Each year Steven Halpern, editor of TheStockAdvisors.com, surveys the leading financial newsletter advisors asking for their favorite stocks for the coming year. This article is part of his 24th annual Top Picks Report.

Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK) is the top conservative investment for 2007 from Todd Salamone, editor of Equity WealthBuilder. He observes, "With the Dow utility average trading at all-time highs amid a low interest rate environment, it is amazing that utility stocks have received little attention.

"Meanwhile, Duke is a strong name in the sector. Not only does it offer strong capital appreciation potential, but the 3.87% yield rates among the top dividend yields in the group.

"In January 2007, the company plans on spinning off its natural gas operations into a new, publicly traded company called Spectra Energy. The move is designed to unlock value in both the natural-gas operation and the electric utility, with the streamlined businesses expected to operate more efficiently. This spin-off, therefore, is a positive catalyst for the upcoming year.

"From a technical perspective, DUK has become a relative-strength leader, outperforming the Dow Jones Utility Average since October 2005. Turning to DUK's sentiment backdrop, an earnings miss in early November 2006 did little to derail the shares.

"Like most stocks in this sector, DUK receives little respect from Wall Street, as only seven of 21 analysts rate the shares a 'buy,' according to Thomson/First Call. This suggests upgrade potential that can attract buyers.

"Another source of potential buying power comes from short sellers, where short interest has grown from 42 million shares in December 2004 to 67 million shares in November 2006. The fact that there has been shorting activity into DUK's rally suggests buying via short covering can help sustain the trend that is already in place."

To see Todd's favorite speculative idea for 2007, click here.