Roger Conrad is among the advisory industry's leading expert on utilities. Here's a look at the latest featured growth stock in his The Utiliity Forecaster -- Entergy Corp. (NYSE: ETR).

"Two years ago, Entergy Corp's regulated utility business was literally in ruins. The core New Orleans subsidiary as well as units in Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, faced billions in repair costs, and thousands of customers lost their homes.

"However, Entergy stayed on its feet for one reason: a portfolio of well-run nuclear power plants-the nation's second largest-that ran at 90 percent-plus capacity while wholesale electricity prices surged.

"With utility operations recovered, third quarter earnings surged 27.8% and are set for another 20% next year. Management shared some of that bounty by hiking dividends 38.9% in 2007. This year, shareholders will get more cash as well as a 50% interest in the company's five unregulated nuclear plants.

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.

"Our favorite conservative pick for 2008 is natural gas transmission, storage, and distribution company Southern Union (NYSE: SUG)," says Bill Martin, editor of BullMarket.com.

"Over the last few years, Southern Union has transformed itself from a staid utility company to a faster-growing pipeline and LNG-centric company. The company recently announced plans to create its own master limited partnership (MLP) into which it will transfer a portion of its gathering and processing assets.

"Southern Union's stock has been under some pressure recently, as investors were disappointed that the company didn't sell its pipeline assets to another MLP after being offered a substantial premium to its purchasing price a few years ago. However, management believes these assets can create greater shareholder value over time as a standalone MLP, and we agree.

"We expect several catalysts to kick-in for Southern Union in 2008. Under the favorable tax structure of an MLP, the market should value Southern Union's pipeline assets at a much higher multiple than they are currently priced at.

Given investors anxiousness about the economy and hearing more gloom and doom than I think is warranted, I thought I would get back to basics with "my pal" Warren, and add to the series I started several months ago. I decided to write the series after receiving encouragement from friends and associates that read With Warren Buffett by my side ....

Today, I am writing about the concept of Durable Competitive Advantage, which is the ability to get ahead and stay ahead with a high level of certainty. It is also referred to as Sustainable Competitive Advantage.

To achieve a Durable Competitive Advantage, several factors have to be present. One is a big moat (Buffett expression) surrounding the enterprise. This usually means businesses that sell commodities where price is the primary factor in determining opportunity, have no moat as price takers. Their profit margins are not easily defendable. Another factor is barrier to entry. How easy would it be for someone to enter the same business and compete? The T-shirt business is a good example, of something without a Durable Competitive Advantage. Anyone could enter this business in one day, and they do. So unless the business has some unique concept, it does not have the promise of relatively predictable and sustainable profit margins in the future.

As a contrarian technical analyst, Chris Johnson looks for sectors and stocks that are climbing a "Wall of Worry." Based on this criteria, the editor of The Insightful Investor notes, "The utility sector is positioned for a run of market-beating performance."

He explains, "In reviewing our sector analysis tools, we have found a sector -- and an associated exchange-trade fund as well as an individual stock -- that are poised to outperform the market, especially if the overall market it experiences any weakness.

He admits that the utility sector is "not terribly sexy," he believes that Utilities Select Sector SPDR (ASE: XLU) is poised to outpace the market based on what he calls "a combination of strong technical performance and negative sentiment."