Raytheon Co. (NYSE: RTN) is a top-shelf defense contractor, and that is the place to be whether we are at war or we have to replace everything that was destroyed, damaged, or become obsolete. I think the defense sector will be one of the safe havens for 2008. The closing price on December 28, 2007, was $61.51.

RTN is a also a tech stock of sorts, if you look at all the advanced electronic systems it is developing and selling. This is another touted sector lately. I am not happy that 85% of its revenue comes from the federal government, but this revenue is from different agencies. Besides defense, RTN makes radios, air traffic control systems and radar, and satellite communications systems, so airports and security are customers too.

Barron's weekly business journal had a cover story on the opportunities in airline stocks and I posted Airlines: Open skies or just that queasy feeling. I do not care for airline stocks, but if the skies over Europe and New York City are crisscrossed with more flights and added congestion then Raytheon's products should be in greater demand. Airport congestion and security constraints are not going away, they are only getting worse.