The telecom business is definitely not recession-proof, as those that have followed the industry have recently realized, but it is not a field that is going to fade into the horizon any time soon either. Simply put, people need to communicate and the telecom business is poised to continue rolling with the new technology and bringing people what they need. If you see the value of telecom companies and agree that their future is, perhaps not golden, but definitely strong, then an investment in an Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) is an excellent way to invest in the future of the telecom field without placing all of your trust in one specific company.

iShares S&P Global Telecommunications Sector ETF (NYSE: IXP) let's you own shares in some of the most noted and reliable telecom companies by simply purchasing shares of the one ETF. With IXP you'll find your investment basket is loaded with companies such as Amercia Movil, S.A.B. (NYSE: AMX) a fixed and wireless provider in Latin America, AT&T, Inc. (NYSE: T) a telecom provider for customers in the U.S. and worldwide, Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) a wireline and domestic wireless provider across the globe, as well as several other highly rated and well known telecom leaders.

iShares charges only a 0.48% fee to maintain IXP using computers rather than money managers. IXP also has typically paid about $1.50 per year in dividends -- IXP is down about (41%) this year so that's about a 4% yield -- and these companies seem to have the cash-generating ability to continue dividends.

Of the 44 stocks in IXP, the top 10 holdings total about 71% of all total assets. Take note of the global exposure you'll get by investing in the future of the telecom industry:

• 17.19%: AT&T INC(NYSE:T)
• 10.61%: VODAFONE GROUP PLC(NYSE:VOD)
• 9.47% : TELEFONICA SA(NYSE:TEF)
• 9.05%: VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS IN(NYSE:VZ)
• 5.01%: CHINA MOBILE LTD(NYSE:CHL)
• 4.94%: FRANCE TELECOM SA(NYSE:FTE)
• 4.57%: DEUTSCHE TELEKOM AG-REG(NYSE:DT)
• 3.98%: NIPPON TELEGRAPH & TELEPHONE(NYSE:NTT)
• 3.21%: TELSTRA CORP LTD (Other OTC:TLS)
• 2.71%: BCE INCNYSE:BCE)

Mitch Tuchman is founder of MarketRiders an investment website that teaches individuals how to be their own investment advisors using ETFs

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.

"My favorite conservative idea for 2008 is an exchange-traded fund, iShares S&P Global Telecommunications Sector (ASE: IXP)," says Carl Delfeld, president of global investment advisory firm Chartwell Partners.

The advisor explains, "iShares S&P Global Telecom is an overweight position in our Chartwell's Global Sector Rotation Portfolio.

"Telecoms are presently out of favor but have great strengths and nice yields. This basket of the larger, more liquid companies has 32% exposure to American companies with the balance in Europe and Asia.

"Telecoms have the hard-line capacity to take advantage of convergence of mobile and landline services. Many of the companies in this ETF basket have dividend yields of 6% or better. Overall, I consider this a good, solid core holding."

Each year Steven Halpern, editor of TheStockAdvisors.com, surveys the leading financial newsletter advisors asking for their favorite stocks for the coming year. This article is part of his 24th annual Top Picks Report.

Although advisors participating in the Top Picks Report were limited to two stock picks, we allowed John Bollinger to select three, in compliance with the strategy employed in his The Capital Growth Letter.

He explains, "My strategy is not about stock picking in the sense of what will do best in 2007. Rather we ask what is doing well now, invest in that, hold for as long as the performance is satisfactory and then move on. This method is known as the cast-out method of relative-strength investing.

"As an example, let's take a look at our ETF Sector Portfolio. After a careful screening process we have selected 27 sector ETFs as candidates for this portfolio. Let's suppose that we are just starting out. To get going we would purchase the top three ranked ETFs and hold them for as long as they are ranked better than the middle of the list.

"When one of the funds drops below the midpoint of the ranking, it will be sold and replaced with the highest-ranked fund that is not already held in the portfolio. We use daily data and conduct reviews on a weekly basis. There are several other rules, but that's the essence of the program.

"We have found this cast-out approach to relative-strength investing delivers the sort of performance that we are after in our practice, and that it has an acceptable risk-reward relationship. As of December 18th, our top three ranked sector funds are: iShares Global Telecom (ASE: IXP), iShares Select Energy (ASE: XLE), and Powershares Dynamic Media (ASE: PBS)."