"We think we've seen the worst and will likely see some improvement in the economy going forward," says growth stock specialist Harry Domash, editor of Winning Investing.

Among his buy recommendations, the advisor looks at two agriculture plays: Agrium (NYSE: AGU), a producer of fertilizers, and the diversified exchange-traded fund, PowerShares DB Commodity (ASE: DBC).

"Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Agrium is a major North American producer and marketer of fertilizers. Agrium operates plants in Canada, the U.S., and in Argentina. Its major product is nitrogen fertilizer but it also makes potash and phosphate products.

"Agrium sells to wholesalers and through more than 800 company-owned retail stores in the U.S., Canada, and South America. Its stores also sell seed and other farm supplies.

"Agrium just recently completed its acquisition of UAP Holding, which had operated 370 distribution and storage facilities North America. Everything related to agriculture is booming, and Agrium, not counting its UAP acquisition, is growing sales around 30% annually.

"We're bullilsh on meats," says Eric Roseman, who notes, "I'm convinced we're finally at a turning point in 2008 as farmers continue to cull their herds. At some point, I'm expecting beef and pork prices to surge."

Here, the resources expert and editor of The Commodity Trend Alert looks at an exchange-traded note with a memorable trading symbol -- iPath Dow Jones Livestock (NYSE: COW). Here is his review.

"With virtually all commodities soaring over the last several months, the meats have been a disappointment - until about ten days ago. I think we finally broke-out.

"Like the grains, livestock maintain a negative correlation to common stocks. It's a great portfolio diversification tool, especially in 2008 when equities cratered during the first quarter and most commodities rallied. Live cattle and lean hogs have been poor inflation-adjusted investments or speculations since the bull market in raw materials was set afire in 2002.

"Over the last six years, live cattle and lean hogs have gained just under 30% in nominal terms, or up barely 4% adjusted for inflation. That pales compared to the huge gains logged by the base metals, precious metals, the grains and other commodities.

"Some 20,000 or more million-dollar block trades are made each day," says Peter Way in Block Traders ETF Monitor, which assesses the activity of these trades. Here's some current top "big block" bets.

"Since it's these big dollar pressures that move markets, we want to know what they are likely to do next. Our analysis determines what the pros' expectations are for the coming prices of stocks, from the way
they protect investments they have or are making.

"Based on our proprietary analysis of this big block activity, we determine the prospects for each ETF sector to determine where prices will be in the next 3 months. We seek the best balance of upside risk and downside exposures.

"We don't want to buy anything that doesn't offer a net payoff of better than 5% over three months, or an annual rate of +22%. International and global ETFs. and emerging markets still hold appeal, with MSCI Brazil iShares (NYSE: EWZ), the best bet.

"Where's the beef? Must be in MOO, the Market Vectors International Agricultural ETF (ASE: MOO). Prospects for it are the best combined odds & payoffs in the group.

"The ETFs that have been providing the most reliable and productive gains of late have been in commodities. Without any leverage, there are currently a number that appear attractive, given the volume market-makers' appraisals. The PowerShares DB Agricultural Index ETF (ASE: DBA) outranks just about all of the 2,500 issues we cover. PowerShares DB Commodities Index ETF (ASE: DBC) also offers strong buy credentials."

Each day, Steven Halpern's TheStockAdvisors.com offers the latest market commentary and favorite investment ideas from the nation's leading financial newsletter advisors.

"The current environment is one of the most challenging I have seen in the twenty years I have been following the market," says Nate Pile, who has added some ETF hedges to his Nate's Notes portfolio.

"I am also introducing two ETFs this month that can be thought of as 'indirect hedges.' Rather than being a 'short' fund, we are choosing funds that track commodity prices, which in turn, will provide a hedge against any market declines that may result from investor concern about rising inflation.

"In addition, these two new ETFs is may appreciate in value even if the market does rally from here. I actually think there is a very good chance we will make money on these 'commodity ETFs' regardless of what the stock market does next. Anyhow, without further ado, I present to you the following two ETFs:

"The PowerShares Deutsche Bank Commodity Index Tracking Fund (ASE: DBC) is designed to reflect the performance of the Deutsche Bank Liquid Commodity Index, an index that tracks six important commodities (current index weightings approximated in parentheses): light crude (33%), heating oil (19%), wheat (14%), corn (12%), aluminum (12%), and gold (10%).

"We're adding a position in one of our favorite ETFs for 2008: the PowerShares DB Agriculture Fund (NYSE: DBA), which provides investors with an alternative way to invest in the agricultural sector," says technical analyst and contrarian investor Chris Johnson.

The money manager and editor of Insightful Investor explains, "We feel a long-term position in DBA is appropriate for any investor's portfolio." Here is his review.

"One of the areas of the economy that we have been outwardly bullish on is the agricultural group. From a fundamental perspective, the 'ag play' is in full force, as demand and supply remain imbalanced. This has been a fantastic catalyst for a number of stocks that have to do with the agriculture sector, as we have heard in the news quite a bit lately.

"While we like the environment that this creates for a number of stocks, there is one agricultural investment that we do not hear trumpeted in the media as much as one might expect. We're referring to an investment in agricultural products, not the companies that help to produce the products.

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.

"The commodity bull market has a long way to run, powered by explosive growth in the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) countries," says Sean Broderick, resource stocks editor for Money & Markets.

"My top conservative pick to play the broad commodities bull market is the broad-based exchange-traded PowerShares DB Commodity Index Tracking Fund (NYSE: DBC).

"As an ETF, it is like a mutual fund. However, ETFs usually have lower costs than a mutual fund and you can buy and sell an ETF throughout the day, whereas a mutual fund trades once a day.

The PowerShares DB Commodity Index Tracking Fund has a long name but a simple idea -- the fund invests in commodities: crude oil, heating oil, aluminum, gold, corn and wheat. DBC invests in that basket of commodities by purchasing futures contracts. It rebalances annually to 35% crude, 20% heating oil, and 10% to 12.5% of the other four."