"It's been tough going for Lockheed Martin (LMT) in 2009-10, as well as for defense stocks overall," notes Stephen Leeb.

The editor of Leeb's Income Performance Letter explains, "Investors are concerned about the impact cutbacks in defense spending will have on profits. Still, the company arguably is the best positioned of the major defense contractors to weather a smaller defense budget.

"The company is bracing for leaner times and has taken cost-savings measures, such as offering early retirement incentives to executives. And its share price appears to have more than discounted any cuts that may come down the pike.

"Several global utilities offer excellent growth potential while throwing off moderate income," says Stephen Leeb in Income Performance Letter. Here's a look at a pair of Brazilian utilities.

"We particularly favor two companies in Brazil. The economy appears to be on the mend from the global financial crisis and should be expanding at a 5% pace again by 2010.

"Brazil's prosperity is translating into greater consumption of electricity and water. Two major beneficiaries are our Growth & Income holdings CPFL Energia (NYSE: CPL) and Companhia de Saneamento Basico do Estado de Sao Paulo (NYSE: SBS), known as SABESP for short.

"Shipping stocks can be a good port in a financial storm," says Ivan Martchev in Leeb's Income Performance Letter. Here, the advisor looks at Teekay LNG Partners (NYSE: TGP).

"Some shippers take their chances in the spot market; these should be avoided. Teekay, however, offers a high yield and lower earnings volatility due to its lower-than-average exposure to the spot market.

"Teekay is well exposed to the growing market for liquidified natural gas (LNG). The growth profile of the LNG market is compelling. The vast majority of the world's natural gas reserves are stranded in Eurasia and the Middle East, while consumption is greatest in the U.S., Far East and Europe.

"Imports of LNG to the U.S., for example, are expected to increase by more than 400%, by some estimates, between now and 2012. Clearly, there is wide-eyed potential growth in the LNG market.

"There are also high barriers to entry in its transportation since it requires huge investments in loading and reliquification terminals for highly specialized ships. Given the support of its parent company -- Teekay Corp. -- Teekay LNG Partners is a force far larger than its relatively small size would have your believe at first blush.

"The company's growth is virtually assured for years to come due to the imbalance in the geographic distribution of reserves and consumers of natural gas. Teekay LNG Partners, yielding 7.7%, is a publicly-traded master limited partnership, which means you should look into the peculiarities of tax treatment of distributions."

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