"With its strong balance Plum Creek Timber (NYSE: PCL) will be able to weather the real estate storm," says growth and income expert Stephen Leeb in The Complete Investor. Here is his look at the timber play.

"Plum Creek, which was added to our model portfolio in November, is the largest and most geographically diverse private landowner in the U.S. and owns more than 7.4 million acres of timberlands in the Pacific Northwest, the South, and the Northeast.

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.

"Granite Construction (NYSE: GVA) is a play on President-elect Barack Obama's plans to plow vast amounts of money into infrastructure," notes contrarian Todd Salomone.

In Schaeffer's Investment Research, the analyst explains, "Granite Construction -- my top pick for 2009 -- provides civil construction services, including projects designed to improve streets, roads, highways and bridges."

"Investing in infrastructure is one of Obama's solutions to address a deteriorating economy. There is $64 billion in 'ready-to-go' projects, of which GVA should be a beneficiary.

"The shares Granite Construction have performed admirably in 2008 amid an extremely weak broad market. For example, through mid-December, GVA shares were up 24% as the broader S&P 500 Index was down 38%.

"In November 2008, the equity climbed above the 40 area, which has capped the shares' rally attempts during the previous 12 months. For chart watchers, a concern would be the 48 area, which would mark a 50% retracement of the August 2007 high and the October 2008 low. Such retracement areas can sometimes act as technical resistance for a stock.

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.

"Infrastructure is a clear priority for President-elect Obama," says Bill Wilton, editor of Zacks Growth Trader looks to construction management firm, URS Corp. (NYSE URS) as his top idea for 2009.

"Typically, as we get down to the last page on the calendar, most market participants have a concrete opinion on what the next 12 months will bring.

"This year we have the benefit of the soon-to-be president of the United States telling us what to plan for, given his stated plans to focus on the nation's infrastructure.

"URS Corp provides a wide range of construction management and technical services for several industries that should benefit from the Obama's plan.

"The particularly relevant sectors include transportation, general building, and utilities. The company services government entities as well as private and institutional clients.

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

Two advisors that specializes in income investing -- Mark Skousen and Nick Lanyi -- both turn to high-yielder, Southern Peru Copper (NYSE: PCU) as a contrarian play on building and infrastructure growth ahead.

Skousen, in his High Income Alert, he says, "Make no mistake, this is a contrarian play. But if you believe in buying straw hats in winter, PCU is an exceptional value at these levels."

"More than 2.9 billion pounds of copper are used in construction every year, primarily in plumbing and wiring, while electronic products use more than 1.9 billion pounds a year.

"Transportation equipment -- including cars, trains, planes and submarines -- uses more than 1 billion pounds a year.

"The manufacture of industrial equipment requires another 1 billion pounds annually. And consumer and general products, from cookware to church bells to pennies, require another 800 million pounds.

"Southern Peru operates the world's largest copper mine high in the Andes mountains, producing more than 800 million pounds of copper a year.

"Of course, the commodity bull market that was running at a full gallop in the first half of this year has stopped dead in its tracks. Copper prices are no exception. When building and manufacturing slow, so does the demand for the red metal.

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

"Project management firm Hill International (NYSE: HIL) is one of the best ways to profit from the public works projects planned in government stimulus packages," says Dave Dyer.

In his The Dave Dyer Newsletter, he explains, "HIL is a consulting company that provides expertise in the project management area. Their business is a people business, not a business that requires them to invest in a lot of heavy construction equipment.

"I think this gives them three advantages: first, they do not have the long marketing cycle that can last for years on a large project, second, they have greater flexibility to expand or contract as business opportunities change, and third, their fee-based revenue structure is less risky than other compensation models used in the construction industry.

"HIL has two divisions. Its original business, founded in 1976, was a construction litigation support company that supplied expert witnesses and other expertise to construction companies involved in contract disputes.

"They saw early in their history that they could also provide value as a dispute preventer rather than just an after the fact resolver, so they started a project management division.

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

"I think we have bottomed in some sectors, including commodities and materials," explains Glenn Rogers. In Internet Wealth Builder, he explains, "President-elect Obama has said he will pour hundreds of billions into projects.

"The Chinese and the Europeans have also committed to huge amounts to infrastructure spending." Here, he looks at one play on this trend -- Cemex (NYSE: CX).

"If you want to venture back into the stock market at this point and you're a long-term investor, my advice is to buy high-quality names with low P/E ratios, no debt coming due next year, and the sustainable ability to pay a dividend.

"Late last month, this Mexican cement giant traded as low as $4.01. Then President-elect Obama announced his plan to spend billions on infrastructure projects and guess what happened?

"The share price shot up on the expectation that infrastructure spending will translate into a growing demand for cement.

"Cemex shares traded as high as $11.35 before pulling back to close the week at $8.16. That's still more than double the November low but this is a stock that was trading at over $30 last June so it still looks like good value at this level.

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.

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

"Some of the most aggressive buying we've seen from insiders has come from Terex (NYSE: TEX), where seven have bought since October 24th," says Bill Martin.

In his BullMarket.com, he explains, "The Westport, Conn.-based company manufactures capital equipment for construction, infrastructure, quarrying, mining, shipping, transportation, refining, and utility industries worldwide." Here's his review of the stock.

"The shares recently traded at $9.33, down -86% year to date. The stock hit a 52-week high of $76.25 in May and is currently trading at multi-year lows.

"The company announced Q3 results on October 22nd that fell well short of analyst earnings estimates. For the quarter, Terex reported its profit fell year over year to $93.8 million, or 96 cents per share, down from $151.1 million, or $1.45 per share. Adjusted earnings came in at $1.08, which was well below the $1.33 profit analysts were expecting.

"Looking forward, Terex cut its 2008 earnings outlook for the second time in less than two months, faulting weakness in worldwide construction. As such, the company said it is expecting to post a FY08 profit of $5.69-$5.79 a share, down from earlier guidance of $6.35-$6.65 per share.

"While others are waiting for the next shoe to drop in the stock markets, I believe that the bottom is in," says technical expert Yola Edwards. Meanwhile, in The Internet Wealth Builder she has found a stock that she likes within "the rubble of the U.S. housing market." The stock? KB Home (NYSE: KBH).

Edwards explains, "I'm not saying that the subprime issue isn't significant, but I do believe that it is now priced into the market. It appears that the worst is over for the Dow Jones Industrial Average as well."

A technician by trade, she points out that the market is drastically oversold and the index has traced out a multi-year inverted head and shoulders pattern. Based on this pattern, she notes, a minimum upside target of 14,500 should be expected.

Meanwhile, for those comfortable with an out-of-favor, contrarian play, she sees both fundamental and technical opportunity in the shares of KB Home, a Los Angeles-based builder of single-family homes.

She notes, "Given what's been happening in the U.S. housing market, it should come as no surprise that the current financials are poor. KB Home has seen domestic sales battered by the housing downturn, which has been exacerbated in recent months by tightened lending standards by banks."

"If you are missing exposure to infrastructure, please head straight for the closed-end Macquarie First Trust Global Infrastructure Fund (NYSE: MFD)," says Vivian Lewis, editor of Global Investing.

Macquarie/First Trust invests only in infrastructure and utilities stocks. The advisor explains, "By prospectus, it is a a non-diversified portfolio of equity, debt, preferred or convertible securities, and other instruments (which may include Canadian income trusts and Australian stapled securities)."

She continues, "These holdings produce income or assets from managing, owning or operating infrastructure and utilities assets in a group of 'safe' countries. MFD also invests in infrastructure senior secured floating-rate loans."

Lewis points out the the parent company, Macquarie, has been an Australian victim of U.S. sub-prime housing loans gone sour. She notes, "The parent company may have to cover losses from two funds for Australians invested in the U.S. sub-prime market."

However, she emphasizes, "The U.S. fund that we are recommending is protected from these problems. This fund is not investing in real estate but rather in infrastructure. The sub-prime issues are bad for the management company, the Australian financial sector, and even the Austrailian dollar. But not for MFD, which is a screaming bargain."

Each day, Steven Halpern's TheStockAdvisors.com features the latest investment ideas and market commentary from the financial newsletter community.

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.

Sydney, Australia's Macquarie Infrastructure Company Trust (NYSE: MIC) is the top conservative idea for 2007 from Neil George, editor of Personal Finance, while Macquarie Infrastructure Group (OTC: MCQRF), is his top speculative play.

The advisor explains, "Infrastructure is the foundation of our economy. And whether owned by privateers or the public, we need more and better roads, bigger airports, better power and water systems. And there are companies getting the bids over and over again to make it all happen.

"Sydney, Australia might not come to the forefront of your mind when it comes to our nation's infrastructure, but that's where most of the capital is being pooled together to quietly gobble up deal after deal.

"Parent company, Macquarie Bank, first cut its teeth on financing and investing in several projects in its own back yard for years before taking its deal-making skills on the road.