As the 2009 approaches, we look back to some of the free recommendations we’ve made to TFN eNews readers over the past year.

Our closed recommendations (i.e., stock recommendations with specific buy and sell recommendations), we recorded average gains of 24.1%, with an average holding period of 27 days.

Some gains in particular were truly stellar…

· 50.1% on Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:SWHC)
· 87.1% on National City (NYSE:NCC) Jan 2.5 calls
· 79.6% on Boeing (NYSE:BA) Feb 55 puts
· 190% on Boeing Aug 90 calls
· 55.5% on Rex Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:REXX)

But now it’s time to throw in the towel on some duds…

The shipping sector sank with the global recession. If you are still holding any, it’s time to unload shares of:

· China…

With its central bank’s surprise interest-rate cut on Monday, India may actually be ahead of the monetary-policy curve for the first time ever as it moves to avert a recession that Asia’s third-largest economy needs to avoid, India investing expert Karim Rahemtulla said yesterday (Tuesday).

Shares of Ford Motor Co. (F) and General Motors Corp. (GM) posted gains yesterday (Tuesday) on speculation that consolidation in the U.S. domestic auto industry could be the struggling sector’s saving grace.Over the last three trading sessions, Ford shares are up almost 18%, while GM shares are up over 37% on reports of possible merger talks and asset sales.

Last week it was the Democrats, this week the Republicans… Alternative energy will be the winner, regardless of who wins the election… Bill Bonner says the Fed’s easy credit policies may have set off a dangerous ripple effect in the economy… It’s a Wrap! Here are some of your top stories for this week:

At a price of just $2,500 each, Tata Motors Ltd.’s (TTM) Nano was billed early in its development as the world’s cheapest automobile and the only car that was both affordable and practical enough for India’s quickly burgeoning middle class. But the car that was emerging as a bright symbol of middle-class opportunity in fast-growing India could now epitomize something much darker: The human cost of rapid industrialization.

Read about the automotive meltdown, and one company is conspicuously absent: India’s Tata Motors (NYSE:TTM).

Tata does not export to North America. It sells Africa, the Middle East, Asia and South America. It also has joint venture operations in Malaysia, Kenya, Bangladesh, Ukraine, Russia and Senegal.

The company seems well positioned to capitalize on the success of so many emerging markets. But trouble from Marxists in India and capitalists abroad is weighing heavily on the company’s shares, says Irwin Grenstein, writing for Contrarian Profits.

Ken Rogoff, former Chief Economist at the IMF, warned that ‘the financial crisis is at the halfway stage. I would go further to state that the worst is yet to come’. His prediction that a large financial institution would collapse led to a fall in global markets.

Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO), the largest independent refiner in the U.S. market, is a well-known and avidly traded name. Despite being a member of the super hot energy sector, Valero has seen its stock price collapse from its 52-week high of $75.75 to Friday’s close at $34.72 (a 54% decline).

Global investors need to “hit the BRICs” – literally. Back in 2003, the Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), eager to push its clients towards global investing – especially in the emerging markets – invented the acronym “BRIC” (Brazil, Russia, India and China) to represent the four emerging markets it believed were destined to become dominant economies in the years to come.

India’s stock market is down 23 percent this year. But it’s still one of the world’s great long-term growth plays, says Martin Hutchinson in part two of Money Morning’s special report on BRIC economies.

India is suffering high inflation, its growth is slowing and there are signs that a credit crunch is about to hit. But this can work to the advantage of investors. Without these problems, India’s stock market would be trading at 40 times earnings - and not 18 times earnings, as it is now.

Martin says that buy buying into India now, investors are likely getting in on the ground floor of a major long-term bull market.