In my recent posts, I have been reviewing the most popular sectors for the coming year, according the the newsletter advisors who participated in the Top Picks from 2007 report. In my last post, I highlighted stocks in healthcare, tech, and telecom. Today, I want to review the resource sectors -- energy and metals -- that remain very popular among advisors, despite being out-of-favor in recent trading.

First, let's look at the metals, where gold remains a popular choice. Sy Harding chose ASA Bermuda, a closed-end gold fund, Curtis Hesler selected Yamana, and Martin Weiss opted for Kinross.

Pamela Aden selected the bullion tracking exchange-traded fund, the streetTracks Gold Trust; Mark Leibovit also chose streettracks Gold. Meanwhile, Mary Anne Aden chose the iShares Silver Trust.

Outside of the precious metals, Tom Bishop chose copper play, Taseko Mines, while Neil Macneale selected steel stocks.

Equally as volatile as metals -- and currently out-of-favor -- has been energy. The energy sector has been high on the list of Top Picks for the past 4 years. This year, however, there is a noticeable shift.

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 Stocks Report.

Energy Metals (NYSE: EMU) is the favorite speculative pick for 2007 from Elliott Gue. The editor of The Energy Strategist explains, "The supply/demand balance for uranium is tighter than for just about any other major commodity; supply of natural uranium from mines just isn't enough to cover even current demand. And with a global building boom for nuclear power plants underway, demand for uranium is only going to rise.

"In late October, uranium mining giant Cameco announced that it was experiencing uncontrollable water inflow into one of its key new mine projects, delaying the project from in early 2008 to, perhaps, mid-2009 for this mine.

"By around 2008, some utilities will be running low on uranium inventories to fuel their existing reactors. And there aren't many other sources of uranium out there to fill the void. For an aggressive play on this trend, consider Energy Metals. The stock, previously only listed in Toronto, recently listed its shares on the NYSE.

"While Energy Metals is headquartered in Canada, most of its projects are located in the U.S. Its Hobson facility in Texas is a licensed processing plant that is currently capable of processing 500,000 pounds of uranium oxide (yellowcake) annually from ISL liquids. This plant could produce as much as 1 million pounds of yellowcake annually once EMU completes upgrades to the facility.