10 stocks to buy now

The recession has pounded the construction industry, with engineering and infrastructure stocks sinking as cash-strapped municipalities delay large public projects. But the sector should get a boost from an ambitious public works spending plan expected to be part of President-elect Obama's economic stimulus package.

Fluor stands to prosper. About 45% of the engineering and construction company's business is in the U.S., and Phil Dodge, an analyst at Stanford Group, says the company will probably work on larger projects like interstate highway renovations.

Even without a stimulus package, Fluor has been flourishing. The company's revenue rose 38% to $5.7 billion in the third quarter of 2008; earnings doubled to $1.01 per share. It has robust businesses inside and outside the U.S., including oil and gas, mining, power, and global infrastructure. And Fluor generated a record $8.8 billion in new contracts for the third quarter, including a $3.4 billion project for the BP Whiting Modernization Project in the U.S. and a $1.8 billion contract to build the world's largest offshore wind farm near the coast of England. Fluor has even raised its earnings guidance for 2009, one of the few companies to do so. Despite that, the shares are trading at only ten times earnings, making it a stock that seems engineered to rise next year.

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