Goldman Sachs usually provides investors with strong returns from IPOs it lead underwrites. However, China Nepstar Chain Drugstore (NPD) turned out to be one of the biggest disappointments to the firm's credit.

Since coming public in November of last year at more than $16 a share, NPD has cratered. Last week, the stock may have reached a crescendo in price depreciation by hitting an all-time intra-day low of 3.87 following the company's Q2 earnings report. This capped off 17 straight days of selling on the unpopular drugstore chain.

It would be hard to find another restaurant that was hit harder by the "stealth recession" that recently submerged the U.S. economy than Ruby Tuesday (RT) [$7.88]. Plunging from a high of $30 a year ago, the stock finally bottomed around $6.00 back in January.

The past few months has seen the company management stage a valiant effort to prop up the stock price and right the ship. Heavy insider stock buys by officers and management in January were coupled with an intense focus on corporate branding to improve store image, service and product quality. During the company's earnings call last evening, the major branding effort underway was highlighted.

It seems like only yesterday when those exotic energy stocks featuring diversified operations and fictitious balance sheets were the darlings of Wall Street. Companies like Enron, Mirant (MIR) and Calpine (CPN) were "must haves" in every investor's portfolio. Then as quickly as these companies share prices rocketed to extraordinary valuations, they cratered, leaving scandal and bankruptcy behind for any of the bagholders still remaining.

Now, following a humbling tour through the bankruptcy process and a brief stay on the pink sheets, earlier this month, Calpine emerged back on the NYSE. Propped up by a new cadre of investors, and entering the market at a time when clean energy solutions are being highly sought after by investors, CPN may be able to redeem itself as a viable investment the second time around.

The nature of business is cyclical. No matter what.

Take the oil sector for example. Despite the hype and fear being promoted by peak oil theorists, the sector is correcting. The price of crude oil is surging to new highs while many oil companies in the DJIA and S&P 500 have not experienced the same type of explosive price action. This lack of investor enthusiasm to boost oil companies to new highs demonstrates the correction is already under way.

I recommended Sutron Corp. (STRN) on my website back in June as a possible hurricane play. In hindsight, the stock could actually offer more than that. This $52 million microcap company actually gives investors a potential long-term growth opportunity to profit from some of the problems that could be attributed to the rise of global warming.

STRN provides meteorological, oceanic and hydrological products and solutions that allows for the monitoring and managing of water resources. The equipment works to collect, and analyze data that works to warn us from floods, storms and tsunamis. The company customer base consists primarily of government agencies, and that list is steadily growing.

The last few weeks may have signaled a possible top looming in Chinese ADRs and our zealous impulse to own them. I believe this because of the recent emergence of China related stocks that are the product of reverse mergers.

BARRON'S also mentions these companies this week and the astonishing fact that they are up a combined 25% since Sept. 18. These stocks are coming in droves onto the Nasdaq and AMEX and with plenty of high flying moves, enough volatility to lure even the most disciplined investor into nibbling just for a chance at a quick 100% daily gain.

Lifetime Fitness (LTM) (57.82) flexed its muscles at the Oppenheimer Consumer Conference last week. Showing strong growth across the board in center openings, memberships, and revenue LTM appears to have a solid foothold in a growing $17 billion fitness and health club market.

One important takeaway was LTM is growing its business fastest in in-center revenue (spending increases by club members). It's compounded annual growth rate from 2002 to 2006 was 38%. The company is doing this by driving its spa, cafe, personal training, and member activities businesses. From 2005 to 2006, LTM saw its member spending jump from $300 on average to $351 annually. The success is due to the company providing a spa-like atmosphere at a local fitness facility. This experience includes various member classes, and children care centers ensuring the facility is opened to the entire family.

Lifetime Fitness (LTM) (57.82) flexed its muscles at the Oppenheimer Consumer Conference earlier last week. Showing strong growth across the board in center openings, memberships, and revenue, LTM appears to have a solid foothold in a growing $17 billion fitness and health club market.

One important takeaway was that LTM is growing its business fastest in in-center revenue (spending increases by club members). Its compounded annual growth rate from 2002 to 2006 was 38%. The company is doing this by driving its spa, cafe, personal training and member activities businesses. From 2005 to 2006, LTM saw its member spending jump from $300 on average to $351 annually. The success is due to the company providing a spa-like atmosphere at a local fitness facility. This experience includes various member classes and children care centers ensuring the facility is opened to the entire family.

September has seen Coach (COH) (43.93), take the investment community by storm. The company conducted an investor day, and presented at two separate consumer equity conferences. All this buzz could not have been generated at a better time for the stock which has been on the skids since hitting a high of $54 in April.

I listened to COH's presentation at the Oppenheimer Consumer Conference taking occurring this week, and I admit the company did not dissapoint. Demonstrating great growth for FY07 with 18% retail square footage growth, the company assured investors FY08 would see similar growth. This coupled with a projected 20% annual growth rate in handbag demand, the company's flagship product, should have given investors reasons to buy.

I love the fall season and not because of the start of Monday Night Football or the World Series. No, I love September because it usually sees a myriad of investor conferences and presentations. In fact, later this week Thomas Weisel Partners (TWPG) is holding a healthcare conference in Boston, and Bear Sterns Co. (BSC) will sponsor one the following week in New York.

One of the companies presenting at both events is Affymax (AFFY) 24.25. This small cap company is of interest because it has a lead drug candidate labeled Hematide in phase three clinical trials for the treatment of anemia in chronic renal failure, and for cancer patients suffering from anemia. According to the corporate website, one in nine Americans suffer from chronic kidney disease, and the worldwide market for the management of anemic patients suffering from chronic kidney disease is estimated at approximately $12 billion. Currently, Amgen (AMGN) is the market leader through its sales of Epogen and Aranesp to treat this condition.

The recent fire sale over the past month almost gives the stock the appearance of a value play. I say "almost," because the company is losing money, and the casino business is not what it used to be in Atlantic City. All this negativity was highlighted by the Associated Press, and other local newspapers writing to fuel speculation as to whether or not Donald Trump, can somehow manage to take two public companies bankrupt within a 10-year period.

For many Wall Streeters, this would be a delicious way to spend a couple of years watching someone as arrogant as Mr. Trump be made infamous for his inability to oversee a public company reach success, or even mediocrity, for that matter.

He discusses the liquidity issue, and how Wall Street is awash with cash as companies, which are already priced to perfection, continue to be bought at higher premiums. All this money, and the historically low borrowing rates that come with it have enabled companies such as Blackstone (BX), and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. [KKR] to conduct deal after deal.

Vector Group (VGR) saw its stock explode Thursday. Closing up nearly 9% on huge volume, VGR realized one of its biggest one day moves in recent history. Then on Friday, it rose another 2.3%.

There was good reason to buy this tobacco/real estate company on Thursday. Of course, probably one of the most obvious reasons was that Cramer hawked it as a buy on his Mad Money program. Cramer also broadcast Icahn's tremendous stake in the company, which now stands at approximately 20%. And, he also mentioned the juicy dividend yield guaranteed to make any value investor salivate.

However, the dividend, albeit a great reason to own the $1.25 billion company, may not have had much sway on investors Thursday as they piled into VGR.

This development was met with a mere yawn by most investors. The stock remained flat on the news. Investor apathy could pose a possible opportunity for those hearty traders who are willing to speculate in the high risk world of oil and gas exploration.

If it would have been any other company investing in GST, I probably would not give GST another glance. However, the man running CHK is one of the greatest natural gas gurus of our time. CHK CEO, Aubrey McClendon knows the oil and natural gas business. This is evident by the performance of his company's stock which has rocketed in price nearly 8-fold over the past five years.

E-Prescribing is being introduced to busy physicians which enables them to prescribe a patient script directly from a hand-held device to a pharmacy. There appears to be numerous benefits to this practice. The service saves time and money while also minimizing the chance of prescribing errors. According to a company presentation, there were 1.5 million medication errors last year, which resulted in 7,000 deaths.

The service is being tested in pilot programs throughout the United States. One of the major advocates for E-Prescribing is the managed care industry. According to ZIXI management, several managed care plans including Aetna (AET) and Blue Cross/Blue Shield have helped roll out the pilot programs. The insurers also have elected to pay for the implementation, training and costs of the services for the physicians. The insurers are not altruistic. Instead, they receive cost savings because the system highlights particular preferred and generic drugs that the physician can prescribe.

The company has already differentiated its products from others by marketing products developed from a proprietary technology named AcuForm. The technology is a drug delivery platform that improves upon the pharmacokinetics of a drug, and allows for greater bioavailibility, and absorption of the product when it is in the body.

This unique advantage allows drug compounds to be administered in larger doses to a patient without having to worry about an increase in side effects, while also providing shorter and more convenient dosing regimens.

At last week's Citigroup Healthcare Conference, the company provided positive commentary on the state of its business and its future potential. The $361 million company has seen 98% of its revenues this past year come from new products it has launched the last three years.

Cynosure, which is trading at 30.98, has leading products in the areas of anti-aging, body sculpting, hair removal and vascular lesions. During its presentation, the company heralded the recent launch of a new anti-aging therapy, Affirm, and a body sculpting workstation known as Smartlipo. Both of these new applications are expected to make a large impact in future quarter sales results.

There are several underlying facts to this problem that clearly demonstrate that this problem will probably only worsen before it improves.

According to its corporate website, the chip, which is roughly the size of a grain of rice, contains a 16-digit ID used to identify any patient in an emergency. All of this may sound a little scary for any card-carrying ACLU member, or the rest of us who may be concerned about the ever growing presence of "big brother." But, it appears that the company is also considering the possible concerns regarding invasion of privacy or other civil rights' issues. CHIP declares the device does not contain any other data other than the identification number and it does not contain any [GPS] device.