When the market displays erratic behavior continually, go with the known. Think established companies. In industrial sectors. Think: Precision Cast Parts.

Precision Castparts Corp. (NYSE: PCP) is a leading manufacturer of investment castings used in aerospace and power generation applications, with products that include jet engine parts, fluid management valves, and deep hole boring tools.

Analysts like PCP's strong position in the jet engine and power generation markets, cost controls, and margins.

The market's choppy / consolidating pattern continues, suggesting the need for an additional defensive play or two (or perhaps more). Further, the utilities sector fits the bill, and in this category Exelon Corp. is worth an evaluation.

Via subsidiaries, Exelon Corporation (NYSE: EXC) distributes electricity to 5.4 million customers in Northern Illinois (including Chicago) and southeastern Pennsylvania (including Philadelphia). EXC has 25.5 million megawatts of generating capacity and is also involved in wholesale energy sales/marketing. The company also has 480,000 natural gas customers.

Further, analysts really like Exelon's non-regulated utility operations, which should boost revenue performance in the immediate years ahead. A rate compromise agreement passed by the State of Illinois also removes a potential cloud from the company's revenue picture. The Reuters FY 2007/FY 2008 EPS consensus estimates for EXC are $4.32 to $4.40.

Readers of this space know that the preferred sectors include oil services and infrastructure stocks, and when one can combine the two, it's like a double header at Yankee Stadium (or two chamber concerts at Lincoln Center). Foster Wheeler fits the aforementioned bill.

Foster Wheeler (NASDAQ: FWLT) provides design, engineering, procurement, construction, and project management services for oil/natural gas processing facilities. The company also designs and builds steam generating and auxiliary equipment for electric power generating stations and industrial markets around the world.

Analysts expect 2007 revenue to increase a remarkable 35%-40%, with a 20%-25% gain seen for 2008 on continued, strong Asia-Pacific and Middle East capital spending. Further, increasing demand for FWLT's preferred power generation system adds to the mix. The Reuters F2007/F2008 EPS consensus estimates FWLT for are $5.92/$7.00.

The risks: A slowdown in Europe (more than 50% of revenue) or emerging market demand with hurt FWLT's results. Analysts also have their eye on the appearance of possible supply/labor shortages down the road.

The First Call mean rating for FLWT is: Buy. [5 firms.] Mean 2008 target: $176.00. [high: $190, low: $150.]

Stock Analysis: Foster Wheeler is a moderate-risk stock not suitable for low-risk investors. Investors with an investment horizon longer than two years should be rewarded from FWLT's shares. Sell / Stop Loss if you to purchase shares in this company: $95.

DISCLOSURE: Joseph Lazzaro has no positions in stocks. In addition to private real estate holdings, he owns corporate and municipal bonds, and cash certificates of deposit.

Just call NRG Energy the power generator with renovation and reclamation on its mind.

NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NRG) is a wholesale power generating company that owns/operates power plants with a net capacity of 24,175 megawatts.

A majority of NRG's revenue is baseload power. The significance? A stable cash flow. Further NRG's power source is largely natural gas-based, which is preferred, given likely additional restrictions/regulations moving forward for coal-fired plants as nations like the U.S. address climate change. NRG's power source mix: 45% natural gas, 34% coal, 16% oil, 5% nuclear.

NRG's strategy is to repower existing facilities and develop new generating capacity in markets where NRG owns assets, with an emphasis on baseload capacity, long-term power sales agreements, efficiency, and environmental enhancements. So far, NRG's business is on-track. The Reuters Fiscal Year (FY) 2007/2008 EPS consensus estimates for NRG are $2.24 to $2.26.

In the current market, safety and diversification are the order of the day (at least until the U.S. economy starts growing above trend levels, above 3%). With the aforementioned in mind, a company worth reviewing is ABB Ltd.

Switzerland-based ABB Ltd. (NYSE: ABB) is a provider of power and automation technologies designed to help utilities/industries improve performance while lowering the environmental impact.

ABB serves the electric, gas, and water utilities sectors with products, systems and services for power transmission, distribution, and power plant automation.

If you're looking for a balanced, longer-term utilities play, consider Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE: DUK). Duke is that rare type of utility that offers investors an ample amount of safety, an adequate dividend, and the potential for a decent capital gain upside via growth.

In general, analysts expect DUK to register adequate revenue results in 2007-2008 following the integration of Cinergy, acquired in 2006. Duke has exited several higher-risk businesses, and what's left is impressive: 3.9 million utilities customers in the South and Midwest, 8,700 MW of unregulated generating capacity in the U.S., and 4,200 MW of generating capacity in Latin America. Further, given current population, household formation, and economic projections in the South U.S., the long-term trends look good for a considerable portion of Duke's operations.

Other positives: Look for Duke to better-utilize its Midwest gas-fired plants, and maintain cost-control discipline, in the years ahead. Further, DUK's 4.6% dividend and a reasonable p/e of 15 adds to the favorable mix. The Reuters F2007/F2008 EPS consensus estimates for DUK are: $1.23 to $1.26.

The downside? Duke's revenue could be hurt if a generally-favorable regulatory stance in its regions changes; an unusually cool summer could also keep revenue below analysts expectations. Don't look for a major upside revenue surprise with Duke, but everything else, from a utilities investment standpoint, lines up.

The First Call mean rating for DUK is: Hold. [18 firms.] Mean 2007 target: $19.90. [high: $23, low: $16.]

Stock Analysis: Duke Energy is a moderate-risk stock not suitable for low-risk investors. Consider buying Duke's shares if your portfolio does not contain a utilities stock. Investors with an investment horizon longer than 1 year should be rewarded from DUK's shares. Sell / Stop Loss if you were to purchase this stock: $12.

Want to hear about one bright spot on the energy horizon? It's natural gas, for now, at least.

While oil's price has soared in 2007, natural gas' price has actually declined -- you heard that right, declined -- in 2007, from $8.90 / million btu on Dec. 31 2006 to $7.93 / million btu as of Nov. 12, 2007.

In fact, on a per energy unit basis - - or how much energy one can buy for a $1 - - natural gas is about half the price of oil. That's good news for utilities that operate natural gas-fired electric generation plants and homeowners who heat by gas. The situation represents an energy-sector turnabout, of sorts: in 2005, scarce gas supplies and a cold winter caused natural gas prices to spike well above the energy-equivalent price for oil. Homeowners who heated by gas - - most of whom could not switch quickly to another energy form - - were hit especially hard that year.

What's driving the oil/natural gas energy split? Independent Energy Trader Jim Dietz told BloggingsStocks that natural gas' lack of portability is a big factor. Unlike oil, natural gas isn't transported from hemisphere-to-hemisphere the way oil is: i..e. oil can go wherever the global market says the price is highest, Dietz said. Natural gas is consumed regionally. Hence, when regional demand is high, "that leads to quicker price rises for natural gas, but also when demand drops, quicker price reductions," he said. The latter is the case now, he said.

Dietz cautions that a hot summer in the U.S. could quickly reverse the current trend, so homeowners "should not consider natural gas the permanent energy winner, when deciding to heat by natural gas or oil, if they have the choice." "Solar, wind, the home's efficiency rating, and the availability of an energy form in your area of the country" should also be considered, Dietz added.

When General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) reports earnings Friday, the question on investors' minds will be whether the company's industrial and entertainment businesses can pick up the slack from the decline from the finance side.

Most of GE's growth has come from is finance businesses over the past decade, according to the Wall Street Journal (subscription required). That's going to change because its WMC Mortgage unit is a big player in the suprime mortgage market which has recently melted down.

WMC Mortgage rival New Century Financial Inc. (NYSE: NEW) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. It remains unclear how badly the General Electric business has been affected though Reuters recently reported that WMC Mortgage had some of the worst-performing loans in the benchmark index for home equity asset-backed securities.

General Electric's strength is that if one of its businesses falters, others can make up for the shortfall.

Consider power generation. Remember that about 245 gigawats of new generating capacity will be needed by 2030, which is equal to about 817 new nuclear power plants, according to data from the Energy Information Administration posted on the Web site of the Edison Electric Institute, a utility trade group.

NBC Universal, long a laggard, is showing signs of life thanks to improvements in the NBC television network. No one should buy GE's stock just because they like "Deal or No Deal." That unit is the smallest by revenue, while its Infrastructure business, which includes power generation is the largest.

Analysts are expecting General Electric to have earnings of 44 cents on revenue of $39.83 billion, according to Thomson Financial.