Concrete Investing: How to Play the Infrastructure Boom

Put it all together, and I'm a big believer in bricks, mortar, concrete, pipes and all of the stuff that makes that stuff work. Here are some picks:

• Heavy construction firms. Companies like Chicago Bridge & Iron (CBI), Granite Construction (GVA) and the smaller and less well known Sterling Construction (STRL) put it all on (or in) the ground.
• Materials. There's a huge market for basic materials to build with. Plays include Vulcan Materials (VMC) and Hanson PLC (HAN), as well as Mexican cement producer Cemex (CX). The latter two bring international exposure and pay a decent dividend.
• Engineering. Before it's built, somebody's got to design it, and leaders in the field include Tetra Technologies (TTEK), Washington International Group (WNG), Jacobs Engineering Group (JEC) and the smaller and lesser known regional player WillDan Group (WLDN).
• Equipment. Terex (TEX) and Manitowoc (MTW) make construction cranes and the like, and have been on a boom lately (no pun intended). I'd watch and buy on weakness. Traditional standbys like Caterpillar (CAT) and Deere (DE) work here, too.
• Infrastructure ETFs. Pure ETF plays are few and far between, especially since construction- and materials-related indices have a lot of residential construction offerings mixed in -- not a good thing right now. One worth a look is the PowerShares Dynamic Building and Construction Portfolio (PKB). Popular emerging market ETFs, for example the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India and China), have a lot of infrastructure companies -- that's another way to play.
• Infrastructure operators. You can go the other route and play infrastructure operators. Australia's Macquarie is a big niche player in this arena and offers closed-end funds with rather lengthy names like Macquarie First Trust Global Infrastructure Utilities & Income Fund (MFD), Macquarie Global Infrastructure Total Return Fund (MGU) and the Macquarie Infrastructure Company Trust (MIC). There is also a SPDR ETF available based on the FTSE/Macquarie Global Infrastructure 100 ETF (GII).

Fair warning: I'm not the first to discover or recommend this opportunity, and as a result, a lot of these investments are approaching 52-week highs. As always, buy carefully.

But if you're a true long-term player like I am, there's a lot to like in this play.

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