The firm chose companies in the following segments: Aerospace & Defense; Auto, Auto Parts and Auto Retailers; Coal & Precious Metals; Engineering & Construction; Construction Materials & Diversified Industrials; Oil & Gas; Services; and Shipping & Transportation Equipment. We included a street-consensus target from Thomson Reuters and put in firm data specific to these calls today.

The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) was the top pick for Aerospace & Defense “given our updated commercial aircraft forecast coupled with our view that Boeing’s gross order book will be >1.0x in 2013/2014. Longer-term, given the cash flow dynamics with ramping production and improving 787 cost curve, a 50% move in Boeing shares is achievable before the peak of the cycle in 2015.” Boeing’s $120 price target at Stern Agee compares to a current price of $98.92 and compares to a consensus price target of $103.90. BE Aerospace (NASDAQ: BEAV) was also shown as a top pick after Boeing with big upside. BE Aero trades at $62.95 and Stern Agee’s $72 target compares to $69.17 from Wall Street.

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F), General Motors Company (NYSE: GM) and TRW Automotive Holdings Corp. (NYSE: TRW) led in the Auto, Auto Parts and Auto Retailers. The firm said, “We believe all three companies are well positioned to benefit from the global demand trends, as well as the likelihood of company specific actions to enhance shareholder value.” Ford is the only one of these three with a dividend.

Consol Energy Inc. (NYSE: CNX) was Stern Agee’s Coal & Precious Metals top pick as the low-cost provider with a solid balance sheet. The firm said, “We note the solid potential of upside to Northern Appalachian thermal margins as scrubbed utilities and international power companies seek out high heat coals, with enhanced met coal margins once pricing recovers and added shale exploitation success. We believe the market will accelerate its appreciation of the asset value compiled at Consol, especially with an overcapitalized balance sheet.” Shares closed at $33.97 recently, way under the $60 target price from Stern Agee. That implies almost a double your money call, but we would caution that Wall Street’s consensus price target was $42.22 per share on last look.

Fluor Corp. (NYSE: FLR) was the top pick in Engineering & Construction and Stern Agee said, “We expect continued strong cash generation, balance sheet strength and margin expansion as the current cycle evolves. With the approval of the second U.S. LNG export facility last week, we believe these opportunities continue to become more tangible providing further catalysts for Fluor.” Stern Agee see Fluor going to $80 and Wall Street has a consensus of $75 on the stock versus $64.57 recently.

Martin Marietta Materials Inc. (NYSE: MLM) is the top pick for Construction Materials & Diversified Industrials as the number-two producer of construction aggregates with a strong balance sheet and significant operating leverage of over 60% to a volume recovery. The firm said, “For investors in housing-related stocks looking for what’s next, we think MLM is it.” At $110.91 now, the consensus target is actually under the current price at $110.67. Stern Agee has the street-high target of $128 for this stock.

Whiting Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: WLL) was the top exploration and production pick in Oil & Gas. Stern Agee said, “Given increasing activity in the Permian Basin and Niobrara this year, we see upside to 2013E production of 94.8 mboe/d. With a possible monetization of the mature Postle field and/or a joint venture in an emerging basin as 2013 catalysts, we believe shares remain attractively valued relative to our $62 price target.” Whiting’s current price is $46.54 against a consensus price target of $60.50 on the stock.

Superior Energy Services, Inc. (NYSE: SPN) was said to remain as a top pick in the Services sector which should post strong earnings and cash flow growth in 2014-15. Stern Agee likes its improving U.S. land market and rising Gulf of Mexico activity coming with strong international growth initiatives. The price of $28.44 compares to a Stern Agee target of $34.00 and a consensus target price of $32.93.

The Greenbrier Companies, Inc. (NYSE: GBX) is Stern Agee’s top pick in Shipping & Transportation Equipment. The firm said. “We believe GBX is poised to benefit from continued strong order flow for tank cars, a re-acceleration in non-tank car backlog growth, and robust margin expansion over the next two years as more higher margin tank and automotive cars are delivered out of the backlog.” Shares trade at $24.45 and hit a new 52-week high of $24.45 today, and Stern Agee sees the stock going up to $28 versus a $26 consensus price target.

Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE: EXP) was also given a positive reiterated Buy rating. Stern Agee said that the construction recovery remains on track, as does the company’s frac sand business. Both are expected to be strong drivers over the next few years. At about $77 now, Stern Agee has a target price of $85.00 and the consensus price target is $83.50.

As you can see, some of these picks are very aggressive while others are very much in-line with Wall Street consensus target price expectations.

Southwest Airlines announced Wednesday morning that its board of directors has quadrupled its quarterly dividend payment to $0.04 per share from $0.01 per share. The increase is for shareholders of record at the close of business on June 5, 2013, and will be paid on June 26, 2013.

Another boost is coming from the buyback plan. The existing $1 billion share repurchase program is being expanded to $1.5 billion. On top of that, an initial $250 million in its common stock will be repurchased under an accelerated stock repurchase program.

The new dividend will amount to a yield of 1.1%, based on the $13.98 close on Tuesday. Shares currently are trading higher by almost 3% at $14.39. That $1.5 billion share buyback compares to a market cap of $10.41.

As we have said before, United Continental Holdings Inc. (NYSE: UAL) is the main dividend sinner in the sector. The airline is considered the healthiest legacy carrier now that United and Continental have amalgamated into one company, and its market cap is $11.6 billion now that shares have rallied a whopping 70% in the past six months.

Sterne Agee’s analyst Peter Arment gave a Buy rating on Boeing with a 12-month target price of $120 on the aerospace and defense firm. The prior street-high target, according to Thomson Reuters, is $115 for the stock. Today’s raised price target is based on an increased business cycle visibility and also noted that Boeing is very undervalued.

The report highlights that Boeing’s gross book-to-bill order ratio remains above 1.0, with an average of 700 airliners being ordered in both 2013 and 2014. The firm also projects that spending on research and development is unlikely to spike from new aircraft programs. Another boost is actually that the 787 profitability will go higher due to strong demand.

As far as the 50% upside by 2013, Arment showed that Boeing has traded at 10 to 12 times free cash flows toward the peak in the cycle. This should top $18 billion over the next three years, and that would support a higher valuation, based on Stern Agee’s $12.00 per share free cash flow in 2015.

Arment said:

With our recently updated commercial aircraft forecast coupled our view that BA’s gross order book will be above 1.0x in 2013 and more impressively in 2014, we are raising our 12-month price target on Boeing by $20 to $120 (28% upside from current levels) based on ~10x our 2015E FCF multiple. Longer-term, given the cash flow dynamics with ramping production and improving 787 cost curve, a 50% move in BA shares is achievable before the peak of the cycle in 2015.

Boeing remains a top pick from Stern Agee at the current levels. Today’s new street-high call is not helping the stock price as Boeing is down 0.7% at $93.57, versus a 52-week range of $66.82 to $95.15.

There was apparently a hack in the Twitter feed signaling that an explosion had taken place at the White House and that President Obama had been injured. This was quickly shut down and the AP feeds on Twitter are all denying this. Even the White House has confirmed that this was a bogus event.

Stocks were up big, and suddenly went way down into the red based upon the fake tweet. This is the problem with too many people trusting social media and trusting online sources. The other side of the argument is that the social media space may likely be responsible for breaking or confirming news in the future over the traditional media networks.

By the way, what happened today is not covered as a protection under freedom of speech. This is worse than yelling “Fire!” in a crowded movie theater. If the person that did this is caught, they will be going to jail. Here is what happened in the market based on this crime as you can see by a Bloomberg daily DJIA chart:

An image of the fake Tweet is blow:

The answer is billions of dollars per year, but when you tally up more than a decade that figure goes into the trillions of dollars. You have to first think about the loss of life, then the economic damage, and then the raw dollars which get spent by governments, agencies, and individuals fighting terrorism. After that there are the costs of rebuilding.

We recently gave a list of American companies which are tracking terrorists and selling to law enforcement agencies. These services and products range from mail screening, bomb detection, telephone surveillance, guns, bullets, equipment and much more. These companies have seen combined spending in the billions of dollars if you consider that this war on terrorism is over a decade old now. Just last year we showed how outrageous some of the costs are in the war on terrorism have grown to after Brown University claimed that the total costs had risen to close to $4 trillion.

The long and short of it is that terrorism has cost billions of dollars to many nations. That would be in the trillions combined in America and its allies because of our counterterrorism efforts that also included two armed force invasions in Iraq and in Afghanistan. Osama Bin Laden was one of the men who suggested that the Al Qaeda and other terrorists should target financial stability as their means of how to win a fight against America.

There are some raw figures which start to become rather alarming. Steve Killelea is the founder of the Institute for Economics and Peace and he gave an interview to CNBC at the end of 2012 showing that the cost of the fight against terrorism was on the rise. This group put out a publication at the end of 2012 called the Global Terrorism Index ranking 158 nations around the world. This shows that in 2011 alone there were some 4,564 terrorist incidents globally which resulted in 7,473 deaths and also 13,961 injuries.

On the CNBC video, Mr. Killelea said that the cost to fight terrorism has risen handily. His estimate of the 9/11 cost the U.S. economy about $80 billion or 0.8% of GDP at the time. More recently, the cost to the airline sector in the United States alone went up by 25% to about $7.4 billion. Mr. Killelea said that this $7.4 billion cost compared to industrywide annual profits of about $8.6 billion at the same time.

While calculating the costs against terrorism are more than challenging, one issue stands out from the 2012 Global Peace Index: the economic benefit to the global economy was projected to be $9 trillion in the last year if the world had been completely peaceful.

If we go back further, there is a report from the Congressional Research Service showing the costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan along with other terror operations since September 11, 2001. This showed in 2011 that Congress had approved a total of $1.283 trillion for things such as military operations, base security, reconstruction, foreign aid, embassy costs, and health care for veterans for the three operations initiated since the 9/11 attacks. Of that amount, $806 billion was allocated to expenses for Iraq and $444 billion for Afghanistan and related expenses.

Read Also: 10 Countries That Hate America The Most

One article from 2010 rom the Kabul Press even went out and showed that the estimated cost to kill each Taliban member is conservatively and $50 million and that it could be as much as $100 million. We are leaving the methodology and fact-checking up top them for that.

Our guess is that the true cost of terrorism and the real expenses to fight to terrorism on a global basis over a decade or more are too difficult to count with a finite dollar sum. With one Tsarnaev brother dead and one on the run in Boston, this current terrorism event is unfortunately just one more costly event that resulted in death and injury and will drive up costs for security at all major public events.

Just this April, the White House asked Congress to appropriate $48.2 billion for the Fiscal Year 2014 National Intelligence Program and the Pentagon’s intelligence budget was another $14.6 billion. Keep in mind that this is lower than the prior year by close to $9 billion, but we think it is fair to guess that now more intelligence dollars will be sought now. Fiscal year 2010 was shown to be the highest budget expense when $80.1 billion was appropriated by Congress for intelligence activities.

We have expanded our list of American companies that provide counterterrorism and of public companies selling to law enforcement and to the Department of Homeland Security.

Some things are going to be obvious. Airport security and security at public events will be now be on higher alert. If the trends of terrorism and sabotage keep escalating, Americans almost certainly will have to deal with more audio and video surveillance, hazardous materials suits being shown in the news, and increased monitoring of all sorts. These trends are likely to bring increased orders for companies that serve the intelligence and law enforcement communities.

The companies we have identified manufacture and sell products or offer services that fall under law enforcement and under Homeland Security. Some of these are spread into other areas, and we did not include the big corporate giants that have 2% or so tied to these markets. Note that some of these companies are very small, and some have declining revenue due to lower security expenses in recent years.

Alliant Techsystems Inc. (NYSE: ATK) may be thought of for rocket boosters and propulsion for air and space technologies, but the company also happens to be the largest bullet manufacturer in America for the military, law enforcement and Joe Public. The company supplies bullets and ammunition to the Department of Justice, FBI, Department of Homeland Security, Armed Forces and others. ATK operates the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant and recently announced the delivery of 2 billion 7.62 mm rounds to the U.S. Army. ATK’s value is almost $2.4 billion, and it is expected to generate about $4.3 billion in sales in 2013.

American Science & Engineering Inc. (NASDAQ: ASEI) scans for bombs and weapons in transportation systems. It is also involved in mail room screening as well, and any more ricin poison being sent in the mail should increase its public exposure. That being said, revenue has been in decline. This company has a market value of about $492 million, and 2012 annual sales were $203.5 million and expected to drop ahead.

Command Security Corp. (NYSEMKT: MOC) is tiny, as its market value is only about $16 million, but sales in fiscal 2012 were $141 million. The company claims to have 6,000 highly trained personnel for airport security, banks, government offices, health care facilities and other corporate and enterprise security.

FLIR Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: FLIR) handles various degrees of imaging via night-time vision, thermal imaging, chemical and biological detection, explosives detection and more. With a market value of about $3.5 billion, it has expected sales for 2013 projected to be more than $1.5 billion.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ: KTOS) is considered to be a national security technology player selling products, services and solutions for security in the United States. While diversified, Kratos recently announced contracts to deploy specialized security systems for mass transportation, rail and critical infrastructure awards. The company has a market value of about $285 million, and it is expected to have sales of close to $975 million in 2013.

L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. (NYSE: LLL) is an amalgamation of command, control, communications, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance products and services. The company has made many acquisitions over the past decade, and it is involved in many other defense applications. L-3 has a market value of about $7.3 billion, and it is expected to generate $12.6 billion in sales in 2013.

Lakeland Industries Inc. (NASDAQ: LAKE) is very small, but it makes chemical protective clothing, disposable protective clothing, safety gloves, turnout gear, high visibility clothing, flame and heat-resistant clothing and other items. Its value is a mere $19 million, and this one is often skipped or overlooked because of its size and liquidity. Sales are running at just under $100 million per year.

NICE Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ: NICE) is a software company that captures and analyzes interactions and transactions in order to realize intent and to extract and leverage insights real-time. Technically this is not an American company, as it is based in Israel, but the company claims that about 25,000 organizations in 150 countries are direct or indirect clients. Its market value is $2.1 billion, and 2012 sales were almost $880 million, but note that the company is diversified in many segments.

OSI Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: OSIS) is a real player involved in homeland security, health care, defense and aerospace industries. In this aspect, it is known well for its Rapiscan Systems for security screening in airports, ports and buildings. OSI has a market value of about $1.1 billion and is expected to have 2013 sales of more than $830 million.

Raytheon Co. (NYSE: RTN) may still best be known for its Patriot Missiles and their more modern replacements, but it is also involved in integrated communications and intelligence. This ranges from seeing through walls and to communications monitoring via its Applied Signal Technology acquisition in recent years for its advanced intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems and services. Raytheon is worth about $18.7 billion, and sales are expected to be about $23.8 billion in 2013.

Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: SWHC) and Sturm, Ruger & Co. Inc. (NYSE: RGR) are the two public company gun leaders in America. It sure seems that recent events may drive yet another round of strong gun demand. Gun control legislation also remains up in the air after 14 people were stabbed at a college in Houston and with two bombs going off in Boston. It is possible that the argument against gun ownership may have lost some of its bite. Smith & Wesson is worth about $560 million, and the expected 2013 sales are about $580 million. Sturm Ruger has a market value of about $934 million and is expected to have sales of about $514 million in 2013.

TASER International Inc. (NASDAQ: TASR) makes the tasers, or stun guns, for law enforcement. It is hard to know if terror scares will lift its unit orders, and this company’s glory days were in 2003 to 2005, when the stock went from less than $5 to $30 briefly. Its shares have traded sideways since for the most part, and it is very thinly covered by Wall St. TASER’s market value is still more than $410 million, and sales were almost $115 million in 2012.

Many of these companies have been beneficiaries in the past due to Homeland Security orders, counterterrorism and increased sales to law enforcement and enterprises. We are not trying to pick winners here, nor are we signaling that these are all stocks to buy. We strongly suggest that any investors looking to capitalize on this trend do some serious, deep-dive research of their own on these and other companies before taking any action.

Needless to say, you can bet that airport security and security at public events will be now be alerted and higher. If the trends do manage to escalate, America likely will have to deal with more audio and video surveillance, hazardous materials suits and more and more monitoring of all sorts. The long and short of the matter is that this will translate to increased orders for companies that serve the intelligence and law enforcement communities.

Alliant Techsystems Inc. (NYSE: ATK) is known for boosters and propulsion for air and space technologies, but the company also happens to be the largest bullet manufacturer in America for military, law enforcement and retail. It supplies bullets and ammunition to the Armed Forces, Department of Justice, FBI, Department of Homeland Security and others, and it operates the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant. The company even announced the delivery of 2 billion 7.62 mm rounds to the U.S. Army last September. ATK’s value is almost $2.4 billion and it is expected to generate about $4.3 billion in sales in 2013.

FLIR Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: FLIR) has remained independent and it handles various degrees of imaging via night-time vision, thermal imaging, chemical and biological detection, explosives detection and more. With a market value of more than $3.5 billion today, its expected sales for 2013 are projected to be more than $1.5 billion.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ: KTOS) is a national security technology company providing products, services and solutions for security in the United States. While diversified, Kratos recently announced contracts to deploy specialized security systems for mass transportation, rail and critical infrastructure awards. The company has a market value of about $285 million and it is expected to have sales of close to $975 million in 2013.

L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. (NYSE: LLL) has made many acquisitions after the 2001 to 2003 period, and it offers command, control, communications, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance products and services. It is also involved in many other defense applications. L-3 has a market value of about $7.3 billion, and it is expected to generate $12.6 billion in sales in 2013.

Lakeland Industries Inc. (NASDAQ: LAKE) is very small, but it makes chemical protective clothing, disposable protective clothing, safety gloves, turnout gear, high visibility clothing, flame and heat-resistant clothing and other items. Its value is a mere $19 million, and we would point out that this one is often skipped or overlooked because of its size and liquidity. Sales are running at just under $100 million per year.

OSI Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: OSIS) covers the homeland security, health care, defense and aerospace industries, but it is known for its Rapiscan Systems for security screening in airports, ports and buildings. It has a market value of about $1.1 billion and is expected to have 2013 sales of more than $830 million.

Raytheon Co. (NYSE: RTN) may still best be known for its Patriot Missiles and their more modern replacements, but do not forget some of its other outfits involved in integrated communications and intelligence. This ranges from seeing through walls to much more. Raytheon also acquired Applied Signal Technology in recent years for its advanced intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems and services. Raytheon is worth some $18.7 billion, and sales are expected to be about $23.8 billion in 2013.

Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: SWHC) and Sturm, Ruger & Co. Inc. (NYSE: RGR) are the two gun leaders in America and allied nations. We cannot help but wonder what this does for renewing gun demand ahead of gun control legislation. It seems that after 14 people were stabbed at a college in Houston just last week, and with two bombs going off, that the argument against gun ownership may have lost some of its bite. Smith & Wesson is worth about $560 million, and the expected 2013 sales are about $580 million. Sturm Ruger has a market value of about $934 million and is expected to have sales of about $514 million in 2013.

TASER International Inc. (NASDAQ: TASR) makes what you would call Tasers, or stun guns, for law enforcement. Whether its orders will increase as a result is probably up for debate, but its shares enjoyed glory days from 2003 to 2005, when the stock went from less than $5 to $30 briefly. Its shares have traded sideways for the most part, and it is very thinly covered by Wall St. TASER’s market value is still more than$410 million, and sales were almost $115 million in 2012.

There are many other companies that will stand to benefit if the spending around terrorism, homeland defense, surveillance and espionage rises in the near future. We are not trying to pick winners here by any means. Many information technology, service holding companies and larger defense and warfare companies have many overlaps in homeland security.

When governments threaten with the use of nuclear weapons, the world still listens. The flip side to this is that the news acts a bit like a gift to defense contractors. It is pretty hard to say that you are shutting down military spending when you have a dictator talking about nuking you.

Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT) is up 0.7% at $95.74 and is within a dollar of the 52-week high.

Northrop Grumman Corp. (NYSE: NOC) is up 1.4% at $70.40 anhd also with $1 of a year high.

General Dynamics Corp. (NYSE: GD) is up 1.8% at $68.21 and is still close to 10% under its 52-week high of $74.05.

Raytheon Co. (NYSE: RTN) is up 1.1% at $58.17 and its 52-week high is $59.34.

Alliant Techsystems Inc. (NYSE: ATK) is trading up only 0.15% at $70.72 against a 52-week high of $72.57, but that company has handily risen to domestic bullet demand in the United States.

There is still no positive development for gold.

24/7 Wall St. wants to cover the other side of the bull market coin. The saying goes, “Bull markets often crawl up a wall of worry.” Here are 10 serious considerations that those of us who remain bullish on stocks need to keep in the back of our minds. We have looked at the year-to-date changes for much of the analysis, and historical data or color has been added elsewhere.

1. The Ticker Tape and Market Internals: For starters, when markets hit all-time highs, the ticker tape and market internals come into focus. The S&P 500 took more than two weeks of challenging the all-time high before closing above it, even though the DJIA already had broken out. In fact, it looks like the S&P was within 10 points of the all-time closing high for almost three weeks before punching through. Some may question that the ticker tape is not as strong as you might expect. DJIA stocks are up year-to-date by a ratio of 14:1, but the S&P ratio is close to 7:1 year-to-date. Capital inflows into stocks have been monumental, but they seem to have slowed. Even with the normal bump at the end of a month and start of a month from 401K monies, what if that starts to peter out? It takes money to make money, and it actually does require inflows to keep driving up stock prices. What if the “sell in May and go away” theme comes early this year?

2. The European Follies: That darned European situation just refuses to go away. First it was all the woes of the PIIGS (Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece, Spain). But in 2013 suddenly Cyprus matters. This inconsequential island nation is just not very relative. Outside of being an offshore banking mecca and a tourist destination, and having a British naval base, this nation should have no importance at all. Unfortunately, that is now the world we live in. Imagine if Spain, Italy, Portugal or Greece were suddenly back in the soup. They at least matter compared to Cyprus. A Dow Jones headline caught our attention: Greek Retail Sales Plunge 15.7% as Country Enters Sixth Year of Recession. Any new spike higher in interest rates around the PIIGS, or any other unwelcome growing anti-austerity measures, could tip Europe again. If Europe unexpectedly gets far worse again all of a sudden, kiss our great U.S. bull market bye-bye.

Read also: The Bull Market Road Map for April

3. Employment and Economic Reversals: What if the employment data really does get wrecked by the spending sequestration? This is a low probability because sequestration was really just cutting the growth of spending rather than cutting actual spending. But what if employment just reverses again? The validity of the 7.7% unemployment rate from February can be debated, but that was still the best reading in four years. What if companies just start laying workers off or have furloughs for, say, the entire slow summer period? It seems unlikely, but it is possible. The equity markets would not respond positively if the official unemployment rate gets back up around 8%.