"Oil prices have made the headlines recently," says Martin Hutchinson in The Money Map Reporter. "But the miracle fuel of the 19th Century is coal, the forgotten fossil fuel."

"Coal is located primarily in politically stable, friendly countries - most notably the U.S. market itself. Coal prices have zoomed northward during the past year. The current spot price is around $135 per metric ton, more than double the level of a year ago. Meanwhile, coal production is running way ahead of forecasts.

"In 2005, the World Coal Institute reported production of 4,970 million metric tons, up 78% over 25 years. The main reason for coal's growth is that 80% of China's power needs and 65% of India's come from coal-fired stations.

"Since both India and China are expected to quadruple their power consumption by 2030, most of that increase must come from coal-fired stations. What are the best buys in the sector?

Jim Trippon, a leading expert on China, conducts his research from offices in both the U.S. and China. The editor of the China Stock Digest explains, "We recently issued a buy recommendation on Yanzhou Coal Mining (NYSE: YZC) and since then, the stock has been sizzling."

The advisor notes, "Industrial production in China continues to rise even faster than the increase in the nation's GDP. Yanzhou Coal is benefiting from a number of developing trends that give us confidence in higher valuations for this company. Unlike many other staple resources, coal prices are not strictly capped by the government, and prices are being squeezed upward by both supply and demand.

"Coal is by far the most important fuel for generating stations. Yanzhou Coal is an industry leader because of its proximity to the industrialized eastern region of China. In addition to being close to major industrial markets, the company operates a number of rail lines, giving it priority in its access to steel and power generation markets.

"Record high oil prices will continue to push the demand for coal. We believe Yanzhou Coal is uniquely positioned to continue to reward investors with stable growth and dividend returns.

"The company saw annual earnings per share growth of more than 100% over the past 12 months compared to the same period a year ago, justifying the estimated P/E ratio of 17. Yanzhou returned a dividend of 1.5% for the trailing 12-month period."

Each day, Steven Halpern's TheStockAdvisors.com features the latest investment commentary and favorite stocks of the nation's leading financial newsletter advisors.

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.