Eric Bolling Reveals His Infrastructure Stock Picks

Eric Bolling loves the infrastructure sector, and thinks this is a good time to jump into the sector as long as the stock picks are selected carefully.

The co-anchor of FOX Business’s Happy Hour show, who has been an active trader of equities, commodities and more for years, recently shared his thoughts on how to invest in infrastructure, declaring that a downturn in the sector over the last seven months “is an opportunity to buy into the infrastructure play at a low price.”

His enthusiasm doesn’t come from the stimulus package now going through the U.S. Congress -- “it doesn’t hurt, but I don’t hang my hat on” a $1 trillion plan -- but rather the global growth story coming out of places such as China, India and Latin America.

Bolling recommends companies with a global presence, and suggests avoiding companies with big debts, credit arms or those that “aren’t reacting well” in the market. He says the best way to get into the sector is to build a position slowly.

Bolling’s infrastructure stock picks are:

Companhia Vale do Rio Doce ADRs (RIO: 14.52, -0.364, -2.45%)

“This is probably my all-time favorite stock” Bolling said of the Brazilian metals and mining company, noting that it’s “the most global” of the miners.

FMC Corp. (FMC: 45.43, -1.39, -2.97%)

FMC is a leading producer of lithium. Bolling likes it because the lithium goes into batteries for all sorts of devices and other things that power the world.

Chevron (CVX: 68.22, -1.62, -2.32%)

Chevron is “by far my favorite energy play,” Bolling said, noting that the company has a high share of the West Coast energy market, which has high margins.

Google (GOOG: 357.92, -9.95, -2.7%)

“This is the Mac Daddy” in the Internet space, Bolling said. “It’s the leader, the innovator -- the one to own.”

Fluor (FLR: 37.06, -1.7, -4.39%)

Fluor, which serves companies globally in a number of industries, is “a great global engineer,” Bolling said.

Jacobs Engineering (JEC: 40.83, -1.93, -4.51%)

Bolling thinks this company is another good bet among engineering firms.

US Steel (X: 23.5975, -1.5725, -6.25%)

This is “my sleeper,” Bolling said. He mentioned that it traded at nearly $200 over the summer, and “at $33 a share I think it’s a bargain.”

Bolling’s infrastructure stock pans are:

General Electric (GE: 10.675, -0.475, -4.26%)

GE may be an infrastructure play, but the fact that its credit unit is such a big part of the company means it should be avoided for now, Bolling said.

Caterpillar (CAT: 29.63, -1.64, -5.24%)

Caterpillar’s stock “is reacting poorly in an environment where you’d think it would be doing well” and is at five-year lows, Bolling noted. “If it’s not acting well, don’t own it.”

The Gold and Platinum Connection

From thestreet.com 1/12/08

I started trading commodities in 1987. I became a member of the New York Mercantile Exchange that year and focused most of my attention on crude oil. Since I spent the day in the crude oil pit, I tended to trade mostly crude and the energy-related commodities. During the trading day the audible volume varied but for the most part it was almost impossible to hear anything outside the pit.
On occasion, you would hear a swell of volume slowly build to a roar coming from another pit. Many times, it was the result of a refinery fire and the subsequent gasoline pit explosion (pun intended). Or if the daily weather report showed a dramatic surprise change in the 6-10, you might hear the distillate pit volume pick up.
Back then, the Commodity Exchange was an independent exchange trading primarily metals located in the northwest quadrant of the massive 4 World Trade Center trading facility. Nymex occupied the southwest, the Coffee, Sugar and Cocoa Exchange was in the southeast, and the Cotton Exchange was in the remaining northeast quad.
Those were the glory days of commodity trading in New York. Four exchanges trading hundreds of commodities from a shared trading facility. The trading was aggressive with so many traders on one floor, and those traders sharing one set of men's room facilities (99% of floor traders were men, a result of the very physical/violent pits). The cafeteria was dangerous. Fights broke out in the lunchroom, in hallways and I even saw one start in an elevator. The fight finished as the two dudes rolled out into the lobby. I swear this is all true. ....
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Commodity Opportunities Abound

From thestreet.com 1/05/09

One of the things that keeps me sane in the really hectic, crazy world I have carved out for myself is frequent treks to the beach. Once there a daily run is absolute happiness for me. Ending a tough 2008 (there seems to be no better way to describe the year than just plain "tough") and launching into a hopeful 2009 I was able to get out for seven runs in six days. Believe me, I am grateful for the ability to do this all thanks to a wonderful career trading. If you don't know my past, you may be thinking that I am being pretentious by talking about my time on the beach. But it wasn't always this way for me. went from a runner in the soybean pit during Chicago summers to the energy pits of New York. Early on, I recall thinking how cool it would be to be a trader. Those dreams were squashed when I realized that it would be a near impossibility given the fact that it required a $50,000 balance to trade. With no money in the bank (or family), and my $150 salary a week, it would be like climbing Mount Everest to ever get that trading badge.
Back to the run. On one outing, my 10-year old son decided to run with me. On the way, we passed a cemetery and this started an interesting conversation between us. "Dad, why do people die?" he asked, along with many other inquisitive questions. He then asked me why God doesn't just drop money down from heaven so that everyone could buy anything they wanted? "And what about starving children?" It was getting heavy, but I did my best to explain. ....
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