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Part of my job at Cabot is fielding emails from our Cabot Wealth Advisory subscribers, and one question I see quite often is, “What are the differences between Cabot’s publications?” I’m going to explain our newsletters, one at a time in an ongoing series. This is part one of the series, focusing on Cabot Market Letter, our flagship publication.

I’m concerned about the lack of progress made by our elected officials in Washington on the major issues of the day. Where are the solutions for our energy crisis, social security funding or a cost efficient health care system? We have been patiently waiting for decades to solve each of these, and other, problems.

Prohibition led to the system of alcohol transport that persists today, a system dominated by distributors and the states, which are primarily concerned with taxation. This makes it difficult for small vineyards to ship wine around the country. On the investment front, my advice today is to put your money into one of the distributors. After all, they’ve got the power and you can benefit from it as an investor. But the distributor I like is not in the U.S.; it’s in Poland and Russia.

At the root of creative destruction, according to Joseph Schumpeter, are entrepreneurs, some laboring as individuals and some as employees of forward-looking firms, but all possessing a spirit of innovation that drives economic growth forward by improving on and “destroying” the old. And if the old is a hide-bound, monopolist entity or system that has long been a barrier to progress, so much the better.

With biopharmaceutical stocks doing well as a group, I think playing the trend by buying the companies that provide support services just makes sense. It spreads your risk around a little. And in a touchy market environment, risk control should be the top priority on your list.

Tribune Company recently sold Newsday, Long Island’s daily newspaper, to Cablevision, a cable, TV and Internet company headquartered on Long Island. While the future of the newspaper business remains uncertain, perhaps a company with considerable assets (Cablevision owns Madison Square Garden, the Knicks and the Rangers) can breathe some new life into it.

In the short-term, we remain in the midst of a contraction of liquidity, as the reverberations from the collapse of the sub-prime credit markets continue. Eventually, these markets will stabilize, and when the smoke clears we’ll see a market that is smaller, cleaner and saner ... and liquidity will return. How long this will take I have no idea.

The high price of gasoline is one of the biggest concerns of Americans today. Everyone wants to know whether the price will decline, stay up here at $4 a gallon, or climb higher. Well, at Cabot, our very successful growth stock investing system works because we DON’T try to predict the future. Instead, we simply observe trends and invest on the expectation that they will continue.

We get a lot of questions from our subscribers, often the same question many times. So today we’re answering some of our most common inquiries. These are questions and comments that can help all investors better understand not just how we invest, but also some important principles that will quickly improve your skills.

Markets are always going up and down, and if you have a way to distinguish a real market move from random motion, you can be back in the market before most investors know that the bull is back in town. Right now, for instance, while most investors are still cowering under the covers, the market timing indicators for the Cabot Market Letter and the Cabot China & Emerging Markets Report are positive.

I have gone from great success to less success and back to great success (relatively speaking--I’m not able to compare myself to Warren Buffett--yet). The up, down, up cycle of life can be compared to many of the stocks that pop up as undervalued opportunities in my research analyses. I concentrate on companies with temporary setbacks, where management is taking action to correct the problem and get the company back on track.

Most investors, even those with lots of experience, usually do the wrong things and avoid the right things. And the reason isn’t because they’re dumb and I’m smart--it’s because the market is a totally contrary animal, so it works the exact opposite of how any intelligent, reasonable person would expect.

When saving for retirement, most investment gurus tell you to start young, live a disciplined life, diversify and take the long view. But some of us are too old to start young. If you fit into that category, the best way for you to approach investing for retirement might be to allocate some of your portfolio for growth stocks. But make sure you have a system to follow if you choose that path.

Soaring gasoline prices are keeping drivers off the highways and boaters off the lakes. Lake weekend, while home in Hampshire for the Fourth of July, I noticed a sharp decrease in both road and lake traffic. With gasoline going for $4 a gallon on land and close to $5 a gallon on the water, people either stayed home or didn’t stray far.

When making decisions in the stock market, procrastination can be your enemy. One delayed decision will only lead to another delay, and before you know it, a mini-disaster is at hand. I know, because I’ve been there. Most often, my initial thoughts about whether to buy or sell a particular stock turn out best. That is, of course, after the proper amount of research has been completed.

Cabot Stock of the Month Report is a great publication for people new to investing, or new to Cabot. It gives subscribers a taste of five of Cabot’s newsletters, allowing them to decide which investing system is right for them. By offering something from each of Cabot’s publications, it introduces you to several different investing systems, helping you decide which one is right for you. It also provides a diverse selection of stocks.

Since I was child, Memorial Day has meant a canoe trip on the Ipswich River here in Massachusetts, and that’s where I am today, enjoying nature, unplugged. A small part of the day, as always, will be devoted to honoring those who made the ultimate sacrifice. But for me, a larger part will be devoted to wondering whether war will ever become obsolete as a tool for conflict resolution. In the long term, I’m optimistic that mankind will eventually evolve to put the practice of war behind us. War is destructive, and I’d rather be productive. But I’m not holding my breath.

Redoing a kitchen proves that making Green choices is easier than expected, despite the hype surrounding it. Environmentalists oppose Greenwashing by wine jug makers and real estate developers trying to sell their products as earth-friendly. And a Chinese biodiesel offers investors a great opportunity in a growing area.

Three very different expressions of love took place during two weddings and one engagement, providing an opportunity to learn life, and investing, lessons. The conclusion: Everyone has to do things in their own way. Finding your belief system and sticking to it will produce better results in the end.

Value investors must determine the true worth of a company before deciding whether it is a good buy. The same philosophy can be applied to politicians, as Warren Buffet demonstrated when he backed Senator Barack Obama for president.