5 smart stocks from the fool

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We want to benefit from infrastructure spending, but not merely by investing in low-margin, pick-and shovel construction firms. The solution? Autodesk, the leading 2-D and 3-D engineering software provider and, with a market cap just above $5 billion, the largest stock in this group. Whether it's a highway, port, building, utility, or manufacturing facility, Autodesk sells software to help design and build it. The company is seeing the early benefits of federal spending on infrastructure in the U.S. and abroad. Bonuses: nearly $1 billion in cash, no debt, and the high margins of a software leader.

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