URS Corporation's (NYSE: URS) stock performance has disappointed since the Buy recommendation at $51.56 on June 6, 2009: it's fallen about 15%.

Still, investors who can tolerate moderate risk should view the dip as a buying opportunity. Here's why:

Put planning/construction management company URS Corp. (NYSE: URS) in that category of companies that have been rudely treated by Wall Street. From the way, institutions dumped the stock in October 2008, one would think that the United States would not build or repair another electric or water system or build another public facility. From a high over $60, the Street hammered shares to a low around $20. Or, as a CEO friend of mine says when he sees irrational behavior in a corporate environment, "It was a totally unacceptable thought process."

Wall Street's fits-and-starts continued over the winter, hence a Buy rating was delayed here regarding URS until it cleared the $50 mark, and now that the psychologically important "5-0" has been breached, look for shares to continue their upward movement.

Analyst upgrades:

• Baird upgraded URS Corp. (NYSE: URS) to Outperform from Neutral and raised its target to Outperform from Neutral based on momentum of new wins from stimulus funds and expectations for additional nuclear contracts.
• Jefferies upgraded EnerSys (NYSE: ENS) to Buy from Hold following the recent share weakness as it believes volumes have stopped declining and the June quarter is likely the bottom. The firm raised its target price to $18 from $11.
• RBC Capital upgraded Camden Property (NYSE: CPT) to Outperform from Sector Perform citing the company's improved financial capacity and portfolio position. The firm raised its target price to $34 from $23.
• CBS Corp (NYSE: CBS) was upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Barclays.
• UDR (NYSE: UDR) was raised to Sector Perform from Underperform at RBC Capital and to Outperform from Market Perform at Keefe Bruyette.
• Zale (NYSE: ZLC) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA/Merril.

While the release of economic data doesn't stop next week (see economic schedule highlights below), the earnings season does wind down dramatically. Most of the S&P 500 companies already have reported on the past quarter, which means dismal earnings news is largely behind us, at least for a while. About the only companies of note expected by analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters to report falling earnings this week are Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST), Wendy's/Arby's Group Inc. (NYSE: WEN), Foot Locker Inc. (NYSE: FL), Bank of Montreal (NYSE: BMO), and Steinway Musical Instruments Inc. (NYSE: LVB).

While PetSmart Inc. (NASDAQ: PETM) and Big Lots Inc. (NYSE: BIG) quarterly profits are expected to be about the same as a year ago, Liz Claiborne Inc. (NYSE: LIZ), Kenneth Cole Productions Inc. (NYSE: KCP), Ciena Corp. (NASDAQ: CIEN), and Trina Solar Ltd. (NYSE: TSL) are expected to have swung to losses in the most recent quarter.

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.

"Infrastructure is a clear priority for President-elect Obama," says Bill Wilton, editor of Zacks Growth Trader looks to construction management firm, URS Corp. (NYSE URS) as his top idea for 2009.

"Typically, as we get down to the last page on the calendar, most market participants have a concrete opinion on what the next 12 months will bring.

"This year we have the benefit of the soon-to-be president of the United States telling us what to plan for, given his stated plans to focus on the nation's infrastructure.

"URS Corp provides a wide range of construction management and technical services for several industries that should benefit from the Obama's plan.

"The particularly relevant sectors include transportation, general building, and utilities. The company services government entities as well as private and institutional clients.

Last year global stock markets lost $29 trillion in value -- falling 42%. And although it does not get much media attention, there is something that investors can do when the stock market moves against them. They can set stop losses on their stocks which limit how much money they can lose. Specifically, if an investor buys a stock at, say, $20 a share, he or she can issue a limit order which requires the broker to sell the stock when it declines to a lower price, say, $18. Such a limit order would limit the investor's loss to 10%.

This comes to mind in considering why the average stock in my investment newsletter gained 15% in 2008 when the S&P 500 fell 38.5%. My monthly newsletter analyzes broad economic trends and bores into specific industries. It also picks three stocks each month for subscribers to consider. During the first half of 2008, the energy and commodities stocks mentioned boosted its performance to +29% through the end of June. Then the bottom began to fall out as commodity prices tumbled and the financial services industry collapsed.

Thanks to the 2% stop loss rule -- which automatically sells any stock that falls 2% below the price at which it was mentioned in the newsletter -- the low point for the year was -1% at the end of October. By the end of 2008, only four of the 36 stocks mentioned remained in the portfolio. However, thanks to a surprising boost in one stock mentioned at the end of October and the three stocks picked at the end of November, the average stock was up 15% by the end of 2008. What were the three best performers?

This post is part of a special report, A Dozen Ways to Play an Obama Building Boom.

"URS Corp. (NYSE: URS) provides engineering, construction, and technical services to a wide range of markets," says quantitative analyst Vahan Janjigian.

In The Forbes Growth Investor, he adds, "There is increased speculation that the federal government will enact a stimulus package containing substantial spending on infrastructure; as a leader in federally-funded projects, URS could benefit significantly."

"The U.S. was responsible for 91% of first half 2008 revenues with the remainder derived from various global markets. URS operates three divisions. The Washington division was responsible for 41.2% of first half sales.

"Acquired last November, its primary markets are energy and power. The URS division,which generated 35.4% of first half sales, serves the commercial, industrial, environmental, facilities, homeland security, transportation, water/waste water, and specialty markets.

"Customers include federal, state and local governments, and private enterprises, such as nuclear energy and mining companies, chemical and drug makers, and oil and gas firms.

URS Corporation (NYSE: URS) provides engineering, construction and technical services to public agencies and private sector companies around the world. The firm offers a full range of program management; planning, design and engineering; systems engineering and technical assistance; construction and construction management; operations and maintenance; and decommissioning and closure services. Most clients are involved with infrastructure, power, heavy industry and federal programs. URS employs about 50,000, in over 30 countries. Fluor Corporation (NYSE: FLR) and KBR (NYSE: KBR) are major competitors.

The company pleased investors earlier in the month, when it reported Q2 EPS of 72 cents and revenues of $2.53 billion. Analysts had been looking for 60 cents and $2.45 billion. In discussing the solid quarter, the CEO pointed to the firm's success in building capabilities across such growth areas as power and government work. Management also guided FY08 EPS to $2.36-$2.48 ($2.42) and FY08 revenues to $9.8 billion ($9.75B consensus). Morgan Joseph subsequently reiterated its "buy" rating on the shares and boosted its price target to $54.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says this report highlighted where the success lies in this market: energy and petroleum.

Fluor's (NYSE: FLR) (Cramer's Take) a monster. It shows you that what has hurt the other companies, particularly Chicago Bridge & Iron (NYSE: CBI) (Cramer's Take), is pure execution.

This gigantic beat also serves to remind us of the big dichotomy. You are either in the energy and petroleum products game or you are in a lot of games that don't work.

It's not easy for these companies, some of which have lived off the duress of state and local governments, including Shaw (NYSE: SGR) (Cramer's Take) and to a certain extent Aecom (NYSE: ACM) (Cramer's Take) and URS (NYSE: URS) (Cramer's Take), to become oil-and-gas plays.

The only ones that have transcended it beside Fluor are Foster Wheeler (NASDAQ: FWLT) (Cramer's Take) and Jacobs Engineering (NYSE: JEC) (Cramer's Take), and the only reason you would really know that is longevity. I remember in the early 1980s when FLR and then FWC would compete directly for all of the huge projects after the second oil shock.

It is alarming to me that the same people who screw up the economy (or stand by watching) are the ones that are now promoting the remedies. They have proven without a shadow of a doubt that this is not their strong suit. The proposed economic stimulus package has bi-partisan support and calls for an estimated $156 billion of tax rebates ranging from $500 to $1,000 (+ $300 for each child) that might show up in May.

If we are going to add on to our already humungous joke of national debt, than I want to invest this capital in something that will bring a higher return on invested capital (ROIC) than the paltry one time mad money. That expenditure should be for national infrastructure projects like roadways, bridges, tunnels, and waterways.

We have all heard about the poor condition of our national infrastructure and the hundreds of billions of dollars of repair work and replacement that is desperately needed.

This alternative would bring visible results that every single person in the country would benefit from and improved linkages always stimulate economic growth. Road improvements even reduce fuel consumption by shortening routes and reducing friction both strategically and physically.

New Mexico's vision of becoming the home of commercial space travel is moving closer to reality as progress continues on the construction of Spaceport America. The winning design by URS Corp. (NYSE: URS) and Foster + Partners is in the process of being awarded for construction to begin next year, with completion slated for 2010. The 100,000 square foot facility near Las Cruces, NM, is budgeted at $31 million. It will serve as the launch spot for passenger and business travel into space.

The most noteworthy client for the new facility will be Virgin Galactic, part of Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group. VG will base its suborbital spaceliners here, currently under construction by Scaled Composites in California. The company hopes to begin commercial flights on the Virgin SpaceShip Enterprise shortly after the facility is complete.

The terminal will be environmentally friendly, using passive heating and cooling and solar power collected on site for its electrical needs. A rolling concrete shell will shield those inside from mishaps.

Can you imagine? In just a few years, it will be within our means to get bumped from flights not just around the world, but into space! Live long and prosper.