Did you miss-out on purchasing Fluor's shares last winter? Take heart, FLR is headed considerably higher.

I'm Reiterating my Buy rating for Fluor (NYSE: FLR), first recommended on February 17, 2009 at a price of $39.12. The low-down on FLR:

As earnings season begins to wind down, some apparel retailers are scheduled to report quarterly results this week. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters anticipate that Walmart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT), the 800-pound gorilla in the space, will report that it earned $0.77 per share in the first quarter, about the same as in the first quarter of last year. But JCPenney Co. (NYSE: JCP), Kohl's Corp. (NYSE: KSS), Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE: JWN), and Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) are expected to report lower profits for the first quarter as consumers continued to hold off on spending. Macy's Inc. (NYSE: M) and Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF) are expected to have swung to a loss year over year.

Whole Foods Market Inc. (NASDAQ: WFMI) and Winn Dixie Stores Inc. (NASDAQ: WINN) are likewise expected to report declining earnings, while the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. (NYSE: GAP), parent of the A&P supermarket chain, is expected to have narrowed its net loss 68.9% to $0.28 per share.

Investing, like the politics that leads to U.S. public policy, is the art of the possible.

Conditions shift, windows of opportunity present themselves, even amid choppy seas. One such opportunity is presenting itself with Fluor (NYSE: FLR).

Fluor is a leading international design, engineering, and contracting firm with projects that include designing and building manufacturing facilities, refineries, pharmaceutical facilities, health care buildings, power plants and telecommunications and transportation infrastructure.

Do not underestimate the power of a new administration in Washington. With the ability to spend a huge amount of dollars, team Obama can wield tremendous influence in the market.

Case in point is the stem cell space. It is widely expected that Obama will issue an executive order eliminating restrictions on stem cell research.

Stocks like StemCells Inc. (NASDAQ: STEM) and Geron Corp. (NASDAQ: GERN) have been moving higher since the inaugural.

Coincidentally, on Friday, GERN announced approval for human trials for its treatment of spinal chord injuries using stem cells. Both GERN and STEM were up big as a result.

Another space expected to do well under the Obama administration is construction. A massive stimulus plan is said to be coming in February. A key point of the plan will be to boost infrastructure spending.

The dollars will benefit companies like Fluor Corp. (NYSE: FLR) and Jacobs Engineering (NYSE: JEC). Unlike stem cells, the market has yet to move these stocks higher. FLR is down more than 10% and JEC is down nearly 18% so far this year.

At long last -- to this Democrat's view anyway -- Barack Obama is the president of the United States. Now, it's time to gaze into our crystal ball.

Obama has many things on his plate, including fixing the economy. Lots of people are trying to pick the winners and losers. Here are my guesses. Keep in mind that it may take several years for the impact of Obama's policies to be felt.

Defense: Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT), Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA), Northrop Grumman Corp. (NYSE: NOC) and Raytheon Co. (NYSE: RTN) will benefit from the spending needed to replace worn-out military equipment from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and Obama's push to improve health care technology. The defense contractors over the past few years have become huge government IT contractors and are experts at systems integration. Each have plunged by double-digits over the past year.

Healthy living: Call me an optimist but I expect the Obama administration to push healthier living and for greater control of health care. Hain Celestial Group Inc. (NASDAQ: HAIN), the largest provider of organic food, seems a likely beneficiary. Also, it's hard to see how he is going to be able to digitize health care records without the involvement of health insurers such as Cigna Corp. (NYSE: CI). Hain is down 42% over the past 52 weeks, while Cigna has plunged more than 70%.

"Infrastructure stocks have been laid low by the economic downturn; but once massive government stimulus programs get growth going again, these companies should be among the surest winners," says Stephen Leeb.

In The Complete Investor newsletter, the advisor explains, "We've found four top infrastructure stocks, now at bargain-basement levels, that we think will surge. All are all astonishingly cheap when you consider how vital their role is in worldwide economic growth."

"It would be difficult to find a group of stocks more leveraged to economic growth yet whose valuations imply there will be no growth.

"If you have any faith in the world's future, these stocks are for you, and we think they will be dramatic outperformers as stimulus spending starts to kick in.

"Most diverse among the four is Jacobs Engineering (NYSE: JEC), which serves the chemical, pharmaceutical, building/infrastructure, and oil and gas industries. Nearly 20% of its revenues come from government sources, domestic and foreign.

"The company has nominal debt and has been generating hefty free cash flow, which management has indicated it may use to acquire beaten-down compatible firms, adding to future growth.

This post is part of a special annual report -- Top Stock Picks '09 -- in which TheStockAdvisors.com asked 75 leading newsletter advisors to select their favorite investment for the new year.

"Fluor (NYSE: FLR), my top pick for 2009, is a global heavyweight in the engineering, procurement, construction and maintenance field," says noted value investor Nathan Slaughter.

The editor of Half-Priced Stocks explains, "2008 won't go down as one of the most memorable for Fluor shareholders -- but 2009 is likely to tell a different story.

"Texas-based Fluor began by building oil refineries over a century ago and has since expanded its repertoire to encompass other specialties including power, telecommunications, and transportation. Annual revenues are now $20 billion.

"In early December, President-elect Obama unveiled ambitious plans for a hefty economic stimulus package, spearheaded by a pledge to rebuild highways and complete other public works projects that will revitalize our aging infrastructure.

"These bold initiatives are aimed at putting workers back on the payrolls and reinvigorating the nation's economy -- but they will also funnel billions into the coffers of construction firms like Fluor.

This post is part of a special report, A Dozen Ways to Play an Obama Building Boom.

"President-elect Obama recently announced that he is working on a stimulus package that could be as large as $1 trillion," notes BizRadio host Daniel Frishberg in The MoneyMan Report.

"This money would be used on infrastructure. Items such as new roads, bridges, etc. would be on the 'to do list.'

"The theory is that this would bring jobs and thus help stimulate the economy. On this news, many of the infrastructure companies rallied. These are the same companies that have been severely beaten up due to global growth slowing.

"Thus, with a new stimulus package focused on infrastructure spending imminent, not only in the U.S. but some emerging countries, we are using some of our cash to invest in various infrastructure companies.

"We are purchasing Fluor Corp. (NYSE: FLR). This is a global engineering firm that will be a huge beneficiary from all the infrastructure spending.

"Even though the stock has recovered the last few weeks, it is still down over 50% from its high. Given their prospects and valuation, we believe this is a great company to invest in at present levels.

"We are also purchasing KBR, Inc. (NYSE: KBR). The company was spun off from Halliburton and they focus on engineering & construction. KBR gets a lot of their sales from contracts in Iraq and other countries.

"The stock fell 75% before recovering somewhat. However, the stock is still down 63% in the last 12 months and we believe the prospects for their business are excellent."

Steven Halpern's TheStockAdvisors.com offers a daily look at the latest market commentary and favorite stock picks and investment ideas from the nation's leading financial newsletter advisors.

This post is part of a special report, A Dozen Ways to Play an Obama Building Boom.

"One theme that already seems likely to dominate the playbook for the Obama team is 'infrastructure plus' -- encompassing alternative energy, the environment, and health care," says Patrick DeSouza.

The contributing editor to Steven Leeb's The Complete Investor explains, "These priorities will translate into tremendous opportunities for well-situated firms in these areas." Here are some ideas:

"The Obama Administration is likely to link infrastructure with specific policy priorities such as alternative energies and environmental protection.

"In this way, it can launch public work ventures that create jobs while simultaneously fulfilling campaign promises to tackle climate change and resource degradation. Companies with crossover appeal-a foot in both infrastructure and environmental businesses– are the ones to look at.

"Fluor (NYSE: FLR) and General Electric (NYSE: GE) -- which are already holdings in our growth model portfolio -- both fit this bill, with diversified product lines that range from large-scale infrastructure engineering projects to alternative energy infrastructure to renewable power.

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Activision Blizzard Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) beat Q3 profit expectations and announced share buybacks.
• Ambac Financial Group Inc. (NYSE: ABK) Q3 net loss widened for various reasons, sending its shares lower.
• Best Buy Inc. (NYSE: BBY) earnings prospects could benefit from difficulties at Circuit City (NYSE: CC).
• Blockbuster Inc. (NYSE: BBI) reported a smaller-than-expected Q3 loss and same-store sales up a bit.
• Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) earnings were essentially flat and revenue rose marginally.
• Fluor Corp. (NYSE: FLR) better-than-expected Q3 earnings sent its shares soaring.
• General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) delayed its Q3 report and briefly halted trading of its stock.
• Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (NYSE: GT) Q3 earnings easilly topped analysts' expectations.
• Marvel Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: MVL) Q3 results soared due to Iron Man and Incredible Hulk.
• MBIA Inc. (NYSE: MBI) greater-than-expected Q3 loss was due in part to residential mortgage exposure.
• News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) fell short of Q1 estimates and warned of the coming slowdown.
• Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) beat analysts' Q4 expectations but lowered its guidance.
• Revlon Inc. (NYSE: REV) reported unimpressive Q3 results, though the cash-flow statement was decent.
• Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) reported strong Q3 results but lowered its full-year outlook (see transcript).
• Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA) Q3 profits slipped but it beat Wall Street expectations by a penny.
• Whole Foods Market Inc. (NYSE: WFMI) lowered full-year forecast garnered interest from private equity.

Also, our Obama Picks include companies whose earnings could benefit from the outcome of the presidential election.

For more earnings highlights from this week, see Ford, Toyota, Goldman Sachs, Disney, Sprint, ADM and others.

Upcoming quarterly reports include AIG (NYSE: AIG), Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX), Tyson (NYSE: TSN), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Applied Materials (NASDAQ: AMAT), Macy's (NYSE: M), Dr Pepper (NYSE: DPS), Kohl's (NYSE: KSS), Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), JCPenney (NYSE: JCP).

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.

Fluor (NYSE: FLR - option chain) shares have soared higher today after the company reported a third-quarter profit of $183.1 million, or $1.01 per share, easily surpassing analysts' estimates of 91 cents per share. 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 FLR.

FLR opened this morning at $38.85. So far today the stock has hit a low of $38.67 and a high of $43.99. As of 12:40, FLR is trading at $42.26, up $8.25 (24.2%). The chart for FLR looks bullish and S&P gives FLR a positive 4 STARS (out of 5) buy ranking.

For a bullish hedged play on this stock, I would consider a December bull-put credit spread below the $25 range. A bull-put credit spread is an options position that combines the purchase and sale of put options to hedge risk in case the stock doesn't do what you think but still leverage nice returns. For this particular trade, we will make a 5.3% return in just six weeks as long as FLR is above $25 at December expiration. Fluor would have to fall by more than 40% before we would start to lose money. Learn more about this type of trade here.

FLR hasn't been below $28 at all in the past year and has shown support around $33 recently.

Brent Archer is an options analyst and writer at Investors Observer.

DISCLOSURE: Mr. Archer owns and/or controls diversified portfolios of long and short stock and option positions that may include holdings in companies he writes about. At publication time, Brent neither owns nor controls positions in FLR.

The focus of last week's preview was on oil and energy companies, and we saw that big oil had a good week, reporting better-than-expected results and record profits driven by high prices in the third quarter. Energy-related companies are well represented again this week and expectations in general remain high.

Early in the week, analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial anticipate that the big earnings gainers will include EOG Resources Inc. (NYSE: EOG), Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: APC), and Cimarex Energy Co. (NYSE: XEC), which are expected to post profits of $2.24 per share (up 64.7% from a year ago), $1.48 per share (up 52.7%) and $2.26 per share (up 61.1%) respectively. All three of them have offered positive surprises in recent quarters, and analysts on average recommend buying EOG and Anadarko. Other expected big earnings gainers early in the week include Forest Oil Corp. (NYSE: FST), Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (NYSE: PXD), Comstock Resources Inc. (NYSE: CRK), and MasterCard Inc. (NYSE: MA). The earnings of phosphates producer Innophos Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: IPHS) are expected to have risen 92.3% to $3.37 per share. Innophos beat estimates in the previous quarter by a whopping 210%, and analysts have been impressed with Innophos's lack of debt and pricing gains despite the slowing economy, so, on average, they recommend buying IPHS.

Also early in the week, analysts expect Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (NYSE: GT), Kaiser Aluminum Corp. (NASDAQ: KALU), and Oshkosh Corp. (NYSE: OSK) to report that their profits fell 52.9% to $0.33 per share, 45.1% to $0.67 per share, and 41.2% to $0.67 per share, respectively. These companies have tended to beat estimates in recent quarters, and the consensus recommendations of analysts are to buy them. However, PMI Group Inc. (NYSE: PMI), one of the largest private mortgage insurance providers in the U.S., is expected to take another hit as the housing slump drags on. The California-based company is expected to have widened its net loss from $1.04 per share a year ago to $2.43 per share in the most recent quarter. Its shares are down 84.5% from a year ago, and have been trading recently near their 52-week low.

This post is part of a series in which TheStockAdvisors.com asked financial experts to name their top stock pick if McCain or if Obama wins the election.

"Like a neglectful homeowner who has let their house fall into a dilapidated state of disrepair, the federal government has quite a bit of housekeeping to do; if Obama wins the election, we would look towards infrastructure plays such as Fluor (NYSE: FLR)," says Nathan Slaughter, editor of Half-Priced Stocks.

"You may remember the tragic collapse of a Minneapolis bridge last year that took 13 lives. According to the Federal Highway Administration, this is not a one-time incident but a potential epidemic.

"By their estimates, 152,000 of the nation's 600,000 bridges (1 in 4) either require substantial work or have become obsolete and need to be replaced entirely.

"The overall price tag to bring all these bridges up to date: about $140 billion. And the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) believes that bridges are actually in pretty good shape when compared to other crumbling infrastructure.

"Across the country, we have 3,500 unsafe dams in need of repair and hundreds of locks that must be fixed to allow cargo barges to navigate through inland waterways.

"Sewage treatment facilities are outdated; corroded pipes leak 6 billion gallons of drinking water daily; and maintenance on energy transmission lines has been steadily dwindling for over a decade.

"Throw in aging transit systems, highways, landfills, and ports, and the ASCE has graded America's overall infrastructure a "D" and puts the repair bill at a staggering $1.6 trillion.

"And Obama will not shy away from big government projects. In fact, the senator has gone on record as saying 'it is critically important for the United States to rebuild its national infrastructure.'

"And this isn't just hollow campaign rhetoric. Obama has thrown his support behind the National Infrastructure Bank Act, which would free up tens of billions to support various infrastructure projects.

"By all accounts, a massive amount of cash will be needed to bring our infrastructure into the 21st century, and much of that will find its way into the coffers of heavy construction companies like Fluor.

"The Texas-based company is a global heavyweight in the engineering, procurement, construction and maintenance (EPCM) field with nearly $20 billion in annual revenues.

This post is part of a series in which TheStockAdvisors.com asked financial experts to name their top stock pick if McCain or if Obama wins the election.

Which stocks would benefit from a victory by either Senator John McCain or Senator Barack Obama? To help investors sort through the sectors and stocks best positioned to benefit in a post-election environment, we posed this question to some of the nation's leading financial newsletter advisors.

Importantly, this is not a partisan report; each participating advisor has provided a favorite stock for both candidates, focused not on political preferences but unbiased stock analysis. Below we feature those stocks and ETFs that the advisors believe will be the winners depending on which candidate prevails.

McCain Stocks:

Roger Conrad - Comcast (NYSE: CCW)
Gregg Early - Elbit Systems (NASDAQ: ESLT)
Elliott Gue - Paladin Resources (Toronto: PDN)
Doug Fabian - Market Vectors Nuclear Energy (NYSE: NLR)
Vivian Lewis - Barclays (NYSE: BCS)
Bill Martin - CGG Veritas (NYSE: CGV)'
Yiannis Mostrous - Lonking Holdings (OTC: CIMHF)
Carla Pasternak - Eaton Vance Tax-Advantaged Dividend Income Fund (NYSE: EVT)
Nate Pile - SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE: GLD)
John Reese - General Dynamics (NYSE: GD)
Nathan Slaughter - USEC (NYSE: USU)
Paul Tracy - Shaw Group (NYSE: SGR)
Kelley Wright - CenturyTel (NYSE: CTL)
Tom Vass - Molex (NASDAQ: MOLX)
Martin Hutchinson - Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC), Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK), EOG Resources (NYSE: EOG)

Obama Stocks:

Roger Conrad - SunPower (NASDAQ: SPWR)
Gregg Early - AeroVironment (NASDAQ: AVAV)
Elliott Gue - SunPower (NASDAQ: SPWR)
Doug Fabian - Industrial Select Sector SPDR (NYSE: XLI)
Vivian Lewis - Cosan (NYSE: CZZ)
Bill Martin - Geron (NASDAQ: GERN)
Yiannis Mostrous - Dr. Reddy's (NYSE: RDY)
Carla Pasternak - Kinder Morgan Energy Partners (NYSE: KMP)
Nate Pile - Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL)
John Reese - American Eagle (NYSE: AEO)
Nathan Slaughter - Fluor (NYSE: FLR)
Paul Tracy - Market Vectors Global Alternative Energy (NYSE: GEX)
Kelley Wright - Cardinal Health (NYSE: CAH)
Tom Vass - Ingersoll Rand (NYSE: IR)
Martin Hutchinson - Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX), First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR)

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) beat Q2 expectations and offered Q3 and full-year guidance.
• Barnes & Noble Inc. (NYSE: BKS) widened its Q1 loss but maintained its full-year profit forecast.
• Campbell Soup Co. (NYSE: CPB) Q3 profit rose due to the sale of Godiva, but shares tumbled.
• Fluor Corp. (NYSE: FLR) beat Q1 expectations and offered rosy full-year guidance.
• Gamestop Corp. (NYSE: GME) posted record Q1 earnings but offered weak Q2 and full-year guidance.
• Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) posted strong Q2 results in the wake of its announced EDS acquistion.
• Hot Topic Inc. (NASDAQ: HOTT) Q1 loss widened due to declines in same-store sales.
• Kenexa Corp. (NASDAQ: KNXA) beat Q1 expectations and raised its full-year guidance.
• Medtronic Inc. (NYSE: MDT) posted flat Q4 earnings despite strong sales, and missed full-year estimates.
• Napster Inc. (NASDAQ: NAPS) narrowed its loss and exceeded analysts' Q1 epectations.
• Ross Stores Inc. (NYSE: ROST) Q1 profits rose on same-store growth and a real estate settlement.
• Staples Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLS) swung to a modest Q1 profit after two quarterly losses.
• Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) Q1 profits slipped but came in ahead of analysts' estimates.
• Tween Brands Inc. (NYSE: TWB) Q1 profit was hurt by a one-time charge but still beat expectations.

Additional earnings highlights:
Home Depot, Gap, Lenovo, Air France, Activision, Suntech and others
Ford, Hormel, Limited Brands, Intuitive Surgical, PetSmart and others

Upcoming results to watch for include Borders (NYSE: BGP), Polo Ralph Lauren (NYSE: RL), TiVo (NASDAQ: TIVO), Big Lots (NYSE: BIG), Costco (NASDAQ: COST), Dell (NASDAQ: DELL), HJ Heinz (NYSE: HNZ), Sears (NASDAQ: SHLD), Lions Gate (NYSE: LGF), and Tiffany (NYSE: TIF).

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.