China Wind Systems, Inc., is expected to start trading today (Dec. 29, 2009) on the NASDAQ. Formerly trading on the OTC Bulletin Board (OTCBB:CHWY), the stock’s in the one industry that’s stronger than just about any other right now: green tech.

A supplier of parts for wind power, the company nearly doubled its revenues last quarter from $7.86 million (USD) to $13.58 million. That was good for after-tax income of $1.78 million. Doesn’t sound like much, but that’s a lot better than some of the more speculative (and unprofitable) companies they compete with.

Here’s three reasons to look closer at investing in China Wind Systems, Inc.:

1. The Chinese government. Rather than talk green power, China’s actually investing in it. In fact, the country could soon become the world leader in wind energy with plans to pour $150 billion into the industry.

2. Good Track Record. After getting crushed by The Great Recession this spring, stock in China Wind Systems, Inc., has climbed some 500+ percent. The equity fell below $1 per share in March, and it’s currently trading at $5.48.

3. Electroslag. The company landed a 2.5-year contact to deliver 12,000 tonnes of ESR (electroslag remelted products) parts to Shanghai Jing An Metal Materials Co Ltd. Used to create “high-integrity” wind parts, China Wind Systems has dumped a lot of cash into building a manufacturing facility for ESR products. The single order from Jing An Metals will nearly utilize their capacity through 2012, and they expect to deliver some 4,000 tonnes of ESR in 2010. That’s good for more than $11 million in revenue.

Profitable company + hot industry + government support = powder-keg company. I wouldn’t be surprised to see this stock double in the coming days and weeks. The CEO, Jianhua Wu, sure sounds enthusiastic.

“We believe this upgrade to be a clear reflection of our commitment to optimizing our corporate governance and shareholder value,” he said in a press release. “As a result, we anticipate that our Company will attain higher visibility and interest from the investor and media communities.”

The timing is perfect, and investors seem to be clamoring for more wind companies. Since China Windpower – a wind generator company – IPO’d in Hong Kong earlier this year, their stock has just kept climbing. Recently, it was up 369 percent. It’ll be interesting to see if American investors are as enthusiastic.

China Wind Systems expects to begin trading on The NASDAQ Global Market under the new stock symbol “CWS.”

No one’s saying the banking system in the U.S. is healthy. Small banks in particular are struggling with 55 of them failing to pay the government dividends on money they’d received from the stimulus program (that number is up from 33 in August).

Bigger banks, though, look like they’re starting to stand on their own two feet. Among them: Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) and Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC). Wells Fargo returned $25 billion in stimulus money to the Federal government recently and, on Dec. 23, Citigroup paid back $20 billion.

They’re doing it at the expense of investors, of course, who helped the companies raise capital through stock offerings. There are numerous benefits to repaying the debt, however: 1) the elimination of dividend payments owed to the government; 2) less governmental oversight; 3) the ability to look at acquisitions and change pay structures. In short, they can start operating with more autonomy.

Buy now?

The U.S. Treasury still holds warrants to purchase Citigroup common stock issued as part of the TARP investment. That’s good for 7.7 billion common shares, which the government plans to sell next year. In short, they plan to make a profit by selling the warrants once the company’s common stock has appreciated.

It’s a sound bet so long as Citigroup isn’t mired in credit card defaults – a problem a lot of investors see as endangering the recovery.

In the short-term, interest in banking stocks is decided by trading volume, and overseas companies like National Bank of Greece (NYSE:NBG) and Bank of Ireland (NYSE:IRE) are trading above their volume averages, while interest in Citigroup is much lower.

Still, in the long run, it’s clear that the government won’t let anything happen to Citigroup, which means they can afford to start taking risks again. As they slowly move their toxic assets onto a different set of books, the company can look forward to being profitable – something that, one day, will great for their stock price.

The biggest beneficiaries of the powerful stock market rally since March have been small, speculative stocks; companies with little or no history of profits and a record of burning through cash. In a recent New York Times article, Mark Hulbert gives the contrasting example of shares in Wal-Mart and shares in Sanmina-SCI.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE:WMT) has a long history of profits and very little debt. Since the stock market rally in March, the company’s shares have risen only 14 percent.

Sanmina-SCI Corporation (NASDAQ:SANM), on the other hand, “is loaded with debt and in each of the last eight years has lost money.” Still, the company’s shares are up more than 600 percent. That makes Wal-Mart’s gain look laughable.

Still, the cream has a way of rising to the top in the stock market. Speculative stocks might not be around in 5 years, but certainly, Wal-Mart will.

Mr. Hulbert proposes at least one reason why large cap stocks are underperforming right now: The government’s stimulus program. He quotes Jeremy Granthman of GMO, a money-management firm in Boston: “The sizable disparity of junk over quality should not have come as a big surprise given how massive the government’s stimulus has been. It’s almost a certain bet that high-quality blue chips will outperform lower-quality stocks over the longer term.”

Eventually money will swing toward companies making money. We’re just not sure if that’ll happen now or six months from now. In the meantime, allocating your portfolio between the two is likely the best approach. Giving up gains of 600 percent is, after all, hard to resist.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) had a great Christmas. The stock was up $14 per share (7.4 percent) in a shortened trading week with most of the gains coming on Thursday – when the stock shot up nearly 3.5 percent. Here’s three reasons why you shouldn’t be afraid to buy their stock; even after it hit a record for the highest share price in the company’s history:

1. The App Store. Apple’s store for iPhone applications is basically a flea market for software. You can access it from your phone, and – after you enter your password – download free or paid apps. You can do anything with their apps: from getting stock market quotes (which I do daily) to playing with koi fish in a fake digital pond.

All told, there are about 100,000 apps in the store right now, and Apple gets 30 percent of the profits from the sale of each paid app. There are enough sales right now for the company to be earning an estimated $1 billion a year – just from their apps! To put it another way, Apple’s making $2.7 million every day off software they didn’t make.

2. Asia. The iPhone is utterly dominant in Japan (where it has 46 percent of the market share!). While sales of the iPhone have stumbled in China, there’s lots of room for growth. From CultofMac.com:

“In Japan, the iPhone has 46 percent of the market. That comes after a slow start in Japan, a lesson some thought could also apply to China.”

In the same article, the author argues that many Chinese prefer phones that use styluses since they accept Chinese handwriting. That could be a major hurdle for the phone there, or it could be a learning experience for Apple, which will help them tweak their offering – something they desperately need to do.

3. The Tablet. A lot of analysts are saying the reason for the pop in the stock’s price on Thursday was a snowball of rumors that Apple’s about to release some new technology. Dubbed “the tablet”, the company still hasn’t officially acknowledged the product, but just about everyone else in the world has. It’s rumored to be the equivalent of a giant iPhone. It would sit in your lap or on a tabletop and be fully touchscreen. It’s a unusual idea, and that has people excited about it. If nothing else, it’s a golden chance to buy the rumor and sell the news.