"In any industry, one of the most sure-footed means of keeping profits steady is to own the suppliers of production means -- the old 'invest in the picks and shovels' approach," explains Neil George in Personal Finance.

He says, "For refiners, it means pipe, compressors, and the other bits used to crack crude into further profitable products." Here, he looks at a trio of favorites: Dresser-Rand Group Inc. (NYSE: DRC), Shaw Group Inc. (NYSE: SGR), and Tenaris (NYSE: TS).

"Dresser Rand is a leading global producer of highly specialized compressors and turbines, nearly 95% of which are used in the energy business. Compressors are used extensively in refineries; they're a crucial part of equipment used to process heavy and sour crude oils. The reactions used to process these more-complex crudes require generating extreme pressure and temperature.

"Dresser's products are also used to process Canadian oil sands. Dresser is also involved in some high-tech deepwater equipment work. The company has designed a subsea compressor and separator for Norway's Statoil.

"This equipment literally sits on the seafloor; the compressor helps to separate gas from oil and transport these commodities by subsea pipeline to distant floating production platforms.

What are the best energy investments for long-term investors? To answer this question, I surveyed 20 of the nation's leading financial newsletter advisors to find their current favorite ideas in the energy sector.

Interestingly, the advisors see the best opportunities in areas well beyond traditional oil firms; indeed, no one included in this report chose a major integrated oil company. Rather, the advisors have shown a preference for various oil services sectors, non-oil energy sources, and developing alternative technologies.

Some focus on areas such as deep-sea operations with Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. (NYSE: DO), Transocean Inc. (NYSE: RIG) and Oceaneering International (NYSE: OII), while others look toward oil shippers such as Nordic American Tanker Shipping (NYSE: NAT) and refiners such as Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO).

Others chose companies that make specific products needed by the oil & gas industries such as NATCO Group Inc. (NYSE: NTG), which makes a wide range of oil & gas processing systems; Dresser-Rand Group Inc. (NYSE: DRC), a maker of control systems; Gardner Denver Inc. (NYSE: GDI), which makes compressor and fluid transfer systems; Tenaris (NYSE: TS), a maker of pipes and tublar products and Schlumberger Ltd. (NYSE: SLB), the largest and most diversified of the oil services companies.

Engineering problems are rarely solved by approaching them from one direction only. That's why many firms and government agencies prefer to do business with engineering outfits big enough to bring expertise from a wide variety of disciplines to bear on their projects. There is a company in Baton Rouge with the size and diversity needed to handle the complex jobs.

The Shaw Group (NYSE: SGR) provides engineering, design, construction, and maintenance services to a variety of industrial markets. Clients include power generators (structural steel & engineering services), chemical manufacturers (research & development), government agencies (infrastructure construction) and general industrial concerns (environmental remediation services). Shaw also manufactures and distributes an extensive line of pipes and pipe fittings. The firm operates from nearly 200 locations around the world and employs 25,000.

Management pleased investors last week when it reported Q3 EPS of 60 cents (ex-items) and revenues of $1.6 billion. The Street had been looking for 34 cents and $1.54 billion. The stock popped on the news and then moved into a bullish "pennant" consolidation pattern. Prices frequently exit pennants moving in the same direction they were traveling when they entered them. In this case, that would be to the upside.

Brokers recommend the issue with four "strong buys," one "buy," five "holds" and two "sells." Analysts expect a 20% average annual growth rate through the next five years. The SGR Price to Sales ratio (1.09), Price to Free Cash Flow ratio (14.64), Sales Growth rate (30.54%) and EPS Growth rate (252.94%) compare favorably with industry, sector and S&P 500 averages. Institutions hold about 95 percent of the outstanding shares. The stock is used in calculating the S&P SmallCap 600 Index. Over the past 52 weeks, it has traded between $25.54 and $71.77. A stop-loss of $59.90 looks good here.

Larry Schutts is a contributing editor for Theflyonthewall.com and the Vice-President of Stockwinners.com.

On tonight's MAD MONEY on CNBC, Jim Cramer discussed where the "Wild Bull Markets" are that you want to be in for the rest of the year. He has six bull markets and he thinks this full year will be in bull market mode for these sectors and stocks.

1) Agriculture: The subsidies bring in $55 billion in revenues to large farm companies alone. His three picks in this are Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE), Monsanto Co. (NYSE: MON), and Sociedad Quimeca y minea (NYSE: SQM).

2) Machinery: His pick is Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT).

3) Infrastructure, perhaps the most wild bull market: the two cheapest after the big runs are Foster Wheeler (NASDAQ: FWLT) and McDermott Intl. (NYSE: MDR).

4) Aerospace: Cramer's pick is Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) and he now thinks it will pass $100.

5) Oil & Gas, which were down hard today: Halliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL) is his number one service and driller; in Oil Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS.A).

6) Minerals, where the mergers are nuts: The buy for the things the Chinese use is Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold (NYSE: FCX) for copper and gold that could see its 9-times earnings go to 12-times.