Since the early 1980s we’ve marked the end of the calendar year by asking each of a group of investment pros to name the one stock they think most likely to either outpace or trail the market over the coming 12 months. Our panel of seers now numbers 17, with 12 bulls, 5 bears.

Both sets performed admirably in the year gone by. Long bets from the Love Only One class of 2005 rose an average 16% over the course of the contest versus 7% for the S&P 500. The shorts ended a three-year streak of poor showings. Their picks declined 25% on average. In all, 12 of our 17 contestants earned our customary reward for beating the market, an invitation to return for 2006. Eleven have accepted.

Full story (reg. required) at Forbes.com

Washington, D.C. – The word “military” doesn’t appear in Microsoft’s most recent annual report. Nor does the company’s name figure into tallies of the largest civilian or military contractors to the United States government. Still, in comments to Washington D.C. tech executives yesterday, Chief Executive Steve Ballmer put such work at the core of Microsoft’s mission.

“The kind of high-technology work going on in the defense business and defense contracting, the use of those technologies by the military,” he said, “are sure shapers of our strategy.”

Ballmer gave his remarks at the Capital Hilton–just down the street from the White House–to an audience brought together by the D.C. Tech Council, the Tech Council of Maryland TechNet and the Northern Virginia Technology Council. The latter group counts 1,000 members, including D.C.-area contractors Anteon International, CACI International and SI International.

An energetic speaker, Ballmer knows how to work a crowd. He took the stage as though he’d just downed a few cups of coffee from the refreshment stand outside the ballroom.

Full story at Forbes.com