The correct answer is      (D.)  Kraft (KFT)

As you can see, all five of these firms posted healthy double-digit gains in their first year as stand-alone companies, led by an impressive +39% return at packaged foods giant Kraft.

However, this is just a small sample of recent winners -- investors could have crushed the broader market in recent years by investing in dozens of other popular spin-offs. In fact, Lehman Brothers found that nearly 9 of every 10 spin-offs between 2000 and 2005 outperformed the S&P 500 in their first two years as public companies -- by an average margin of +45%!

In the July 2007 issue of StreetAuthority.com's premium Market Advisor newsletter, editor Paul Tracy and his staff explained why spin-offs tend to outperform the broader market. In general, when a giant company is broken back down into its smaller components, the resulting units are far more nimble. These smaller businesses also benefit from having dedicated management teams, and their corporate strategies tend to be better focused on their unique market. As a result, the sum of the pieces is usually worth more than the whole. 

Along with their evaluation of this trend, Paul and his team identified six recent spin-offs that are ready to run. Each boasts durable competitive advantages and a bright long-term outlook -- and all are poised to be worth far more on their own than they have been up until now. 

One of these recent spin-offs is a financial services powerhouse with over 250,000 retail locations worldwide. The firm's global network processes five times as many transactions as its nearest rival, and is accessed by customers twelve times every second of every day. Over the course of the year, those millions of transactions generate enormous profits for this firm, and for its investors. 

The next on the list is one of the nation's leading energy infrastructure companies -- boasting 17,000 miles of natural gas pipelines. Pipeline owners don't actually own the natural gas transported over their grids, but rake in steady fees based on the volume of gas transported -- limiting their exposure to volatile commodity prices. As long as natural gas keeps flowing, this firm stands to generate massive cash flows and continued gains for shareholders.

To learn more about Paul Tracy's Market Advisor newsletter, and to read in-depth profiles of all six of these outstanding recent spin-offs, please visit this link.