The market giveth and the market taketh away -- all in the same day. I was looking at how Shaw Group (NYSE: SGR) performed on Thursday. The company, an engineering firm that provides services relating to the energy and environmental industry for both the government and the private sector, was up 5.6% at the close of trading yesterday, powered by superb volume. But, in the after-hours session, it went down nearly 6.4%.

And, yes, the sell-off was on the back of an earnings report. For the third quarter, Shaw Group made 57 cents per share, excluding its acquisition of Westinghouse. The company made 67 cents per share in last year's similar quarter, also adjusted for the acquisition. Net sales were essentially flat.

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.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says eventually, the credit markets will thaw, and this one will take off like a rocket.

Cheap isn't always relative. Consider the case of Shaw Group (NYSE: SGR) (Cramer's Take), the infrastructure play with the nuclear bent that has tons of business around the world building nuke plants that are competitive with oil and nat gas even at these prices, but obviously are much better for the environment.

Shaw's doing great -- big order book, no cancellations or stretch-outs (unlike ABB (NYSE: ABB) (Cramer's Take) or McDermott (NYSE: MDR) (Cramer's Take)), and most important, its stock is trading a mere dollar and a half above its cash.

It's absurd, as the CEO told me last night on a pre-empted edition of the 6 p.m. "Mad Money." The valuation makes no sense.

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.

"John McCain has said that nuclear power must be part of a plan to address climate change and reduce our dependence on foreign oil; to benefit from this plan, buy Shaw Group (NYSE: SGR), which constructs and maintains nuclear power plants," says Paul Tracy in his Street Authority Market Advisor.

"Today, nearly half of U.S. electricity is created via conventional coal-fired plants. This made sense for us for decades -- coal is so cheap and plentiful here that the United States is often referred to as the Saudi Arabia of coal.

"However, in the past few years, the tide of public sentiment has shifted against the energy source. Primarily this is due to the emissions created by burning coal for electricity.

"In addition to the well known release of carbon dioxide, coal emissions also contain traces of mercury. On top of that, the rise of China and other emerging markets has led to higher costs for coal.

"So with a public that is increasingly interested in alternative sources of electricity and a president who is committed to increasing nuclear power usage, the companies that build and maintain nuclear plants sit in the perfect position to benefit.

"In particular, I think Louisiana-based Shaw Group is a stock to watch. SGR's largest end market is the construction and maintenance of power plants, including both plants fired by fossil fuels and nuclear facilities.

"The company also owns a 20% stake in Westinghouse Electric, one of the world's leading designers and builders of nuclear power plants.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Vodafone, Citrix Systems, STMicroelectronics, Symmetricom and Smith International were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• JP Morgan upgraded shares of Vodafone Group (NYSE: VOD) to Overweight from Neutral, as they believe the company is benefiting from increased data sales.
  
• Citrix Systems (NASDAQ: CTXS) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Friedman Billings. The firm's checks indicate that its clear communication strategy and a stronger technology platform behind the Enterprise and Platinum editions is spurring top line growth.
  
• Baird upgraded shares of STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM) to Outperform from Neutral based on new product cycle, multiple design wins, valuation, and strong Q4 guidance.
  
• Cantor upgraded shares of Symmetricom (NASDAQ: SYMM) to Buy from Hold as they find the valuation compelling and are comfortable with Q1 estimates.
  
• Calyon Securities upgraded Smith International (NYSE: SII) to Add from Neutral following its Q3 report and guidance.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Shaw Group (NYSE: SGR) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs.
  
• RBC Capital upgraded QLogic Corporation (NASDAQ: QLGC) to Outperform from Sector Perform.
  
• Credit Suisse upgraded Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN) and Weatherford (NYSE: WFT) to Outperform from Neutral.

Engineering problems are rarely solved by approaching them from one direction only. That's why many firms and government agencies prefer to do business with engineering outfits big enough to bring expertise from a wide variety of disciplines to bear on their projects. There is a company in Baton Rouge with the size and diversity needed to handle the complex jobs.

The Shaw Group (NYSE: SGR) provides engineering, design, construction, and maintenance services to a variety of industrial markets. Clients include power generators (structural steel & engineering services), chemical manufacturers (research & development), government agencies (infrastructure construction) and general industrial concerns (environmental remediation services). Shaw also manufactures and distributes an extensive line of pipes and pipe fittings. The firm operates from nearly 200 locations around the world and employs 25,000.

Management pleased investors last week when it reported Q3 EPS of 60 cents (ex-items) and revenues of $1.6 billion. The Street had been looking for 34 cents and $1.54 billion. The stock popped on the news and then moved into a bullish "pennant" consolidation pattern. Prices frequently exit pennants moving in the same direction they were traveling when they entered them. In this case, that would be to the upside.

Brokers recommend the issue with four "strong buys," one "buy," five "holds" and two "sells." Analysts expect a 20% average annual growth rate through the next five years. The SGR Price to Sales ratio (1.09), Price to Free Cash Flow ratio (14.64), Sales Growth rate (30.54%) and EPS Growth rate (252.94%) compare favorably with industry, sector and S&P 500 averages. Institutions hold about 95 percent of the outstanding shares. The stock is used in calculating the S&P SmallCap 600 Index. Over the past 52 weeks, it has traded between $25.54 and $71.77. A stop-loss of $59.90 looks good here.

Larry Schutts is a contributing editor for Theflyonthewall.com and the Vice-President of Stockwinners.com.

On tonight's MAD MONEY on CNBC, Jim Cramer discussed where the "Wild Bull Markets" are that you want to be in for the rest of the year. He has six bull markets and he thinks this full year will be in bull market mode for these sectors and stocks.

1) Agriculture: The subsidies bring in $55 billion in revenues to large farm companies alone. His three picks in this are Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE), Monsanto Co. (NYSE: MON), and Sociedad Quimeca y minea (NYSE: SQM).

2) Machinery: His pick is Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT).

3) Infrastructure, perhaps the most wild bull market: the two cheapest after the big runs are Foster Wheeler (NASDAQ: FWLT) and McDermott Intl. (NYSE: MDR).

4) Aerospace: Cramer's pick is Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) and he now thinks it will pass $100.

5) Oil & Gas, which were down hard today: Halliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL) is his number one service and driller; in Oil Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS.A).

6) Minerals, where the mergers are nuts: The buy for the things the Chinese use is Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold (NYSE: FCX) for copper and gold that could see its 9-times earnings go to 12-times.