TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says perhaps he can learn from Gov. Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania, who has become a believer in the fuel.

Maybe President Obama can make the transition to natural gas that Ed Rendell just did in Pennsylvania. The transition is a simple one: Focus on jobs and many things go well; don't focus on jobs and you aren't focused on anything.

When I first heard of the Marcellus Shale from Aubrey McClendon of Chesapeake (NYSE: CHK) (Cramer's Take), I was pretty much in disbelief. How could there be so much natural gas in some place in western Pennsylvania? Too good to be true.

Seems that even this shortened week was full of news and happenings, in the U.S. and around the world. With Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) being bailed out by the U.S. government at the beginning of the week and China announcing fiscal and monetary stimulus plans, the Dow industrials finished in positive territory four days in a row.

But as analysts and pundits, as well as each and every economic release -- in the U.S. and around the world -- remind us, we are not out of the woods yet and the rally has really been a bear-market rally.

Investors looking to take advantage of such rallies, or at least feel they hold stable long-term holdings, can search this week's BloggingStocks' contributors' picks:

Apollo Group (NASDAQ: APOL) and Devry Inc. (NYSE: DV) -- It's often been suggested that educators do well in times of recession and high unemployment as workers look to improve or change their education to get a better job. Leo Fasciocco thinks these two are poised for a breakout.

Dollar Tree Inc. (NASDAQ: DLTR) reported stronger-than-expected earnings this week and also hiked its forecast. Not surprisingly, cash-strapped consumers turn more and more to discounters. Dollar Tree may continue to benefit from the economic downturn and the stock could also experience a short-squeeze rally.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says if the commodity were going to fall further, it would have done so by now.

Has natural gas hit bottom? One thing that has endlessly plagued this market is the belief that there is no bottom to oil or natural gas.

I think that we are seeing some stickiness in oil in the $50s. I am looking for that to be challenged and held today and tomorrow when inventories are broadcast. But more important, I think there is a place where natural gas is having trouble going down now because it is too cold. We are in the season where natural gas should have fallen more before it got here, because without some sort of unseasonably warm snap, we will now believe that nat gas is permanently above $5 and change, where a whole host of prudent companies, like Equitable (NYSE: EQT) (Cramer's Take) for yield and Ultra (NYSE: UPL) (Cramer's Take) for growth, make a lot of money.

We have more than a couple of ways to play this. Equitable has a decent dividend, one of the rare natural gas E&P companies with one of those. Equitable's finding costs are less than half the current pricing. The conservatives can play it with the Chesapeake (NYSE: CHK) (Cramer's Take) preferred; nice upside while you wait. Another way is Anadarko Pete (NYSE: APC) (Cramer's Take), run by industry stalwart Jim Hackett, who came on "Mad Money" recently and said that his company's oil and gas mixture is equal to about $10 a barrel but the stock is only at $37, and I suspect that it could go back to its $35 price if the oil futures stay this gloomy.

Analyst upgrades:

• Baird expects Thor Industries (NYSE: THO) to benefit from industry consolidation and the eventual recovery. Shares were upgraded to Neutral from Underperform.
  
• Jefferies upgraded SPSS Inc. (NASDAQ: SPSS) to Buy from Hold on valuation and believes the company's cost cuts will be positive for EPS. The company's target was lowered to $28 from $29.
  
• Banc of America upgraded shares of Entergy (NYSE: ETR) to Buy from Neutral on valuation and believes the company is unlikely to spin-off Enexus by year-end. They believe a spin-off in 2009 or no spin at all suggests a higher share price from current levels. The company's target was raised to $104 from $101.50.
• AMN Healthcare (NYSE: AMN) was upgraded to hold from Sell at Citigroup.
  
• Argus upgraded Choice Hotels (NYSE: CHH) to Hold from Sell.
  
• Transdigm Group (NYSE: TDG) was lifted to Buy from Neutral at UBS.

Analyst downgrades:

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Equitable Resources, Allied Capital and Apria Healthcare were today's noteworthy initiations:

• RBC Capital is positive on Equitable Resources' (NYSE:EQT) Appalachian Basin exposure and valuation. Shares were started with an Outperform rating and $78 target.
  
• Morgan Keegan views Allied Capital's (NYSE:ALD) valuation and outlook as attractive, starting shares with an Outperform rating.
  Credit Suisse assumed Apria Healthcare (NYSE:AHG) with a Neutral rating and $20 target, citing the challenging Medicare backdrop.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Keefe Bruyette initiated Zions Bancorp (NASDAQ:ZION) with a Market Perform rating and $47 target.
  
• Thomson Reuters (NASDAQ:TRIN) was started with a Sell rating at ABN Amro.
  
• Canaccord Adams initiated Cyberonics (NASDAQ:CYBX) with a Buy rating and $20.50 target.

Ted Allrich is the founder of The Online Investor and author of the just released book: Comfort Zone Investing: Build Wealth And Sleep Well At Night. In this weekly column, he'll offer advice to investors who are just getting started.

It's a good time to be a little defensive in the stock market, to look at stocks with a history of increasing earnings as well as dividends. While these don't tend to have a catalyst that will vault them into the stratosphere the way a tech or biotech stock can, they give a lot of comfort when there's so much turmoil in the market.

The first thing to think about when you're on defense is the shape of the economy and the kinds of items consumers always buy, no matter what the economy is doing. Consumer spending makes up about 2/3 of the U.S. economy. What the consumer does matters. Right now many consumers are having trouble paying their mortgages. Housing prices are going down in many areas of the country. Large mortgage lenders such as Countrywide Financial Corp. (NYSE: CFC) and IndyMac Bancorp. (NYSE: IMB) k are having problems with their portfolios. Defensive investors won't be looking into the mortgage lending stocks for comfort.

More likely they'll be looking at companies that supply things that people must buy, things like drugs, toothpaste, gasoline, toilet paper (also known as bathroom stationery), soap, food, utilities, etc. These are the basics. They're supplied by many different companies, and many of those companies are improving, even in these difficult times. Here are just a few ideas (not recommendations for investing, but recommendations for more investigating):