One facet of the Obama administration's sweeping stimulus initiatives of which I have taken particular interest is its protracted effort to increase our national broadband access and capabilities. In pursuit of that end, The Broadband Technologies Opportunities Program (BTOP), which seeks to build and enhance broadband access in unserved and underserved regions of our country, has been provided with over $4.5 billion in Recovery Act funds.

I am pleased to report that amazingly, BTOP has already dispensed with much of the red tape that might normally bog down an effort of this magnitude. Large chunks of BTOP funds are beginning to be granted. In the short term, the benefit of this program may well be to create jobs. In the long term, these infrastructure improvements could possibly increase the profit bases of companies such as Verizon Communications (VZ), Sprint Nextel Corp. (S), AT&T (ATT) and a host of other digital communication and entertainment providers.

One aspect of American life that has to change is the scattershot quality of the U.S.'s infrastructure.

New York Times (NYT) Columnist Thomas Friedman has written and spoken about it often, and he offers many illuminating observations on conditions in Western Europe and in Asia, given his many travels.

Friedman has written about how the U.S. -- despite being the strongest, most dynamic, and technologically advanced economy in the world -- nevertheless has managed to tolerate sub-standard infrastructure conditions (such as too small airports), compared to our Asian and European neighbors. Anyone who has flown into New York's John F. Kennedy or La Guardia airports (as I frequently do) can attest to the need to upgrade these transportation facilities, and many others.

If you already own the stock, Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) is a play that's likely to test the patience of most investors.

In general, analysts expect CAT to post lower earnings per share through the first half of 2009, then recover in the second half, as various international markets start to recover.

The U.S. economy remains in a pronounced recession. So far, there's little to suggest that job market and household formation trends -- two tell-tale stats regarding prospects for a resumption of both revenue and earnings growth -- have bottomed.

Without question you'd call this a selective market: select the wrong stock, and there's a 30-40% haircut up ahead; select the correct stock, and you're positioned for the recovery with modest downside exposure.

Investing, like the politics that leads to U.S. public policy, is the art of the possible.

Conditions shift, windows of opportunity present themselves, even amid choppy seas. One such opportunity is presenting itself with Fluor (NYSE: FLR).

Fluor is a leading international design, engineering, and contracting firm with projects that include designing and building manufacturing facilities, refineries, pharmaceutical facilities, health care buildings, power plants and telecommunications and transportation infrastructure.

The world's largest maker of farm equipment is due to report earnings on February 18 and the outlook is generally bleak. All of the major drivers behind Deere's (NYSE: DE) formidable business appear to be headed into a tailspin. Global agricultural commodity prices have come down significantly from peaks in 2007 and 2008, leaving farmers with less money to spend.

The industrial equipment giant's brand is synonymous with big, bad earthmoving construction machinery. In fact, it's doubtful that any major construction project performed in America since the Great Depression hasn't been performed without the help of a "Cat."

Given the Obama administration's focus on shovel-ready infrastructure construction jobs as the answer to what's ailing our economy, it stands to reason that Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) equipment will once again be called upon to help rebuild and remodel America's crumbling roads, tunnels and bridges.

Think about this, every time you hear the words "shovel-ready jobs," you should think about the makers of the actual shovels. And there is no denying that Caterpillar makes the biggest and best shovels on the planet.

Take a look at all ten stocks to fall in love with again.

Jim Woods is a Senior Editor for OptionsZone.com.

"In a few years we'll be staring at new highs in the prices of many natural resources," says Larry Edelson, a specialist in resource-related stocks. In Real Wealth, he looks at two exchange-traded funds focused on food and water.

"Mind you, the U.S. and global economies will not get back to the growth levels we've recently seen, not anytime soon.

"But they don't have to for natural resource prices to soar again. The chief reason they will climb again: Massive, worldwide currency devaluations, especially in the U.S. dollar.

"Moreover, natural resources will get a huge boost from the massive infrastructure spending that is now commencing around the world. I expect two key sectors in particular to get a big boost, almost immediately - agriculture and water.

It got little buzz this week, but Meadow Valley Corporation was able to close its going-private transaction. True, the deal size was modest, coming to $61.3 million.

Although, bear in mind that the deal was announced in July of last year -- just before the implosion of the global financial markets. Thus, the private equity sponsor, Insight Equity, had the courage to get the deal done, which will certainly bring credibility to the firm.

Based on the proxy statement, the decision to go private actually began in 2007 (yes, it seems like a different era back then). All in all, it was a diligent process and management was definitely focused.

Do not underestimate the power of a new administration in Washington. With the ability to spend a huge amount of dollars, team Obama can wield tremendous influence in the market.

Case in point is the stem cell space. It is widely expected that Obama will issue an executive order eliminating restrictions on stem cell research.

Stocks like StemCells Inc. (NASDAQ: STEM) and Geron Corp. (NASDAQ: GERN) have been moving higher since the inaugural.

Coincidentally, on Friday, GERN announced approval for human trials for its treatment of spinal chord injuries using stem cells. Both GERN and STEM were up big as a result.

Another space expected to do well under the Obama administration is construction. A massive stimulus plan is said to be coming in February. A key point of the plan will be to boost infrastructure spending.

The dollars will benefit companies like Fluor Corp. (NYSE: FLR) and Jacobs Engineering (NYSE: JEC). Unlike stem cells, the market has yet to move these stocks higher. FLR is down more than 10% and JEC is down nearly 18% so far this year.

New York Times (NYSE: NYT) columnist Thomas Friedman in his latest column and again Tuesday night on 'The Charlie Rose Show' returned to his theme of the U.S. effort at nation building.

Nation building, that is, at home. Friedman, among others, has underscored the need for the nation to begin, in a comprehensive way, to rebuild its dilapidated and/or outmoded infrastructure that includes its electric grid, highways, roads, bridges, mass transit systems, schools and other public buildings.

Further, one doesn't have to be a civil engineer or a mechanical engineer to see that the nation's infrastructure has been neglected, and while at times Friedman's discourses on the gleaming magnificence of yet another high tech airport in Asia can begin to grate, his overall conclusion regarding a period of pronounced underinvestment in U.S. public assets is valid.

'Action' is a two-edge sword

Friedman wants 'radical' action, i.e. bold action by President Obama to make up for lost time, infrastructure-wise, and he believes 'Obi 44' has a rare opportunity to act in a big way, given the economic crisis facing our nation, his high public approval rating, and the general desire of public officials across the spectrum to see him succeed.

This post is part of a special annual report -- Top Stock Picks '09 -- in which TheStockAdvisors.com asked 75 leading newsletter advisors to select their favorite investment for the new year.

"Granite Construction (NYSE: GVA) is a play on President-elect Barack Obama's plans to plow vast amounts of money into infrastructure," notes contrarian Todd Salomone.

In Schaeffer's Investment Research, the analyst explains, "Granite Construction -- my top pick for 2009 -- provides civil construction services, including projects designed to improve streets, roads, highways and bridges."

"Investing in infrastructure is one of Obama's solutions to address a deteriorating economy. There is $64 billion in 'ready-to-go' projects, of which GVA should be a beneficiary.

"The shares Granite Construction have performed admirably in 2008 amid an extremely weak broad market. For example, through mid-December, GVA shares were up 24% as the broader S&P 500 Index was down 38%.

"In November 2008, the equity climbed above the 40 area, which has capped the shares' rally attempts during the previous 12 months. For chart watchers, a concern would be the 48 area, which would mark a 50% retracement of the August 2007 high and the October 2008 low. Such retracement areas can sometimes act as technical resistance for a stock.

President-elect Barack Obama has said his $700 billion stimulus package will add three million jobs to the economy. Skeptics don't think this is possible because the recession has grown stronger at a speed most economists did not anticipate.

Now, Obama's people think he can do ever better. According to the AP, "President-elect Barack Obama countered critics with an analysis Saturday by his economic team showing that a program of tax cuts and spending like he's proposed would create up to 4.1 million jobs." That math is hard to defend.

The economy lost 540,000 jobs in December. Some experts say it could stay on that pace for the first half of this year. If so, the economy will drop another three million jobs. Certainly looking at the full year, the three million number is certainly reasonable.

Much of the Obama plan is based on building out infrastructure for the energy grid, medical IT, and public works. Programs of that magnitude could take several quarters to get in place. They will involve complex logistics and new agencies to supervise them. By the time most of that is up and running, it could be near to the close of the year.

The reasons that adding four million jobs in America is unlikely is that the economy will shed jobs faster than a stimulus package can ad them, certainly during the period when the economy may be taking its hardest hit. Obama can't fill in that hole fast enough, let alone build a mountain on top of it.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a editor at 247wallst.com.

Not all infrastructure plays are created equal. What has been a fabulous trend to ride since the lows of November has left a few players behind. One of those is Manitowoc Company (NYSE: MTW).

Granted MTW has improved off it lows, but it has not shared the same momentum heading into 2009 as others. Shares MTW sold off to the tune of 12% Thursday and lost another 3% on Friday.

The company stated that profit will likely come in at the low end of its previously announced guidance range of $3.15 to $3.25 per share. Given that there's only a 3% difference between earning $3.15 per share and $3.25 per share, what accounts for the other 9% of today's sell-off?

The company manufactures and sells cranes: lattice-boom crawler cranes, mobile telescopic cranes, tower cranes and boom trucks for use in energy, petrochemical, industrial projects and infrastructure development such as the building of roads, bridges, commercial and residential construction, and mining and dredging.

These are just the things that will do well once the new administration passes its massive infrastructure spending bill. For whatever reason, the stock cannot ride the coattails of this expected boom to its business. MTW now forecasts earnings for '09 of just $1.35 to $1.60 per share. Analysts, on average, were expecting earnings of $2.63 per share, so I take the sell-off not as an indictment of 2008 earnings, but of 2009 earnings.

These downside revisions are troubling to be sure, but do they set the table for future earnings gains?

President-elect Barack Obama campaigned -- and has continued to generate positive press -- on his commitment to job creation.

I've been scratching my head at this for awhile and wondering: Why is job creation a worthy goal? Shouldn't the goal be economic growth, and job creation is a happy byproduct of that?

Writing in Reason, Jacob Sullum, dissects exactly why Obama's rhetoric on job creation is nonsensical, illogical, and flies in the face of economics:

Obama also wants to spend $60 billion to "provide financing to transportation infrastructure projects across the nation." He says "these projects will create up to two million new direct and indirect jobs and stimulate approximately $35 billion per year in new economic activity. Fixing a bridge, widening a highway or building a light rail system may or may not make economic sense. But the fact that it involves paying people to operate jackhammers and pour concrete does not make it any more worthwhile. If creating jobs can justify transportation projects, why not fill the country with bridges to nowhere.

My optimistic hope is that Obama realizes that job creation is not a worthy goal and mentions only because he's politically savvy enough to know that it will generate consensus around his ambitious proposals. But if his billions of dollars in infrastructure projects are motivated by a desire to create jobs, we are in a lot of trouble.