfing the $447 million originally planned by Congress this year and the $227 million spent last year. The increase is so huge it has raised fears of waste and fraud, and set off a scramble to find workers and houses for them to repair. President Barack Obama said the program would lower utility bills for cash-strapped families, create new construction jobs and make the United States more energy efficient. “You’re getting a three-fer,” President Obama said. “That’s exactly the kind of program we should be funding.” Some worry that states won’t be able to keep track of the copious amounts of money. Council for Citizens Against Government Waste spokeswoman Leslie Paige said the program is open to fraud because of the way oversight is divided: The government passes the money to states, the states pass it to community action agencies and the agencies pass it to contractors who work with customers. “It’s such a Rube Goldberg operation it should be setting off alarm bells,” she toldThe Associated Press.

• Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson will tell the House Oversight and Government Reform Panel in Washington today (Thursday) he acted appropriately in warning Bank of America(NYSE: BAC) Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Lewis that top executives could be ousted if they abandoned merger plans withMerrill Lynch, Reuters reported. “It would be unthinkable for Bank of America to take this destructive action for which there was no reasonable legal basis and which would show a lack of judgment,” Paulson said in his prepared testimony. Some lawmakers are criticizing what they say was government heavy-handedness in pressuring the taxpayer-funded Bank of America to go through with the deal after escalating losses at Merrill came to light.

• U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke has weighed in China’s detainment of Australian and Chinese Rio Tinto PLC employees accused of espionage, saying multinational companies in that nation “need to have assurances and confidence” that their workers will be treated fairly, adding he will raise the case in a meeting with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao today (Thursday), The Wall Street Journal reported. The workers are accused of bribery to obtain state secrets relating to iron-ore price talks, but Australia has yet to be officially advised of the allegations, The Journal said.

• Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT), which in February said it would open branded retail stores in the United States., will place them “next to existing Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) stores this fall,”ZDNet reported, citing a statement from Microsoft’s Chief Operating Officer Kevin Turner. Microsoft has been mum on details of what exactly the stores will sell, but it is said they will be “more showcases than actual retail outlets,” anonymous sources within the company told ZDNet.

Investment News BriefsThursday July 16, 2009

Here’s Tanner Callais from The Street Authority who recommends “Two Timber Stocks For Your Watchlist.”

Wealth From Wood

Stocks… bonds… annuities… real estate… the investment tools that can fund a comfortable retirement are endless.

But there’s one very profitable asset class that is worth its weight in… wood.

In fact, it’s outperformed many other investments and markets for several years now – and a recent downturn gives savvy investors an enticing entry point. So if you want to unlock timber’s profit potential that timber holds, the time to invest is now – and we’ve uncovered one place where prime timberland is selling for less than $30 an acre.

Not Just For Rugby And Kiwis

It didn’t seem to matter where I went during my stay in New Zealand… all I saw was entire hillsides covered from top to bottom, as enterprising farmers had planted trees anywhere they could.

And with good reason. “It’s their 401(k),” said my brother, who’d lived in New Zealand for nearly a year. “They plant trees, let them grow, then cut them down when they want to retire.”

When I think back to seeing the rows and rows of these farms, the investment potential of timber didn’t immediately occur to me. But these farmers have really got things figured out.

After all, they don’t worry about how the inflation rate is going to affect their holdings. They aren’t worried about what the Fed is doing to bail out struggling companies. They simply plant trees, let them grow, and know that the money they’ll make from selling the timber will take care of their retirement.

And based on the historical performance of timber, it will be a comfortable retirement, too…

A Strong Track Record Of Impressive Returns… During Both Bear Markets And Inflation

From 1972 to the present day, investing in lumber has produced annual returns of 11%. That means a $100,000 investment in lumber in 1972 would be worth about $4.3 million today.

In the U.S., you can often pick up land for under $1,000 an acre if the trees on it are still small. Within 10 to 15 years, you can thin out your tract and get paid about $500 an acre for the pulp. And after 25-30 years, when the trees are mature, you should pocket $4,000 to $5,000 an acre for them at current prices.

What’s more… lumber is also a fantastic way to diversify your portfolio. Like gold, timber tends to do better during periods when stocks and bonds go down. In fact, during three of the four largest bear markets of the 20^th century, the value of timber actually rose.

And during the highest inflationary cycle in modern U.S. history – between 1973 and 1981 – timber returned an impressive 22% per year.

Two Timber Stocks For Your Watchlist

If you’re looking for the biggest and “best of breed” timber stocks, take a look at Plum Creek Timber (NYSE: PCL) or Rayonier (NYSE: RYN). Both companies own massive tracts of timber in the United States and offer solid yields of 5.6% and 7.1% respectively.

But if you’re looking for an even more lucrative play, buying actual timberland is as attractive right now as we’ve ever seen. That’s why institutional investors like Harvard Management Company, which manages the university’s endowment, bid on timberland in May 2008.

But why? Despite all the factors that suggest lumber prices should be high – the industry’s long-term performance… the imminent infrastructure boom… and the fact that timberland is a limited resource – prices are still down.

But what Harvard arguably sees here is an excellent chance to invest at more favorable prices. And there are deals to be found… if you know where to look.

In fact, as I was conducting my research for The Street Authority Market Advisor, I uncovered some unbelievable prices for timberland.

For example, small tracts of 200-acre land are going for only $45,000 ($225 per acre). Some plots are as low as $165 per acre. The absolute best we found was priced at only $29 per acre of timberland – less than the cost of dinner for two.

Granted, buying timberland takes a little more time and investment than simply buying a few shares on the NYSE. But with this low cost per acre and the historic performance of this most basic material, we see right now as the opportunity of a decade.

Source: For $29 A Pop, You Can Put Your Retirement On Autopilot