Energy Trends and Their Implications for U.S. Army Installations

Energy Trends and Their Implications for U.S. Army Installations is name of a report prepared by the Construction Engineering Research Laboratory at University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

This report lays out what the top minds are thinking about the future energy demands of the US Army. The Army and its related industrial complex is so large and diverse that they can be thought of as a microcosm of the US economy.

The key takehome for investors is that energy supplies remain tight and that major capital spending on energy infrastructure (power plants, pipelines, electric cables) will be needed. A "Utility Infrastructure" ETF would be very nice but in the meantime this four element ETF portfolio should be well positioned to benefit from future developments.

• 25% (IGE) -- iShares Goldman Sachs Natural Resources Index
• 25% (XLU) -- Utilities Select Sector SPDR
• 25% (PBW) -- Powershares Wilderhill Clean Energy ETF
• 25% (PHO) -- PowerShares Water Resource Portfolio

This portfolio has nice blend of large cap (IGE, XLU) and small cap stocks(PBW, PHO) as well a dividend income from (XLU) and (IGE). Many of the companies in the PowerShares Water Resource Portfolio are also involved in utility infrastructure for liquid and gaseous fuels. I've laid out the case for investing water industries in previous post.

PHO -- Water ETF as a liquid asset.