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.

"Fear or war or nuclear conflagration is not the main reason for owning gold; rather, investors should buy gold to protect against inflation," explains Vivian Lewis, editor of Global Investing Pro, and the top stock picker in last year's Best Stocks report, with her selection of DryShips.

"This is not advice only for US investors. All central banks face a dilemma: On one hand, they can cut interest rates and print money to deflect subprime and credit crunch dangers while letting inflation rip. On the other, they can insist on discipline and inflation fighting, letting the economy's chips fall where they may.

"My top conservative investment idea for 2008 is StreetTracks Gold Trust (NYSE: GLD), which is an exchange-traded fund. In fact, the amount of gold held by StreetTracks now exceeds the gold reserves of China. It holds 602.37 tonnes of the yellow metal, whereas China only holds 600 tonnes. (A tonne is a metric measure equal to about 3,520 ounces.)

"US investors can also consider iShares Comex Gold (ASE: IAU). Both are ETFs that own physical gold bullion. However, they track different gold market prices.

"GLD tracks the London fixing and Comex ETF tracks the Chicago commodity price. You can buy whichever one is cheaper at the moment you decide on going for the gold."

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 markets have been rising strongly in recent years, propelled by growing demand," says Mary Anne Aden, editor of The Aden Forecast.

"The ongoing boom in China and other emerging markets has been driving these markets higher and there's no sign this will end any time soon. This has consistently placed commodity-related stocks like energy, natural resource and precious metals into the top performing stock category. The same will likely apply in 2008.

"My favorite conservative idea for 2008 for investors to take advantage of the rise in precious metals is by buying the StreetTracks Gold Trust (NYSE: GLD), an exchange-traded fund. Since gold's rise still appears to be in its early phase, it should do well in the year ahead based on demand alone.

"The same is also true of energy. China's demand has been a primary factor driving the oil price higher. With the Olympics coming to China this Summer, this demand is unlikely to diminish. A good way to benefit is to buy the Energy Select SPDR (ASE: XLE), my favorite speculative ideas for 2008."