Darden's valuation is reasonable, and its concepts are here to stay.

Editor's Note: The following article was written by Raymond James Chief Investment Strategist Jeff Saut. It has been reproduced with permission for the benefit of the Minyanville community.Last week I spoke to a financial adviser I haven’t heard from since March. I told him to buy Bryan Elliott’s “Scorched-Earth List.” As I wrote in Rally Till Spring?:"The 4 ‘scorched earth’ likely survivors for a package (in case I'm wrong on one of them) are: Ruth’s Hospitality Group (RUTH); Morton’s (MRT); Carrols (TAST); and O’Charley’s (CHUX). Each company has high leverage - but at very manageable levels if cash flow ...

This eatery has proved to be a steady, profitable performer - if not a star - of the fast food space.

Editor's Note: The following article was written by Raymond James Chief Investment Strategist Jeff Saut. It has been reproduced with permission for the benefit of the Minyanville community.Nine and a half weeks. This refers not to the movie with Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger but rather to the current buying stampede - will it eclipse the record upside skein of 41 sessions? In Last Week of the Selling Stampede? I wrote: "I have suggested the lows were likely going to come with either a whimper or a bang. Indeed on CNBC last Monday I said the bear case was ...

Editor's Note: The following article was written by Raymond James Chief Investment Strategist Jeff Saut. It has been reproduced with permission for the benefit of the Minyanville community.Spring officially begins this Friday and many Wall Street wags are saying that economic growth won't resume for years which in turn implies that last week’s stock market rally was/is nothing more than a bear-market bounce. In Last Week of the Selling Stampede? too posed the question of whether this would be a bear market rally or something more. As stated: "I have suggested the lows were likely going to come with ...