MAJOR PAPERS:

• The books of Fannie Mae -- Federal National Mortgage Association (NYSE: FNM) -- and Freddie Mac -- Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (NYSE: FRE) -- are being examined by the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to review their financial condition, according to the Wall Street Journal.
• The Wall Street Journal also reported that the Chevy Volt, an electric car from General Motors Corporation (NYSE: GM), is slated to roll out in two years and it received a major boost from 36 utilities that operate in 40 states who agreed to work together to make the plug-in vehicle possible. Among the utilities are American Electric Power Company Inc (NYSE: AEP), Consolidated Edison Inc (NYSE: ED), Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE: DUK), and Edison International (NYSE: EIX).
• Struggling mortgage lender Paragon is reportedly in talks with The Blackstone Group LP (NYSE: BX) about a potential takeover by Blackstone, the Financial Times reported.

OTHER PAPERS:

• The New York Times reported that TiVo Inc (NASDAQ: TIVO) will today introduce a "product purchase" feature in partnership with Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN). Under TiVo's plan, the television remote control will be turned into a tool for buying products that are advertised and promoted on talk shows and commercials.

I have not decided who I am voting for yet. Or maybe it would be more accurate to say I have decided on multiple occasions only to become undecided again. While some will see me as fickle, or worse, others may be in the same boat.

I am also continuing to think about what difference any of the candidates can make on the economy, and based on these musings, where to invest. My current belief is that none of them will have a profound impact on our economy.

There are no financial wizards among them. Here is the shocker though: I like all three candidates, or at least can find some good in each of them. Each of them is a fighter, and I believe each one of them brings certain skill sets to the job. There are also things about each candidate that are inescapably negative. Clinton has so much baggage, Zsa Zsa Gabor would be jealous. Obama does not have the experience and he has a degree of arrogance (right sweetie); McCain is an old stick-in-the-mud who, as a long-time senator, has spent more hours with lobbyists than almost anybody, though he is pretending otherwise.

Where does this leave me from an investment perspective? My first choice, for stability with moderate growth and dividends, remains the defense sector. I wrote Defense sector rolls over S&P 500 for 8th straight year a while back and I still think that it is the most secure. Here's why:

A) None of the candidates will want to appear soft on defense when we are at war, and all three have made threatening remarks in some country's direction to make sure the electorate knows that.

B) The War in Afghanistan and Iraq rages on, and even the most optimist view is that a draw-down will take years.

C) Even if all war ceased immediately, the upgrading and replenishment of the hardware will cost billions of dollars and most of the defense contractors have that in their backlogs now. Chasing Value: General Dynamics & Raytheon -- The defense does not rest

Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK) shares are trading higher after the company reported a first-quarter profit of $465 million, or 37 cents per share. DUK's adjusted profit came in at 30 cents per share, in line with Wall Street estimates, while the company pulled in revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter. above analysts' expected revenue of $3.25 billion. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on DUK.

After hitting a one-year high of $20.97 last May, the stock hit a one-year low of $16.91 in August. DUK opened this morning at $19.00. So far today the stock has hit a low of $18.80 and a high of $19.20. As of 12:20, DUK is trading at $19.01, up 34 cents (1.9%), which is a huge move for this stock. The chart for DUK looks neutral and deteriorating slightly, while S&P gives the stock a neutral 3 Stars (out of 5) Hold rating.

For 25 years, Steven Halpern, editor of TheStockAdvisors.com, has surveyed the leading financial newsletter advisors asking for their favorite stocks for the coming year. This article is one of 100+ ideas in the Best Stocks for 2008 report.

"My favorite conservative recommendation for 2008 is Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK)," says Roger Conrad, editor of The Utility Forecaster.

"Like most electric utilities, Duke Energy faces a capital spending challenge in coming years, as it ramps up output to meet exploding future demand and meets new regulations on carbon dioxide. Unlike most, however, it's well positioned not only to meet the new rules but to profit from them.

"Duke's nuclear power plants have long been among the best-run in the industry. To them, the company has added a wind developer this year as well. But the real opportunity could well be in coal. In November, Duke won Indiana regulators' approval to build a 630 megawatt integrated gasification combined cycle plant (IGCC).

"By converting that state's coal to clean-burning gas, the plant will produce four times the electricity of the Edwardsville coal plant it will replace and 45% less carbon dioxide (CO2) per megawatt hour. That's not including the potential addition of CO2 capture technology.

The more questions you have these days about the investment world, and the more concerned you are about economy over the next few years, the more you should have some of your assets in electric utilities. Regardless if our nation makes a push toward nuclear, solar, or wind power or does nothing at all, electric utilities will remain the big players. Year in and year out they have a stable customer base, pay a higher dividend yield and have a much higher level of predictability than almost any other investment class.

Another factor that is likely to contribute to the growth of electric utilities is the push toward electric "plug-in" cars. I have not done any analysis as to how this will affect global warming, the price of gas, the quality of air, or total national energy consumption, but those issues aside, if we change even 25% of the nation's automobiles to all-electric over the next ten years, that is a lot of growth.

Historically, the Dow Jones Utilities Average has beaten the pants off the Dow Jones Industrial Average for total return. There are short periods of time when the Industrials jump past the Utilities, but over the long haul, investors have done much better with what seems like the less attention-grabbing, boring old utilities. Choosing boring stocks remind you of anyone? Yes, "My Pal Warren" has been buying these boring stocks over the last decade (adding to his others in chocolate, underwear, ice cream and insurance) and you can see the results in the five-year chart comparing the two Dow indices.

If you're looking for a balanced, longer-term utilities play, consider Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE: DUK). Duke is that rare type of utility that offers investors an ample amount of safety, an adequate dividend, and the potential for a decent capital gain upside via growth.

In general, analysts expect DUK to register adequate revenue results in 2007-2008 following the integration of Cinergy, acquired in 2006. Duke has exited several higher-risk businesses, and what's left is impressive: 3.9 million utilities customers in the South and Midwest, 8,700 MW of unregulated generating capacity in the U.S., and 4,200 MW of generating capacity in Latin America. Further, given current population, household formation, and economic projections in the South U.S., the long-term trends look good for a considerable portion of Duke's operations.

Other positives: Look for Duke to better-utilize its Midwest gas-fired plants, and maintain cost-control discipline, in the years ahead. Further, DUK's 4.6% dividend and a reasonable p/e of 15 adds to the favorable mix. The Reuters F2007/F2008 EPS consensus estimates for DUK are: $1.23 to $1.26.

The downside? Duke's revenue could be hurt if a generally-favorable regulatory stance in its regions changes; an unusually cool summer could also keep revenue below analysts expectations. Don't look for a major upside revenue surprise with Duke, but everything else, from a utilities investment standpoint, lines up.

The First Call mean rating for DUK is: Hold. [18 firms.] Mean 2007 target: $19.90. [high: $23, low: $16.]

Stock Analysis: Duke Energy is a moderate-risk stock not suitable for low-risk investors. Consider buying Duke's shares if your portfolio does not contain a utilities stock. Investors with an investment horizon longer than 1 year should be rewarded from DUK's shares. Sell / Stop Loss if you were to purchase this stock: $12.

This year has been a stock picker's market extraordinaire! This month's review provides ample evidence of this, as you'll note that Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), which I included for fun because of its popularity, beat all else as a portfolio of one. The average of my seven picks came in second, beating James Cramer's average based on his nine picks. Both Cramer and I beat each of the three indices I am tracking, and therefore beat the average as well, with the largest and most stable, the Standard & Poor's 500 coming in last.

Of course, this could easily change given recent market volatility. A sharp downturn in the market could reverse our fortunes. A lot can happen in the remaining two months -- I take nothing for granted.

While Google shined brightly this year, Cramer and I have each made one pick that shined brighter. Cramer's best, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) has gone into orbit this year on the wings of the iPhone, iPod, and growing Mac sales. Benefiting from rising oil prices, shortages in China and the Chinese government allowing a 10% price hike, my PetroChina ADR (NYSE: PTR) has rocketed, becoming the second-largest capitalized company in the world. PTR has done this even in the shadow of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A) selling its shares and Warren Buffett questioning the huge appreciation of the Chinese stock market and stocks overall.

No surprise the volatile James Cramer of TheStreet.com carries the burden of having made the best and worst picks for the year among those I've been tracking monthly. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), the best performer among all the stocks and indices in this review, has saved his rear throughout the year. In general, it has been a good year for energy and tech stocks. It has been a poor year for the financial sector, and as of August, for most of the Wall Street investment firms.

August had some gut wrenching moments but finished on a positive note. Still, the Dow Jones Industrial Average's 14,000 level has not been seen since the financial sector gave the bears something to grouse about. The housing market and subprime loans continue to worry the market, but no help is expected in the form of rate cut from the Federal Reserve.

Crude oil prices have been up slightly, but down at the pump even through the busy Labor Day weekend and even with continued turmoil in Iraq. All the speculation about a Dow 15,000...16,000...17,000 has come and gone and I have not read about such silliness lately.

This morning one of the nation's largest electric companies, Duke Energy Corp. (NYSE: DUK), reported its second-quarter earnings, which dropped 17% year over year, but the company was still able to beat analyst estimates.

The reason why the company saw the big drop in earnings for its most recent quarter was its spinoff earlier this year of its natural gas business, now Spectra Energy Corp. (NYSE: SE). Analysts had been expecting the company to show earnings of 20 cents per share, but the actual numbers came in at 23 cents a share, and Wall Street has pushed the stock up 1.7 percent following the news. So far on the day the stock has climbed 43 cents to $18.33.

Yesterday, Spectra announced its second-quarter numbers, which showed earnings of 31 cents per share, under the 32 cents per share that analysts had been expecting for its second-ever quarter as a stand-alone company.

Luckily for Duke, the quarter turned out with revenues climbing by 5 percent to $3.04 billion, up from $2.9 billion during its second quarter in 2006.

All in all, a strong quarter for Duke, and one that is being rewarded nicely in today's market.

Michael Fowlkes has worked as a stock trader for seven years and spent the last two years working as an analyst for the online investment advisory service Investor's Observer.

Great companies and great stocks can be found everyday and everywhere you look. However, sometimes we look but we do not see. How can that be? Sheldon Liber brings a brighter light to illuminate picks for 2007 and beyond. Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) is his second of seven for 2007.

Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK) -- Earlier in the year I reported that the Dow Jones Utility Index had beaten the Industrials across the board for six-month, year-to-date, one-year, three-year, five-year and 10-year periods. Another vote for boring stocks. If you follow the reported activities of Warren Buffet over the past few years you will also find he has been acquiring utilities for Berkshire Hathaway. Now factor in a very good dividend yield of 3.86% and you might be compelled to consider this stock.

In January, Spectra Energy, the natural gas operator, will be going its own way as a separate company. Management believes this will be a catalyst to increase shareholder value. It has been reported in Barron's and elsewhere that senior managers holds a lot of stock themselves, so they have plenty of incentive to make this deal work. (Read the Company Profile).

I cannot say that DUK is cheap. It closed yesterday at $33.17, near its 52 week high of $34.50 and its P/E is 17.46 -- about average for large cap stocks, but high for a utility. The other metrics are also average, but there is plenty here to at least justify putting it on investors' watch list to facilitate picking some up on an off day or week. Come this time next year, I think it will be higher. Remember that utility companies have a captive audience -- I mean customer -- so there is some downside protection.

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.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Today's notable initiations include NetFlix (NFLX) and Diamond Foods (DMND):

• Bank of America started NetFlix Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) with a Sell rating and $24 target, as they expect increasing subscriber acquisition costs and decreasing average revenue per subscriber to be challenging for the long-term;
• Diamond Foods Inc. (NASDAQ:DMND) was initiated with a Buy rating and $23 target at Oppenheimer, as the firm believes Diamond Foods has a solid core business and sees healthy growth with the Emerald products division.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• JB Hunt Transort Services Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) was initiated with a Hold rating at McDonald.
• Duke Energy Corp. Holding Co. (NYSE:DUK) was initiated with a Hold rating and $35 target at Deutsche Bank, citing valuation.
• JP Morgan initiated shares of International Coal Group Inc. (NYSE:ICO) with an Underweight rating, citing difficult business conditions for Central Appalachian coal miners.
• Rochdale initiated Cypress Semiconductor Inc. (NYSE:CY) with a Buy rating and $21 target; the firm believes new business, operating efficiencies and the SunPower (SPWR) investment will improve profitability in 2007.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Home Depot (HD) and Lowe's (LOW) led a modest downgrade list Monday, as the Dow and Nasdaq moved higher in early trading.

• UBS Investment downgraded to Reduce From Neutral both Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW), target lowered to $24 from $30, and Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD), target to $32 from $37, citing further weakness n the U.S. housing market.
• Bernstein downgraded both Intel Corp. (NASDAQ:INTC) to Underperform from Market Perform, target is $17; and National Semiconductor Corp. (NYSE:NSM), to Market Perform from Market Perform, target is $26, citing concerns over demand and inventory build in the sector.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• BMO Capital downgraded Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) to Market Perform from Outperform, following Q3 results and due to the company's outlook.
• Finally, Matrix downgraded Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM), citing increased costs and valuation.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).