It may be difficult, but it is possible to live without oil. But that cannot be said for water.

Senior analyst Debra Coy of Janney Montgomery Scott has been paying a lot of attention to water, and to ways to make it flow into investors' portfolios.

"We like water, even though it hasn't been quite that liquid of an asset," she told CNBC. "It's still a relatively small sector, but we particularly like the water utilities right now."

She says they have been hit particularly hard in the market downturn, and are cheaper than they've been for years.

Recommendations:

Coy likes American Water Works, which went public earlier this year.

"There's been a lot of concern about the regulatory risk they face," she said. "That concern is a bit overdone."

She also recommends Aqua America.

"It's...about to come out of the back end of a kind of drought on earnings, and we think we're going to see some recovery on that one in the coming year," she said.

On the infrastructure front, Coy is enthusiastic about ITT, a leader in pumps and water treatment equipment, and about Insituform Technologies, a leader in pipe rehabilitation.

Where are gold prices going?

Gold can either consolidate through until Sept. 12 and then make a breakout from the $957 level -- or it can trade up to $1023.72 by Aug. 21, says Richard Morrish from MIG Investments.

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Ways to play gold:

- Stocks:

Barrick Gold

Rio Tinto

Newmont Mining

AngloGold Ashanti

- ETF:

SPDR Gold Shares

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Disclaimer

Some of the world's red-hot economies may be losing their clout, but Peter Andersen still thinks American companies with significant international exposure are the best ideas for investors.

"In this market turmoil in the U.S., looking overseas for revenues is the way to go, especially if the companies are very simple to understand, don't have complicated balance sheets, and have income statements that are pretty transparent," the Congress Asset Management portfolio manager told CNBC.

Recommendations:

Case in point: Crown Cork & Seal .

"Crown makes metal cans, and 70 percent of its revenues are derived from overseas," Andersen said. "Crown continues to de-lever, adding to its earnings-per-share momentum, and I think it's an interesting case, worth watching."

He's also enthusiastic about Owens-Illinois.

"In my analysis, this weekend, when everybody's relaxing, and going to have a cool beverage, chances are that those beverages will be delivered...through Owens-Illinois, which makes glass bottles," he said. "Even though the U.S. has shown some weak results lately...the rest of the world is trying to catch up with our demand curves."

Also on his list is Joy Global, which has been riding high on surging global demand for coal. Fifty percent of the company's sales are outside this country.

Looking to get your portfolio back on its feet? Susquehanna Financial Group's John Shanley says stocks of certain shoe companies are some of the best buys on the market today.

"I think (consumers) are cutting back in certain categories...but..certain brands...are really starting to resonate very well, gaining market share in these tough economic times," he told CNBC.

Recommendations:

So which stocks have a leg up?

"The real growth factor that we see in the marketplace over the next six to eight months is clearly going to be in the athletic footwear side of the business," he said. "We recently upgraded Nike to a "buy" recommendation; Nike, we think, really epitomizes the opportunity in the marketplace."

He also likes Wolverine Worldwide.

"Their Merrell brand is very powerful, not only here in the U.S., but also in the European market, and we think that's another major growth opportunity," he said.

Also on his list is VF Corporation.

"Basically, that stock has some really strong brands that are doing well in the marketplace, North Face and Vans," he said. "We're seeing a strong renewed consumer interest in skate shoes; Vans is the leader in that segment of the market."

"The whole world is negative, and scared to death, and, I tell you, right now I'm getting very optimistic." Contradictory thoughts from Bill Spiropoulos of CoreStates Capital Advisors? Not at all, he insists. "I think there's great numbers ahead," he told CNBC.

He finds opportunities all over the place, from global infrastructure build-out to consumer stocks.

Recommendations:

"[Governments are] going to spend a trillion dollars in the next several years, all over the world, in infrastructure, and that's not going away," he said.

His infrastructure plays are heavy-equipment manufacturers Caterpillar and Deere.

And Spiropoulos doesn't stop there.

"On the other extreme, buy Procter & Gamble," he added. "Toilet paper and soap...they export to 180 countries."

Options trading: What clues are there for investors?

Jon Najarian, frequent Fast Money guest and co-founder of OptionMonster.com , offered CNBC his insights on Friday's options action.

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More Options action:

- Rebecca Darst on BJ's, Wells Fargo, Coal

Hot new ETFs:

- Bob Pisani on a New Middle East Play

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Disclaimer

David Goldberg, analyst at UBS, foresees a lot of volatility in the next two to three months in the homebuilding industry, but assured investors that stocks will rally in the first half of 2009 as the housing industry will perform better in the latter six months.

“There is no positive catalyst at the moment [for homebuilding companies],” said Goldberg. “However, there are some stocks that you can buy despite the weakness that we are seeing today.”

Goldberg’s “buy” rating stocks:

Centex

Ryland

Trader Talk blogger Bob Pisani discussed a new Middle East-oriented ETF: The Van Eck Market Vectors Gulf States Index.

The ETF (exchange-traded fund) offers investors access to 40 companies, based in key U.S. allies Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and the UAE.

Pisani notes that the ETF includes no oil companies, which are generally owned by these nations' governments. Instead, the ETF is largely built on financial services and construction companies -- playing the Mideast construction boom.

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Other Major ETFs:

- SPDRs

- SPDR Gold Shares

- UltraShort Real Estate ProShares

- Financial Select Sector SPDR

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CNBC.com Video Reports:

• Best Trades Now: Tech, Utilities, Financials & More

Disclaimer

America's electric utilities are about to sink a small fortune into a desperately-needed upgrade of the nation's power grid. How can an investor plug his portfolio into this upgrade? JPMorgan's Andrew Smith has some ideas.

Recommendations:

"The one pure-play transmission company is ITC Holdings," he told CNBC. "They own nothing but transmission lines, own, operate, and build them, and also stand to benefit very well from that. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 put together a number of incentives for transmission investment...that allow a company like ITC to benefit very significantly."

Recent retreats in oil prices have had no impact on Eitan Bernstein's strategy of investing in oil company stocks.

"Our investment strategy is focused on selectivity, basically, understanding the volatility in commodity prices," he told CNBC. "We try to focus on the best names in the group."

Recommendations:

And they would be Hess and Occidental Petroleum.

"The stocks are...pretty much flat year-to-date, down a little bit the past couple of weeks, despite the 33 percent increase in crude oil prices, year-to-date," he said.

Why?

"For the bigger, integrated oils, it's a question of growth," he explained. "One of the reasons we like Hess is (that) they have substantial production growth slated, and a really good inventory of exploration and production projects."

Bernstein also likes the smaller refiner Holly.