President-elect Barack Obama is focusing his economic recovery strategy on making the biggest investment in the nation’s infrastructure since President Dwight D. Eisenhower created the interstate highway system a half- century ago.

Speaking yesterday at a Chicago news conference and on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Obama said state governors have many such projects that are “shovel ready,” meaning they could be undertaken swiftly and have an immediate impact on jobs.

He declined to specify a price tag for the stimulus, saying his advisers are “busy working, crunching the numbers, looking at the macroeconomic data to make a determination as to what the size and the scope of the economic recovery plan needs to be. But it is going to be substantial.” (Read this article in its entirety, here) 

Here are a few companies that are in the building of building. 

AECOM Technology Corporation (ACM) is a Los Angeles, California based company which provides architecture, engineering, construction management, project management, asset management, and environmental consulting services to governments and industry. Their P/E is 27.97 and their PEG is 1.12.

Cemex (CX), which is a Mexican company, produces and markets cement, ready-mix concrete, aggregates, and other construction materials for the construction industry. The stock carries a P/E of 11.9, a PEG of 3.82, and a yield of 2.4%.

Chicago Bridge and Iron (CBI), which is not based in Chicago, but in the Netherlands of all places, provides engineering, procurement, and construction services to the oil and gas, water, metals, and mining industries around the world. The stock has a P/E of 27.55, a PEG of 1.68, and a yield of 0.4%.

Fluor (FLR) is in the business of providing engineering, procurement, and construction and maintenance services around the world. The stock has a P/E of 40.31, a PEG of 1.73, and a yield of 0.7%.

Foster Wheeler (FWLT) provides engineering and construction services to the power plant, power generation, and oil and gas industries. The company has a P/E of 20.09 and a PEG of 1.5.

Granite Construction (GVA) is a California based heavy civil construction contractor which is working on the Woodrow Wilson Bridge in Alexandria, Virginia. . The P/E is 27.8, the PEG is 1.7, and the yield is 0.7%.

Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc. (JEC) provides engineering, architectural, technical, professional, and construction services to industrial and governmental organizations. The P/E is 30.6 and the PEG is 1.49.

Lafarge SA (LR) is a France based company which sells construction materials all over the world, including cement, aggregates, concrete, and gypsum. The stock has a P/E of 12.33 and a yield of 1.8%.

McDermott (MDR) has a government operations division which provides many services to various U.S. Government-owned facilities, including uranium processing, environmental site restoration services, utility and industrial power generation systems, and boilers. They also engineer offshore drilling and production facilities. The stock has a P/E of 21.94 and a PEG of 1.26.

Meadow Valley (MVCO), a Phoenix, Arizona based company involved in heavy construction. They also make and sell ready-mix concrete, sand, and gravel products. The stock has a P/E of 16.46 and a P/S of 0.35. It appears that no analysts cover this company.

Michael Baker Corporation (BKR), founded in Pennsylvania in 1940, provides engineering services, design-build services, construction management, consulting, planning, surveying, mapping, geographic information systems, and architectural services to both governments and the private sector. The stock has a P/E of 25.55 and a P/S of 0.49.

Perini Corporation (PCR) is a Massachusetts based company which provides general contracting, construction management, and design-build services to both the public and private sectors. The P/E is 24.63 and the PEG is 1.51.

Tetra Tech Inc. (TTEK) provides consulting, engineering, and technical services in the area of civil infrastructure. The P/E is 26.6 and the PEG is 2.04.

URS Corp. (URS) provides engineering and technical design services to federal, state, and local government agencies, along with private industry. The P/E is 20.97 and the PEG is 1.35.

Willdan Group (WLDN) is an Anaheim, California based company, located down the street from Disneyland. It provides civil engineering, building and safety, and geotechnical engineering services to small and medium size governmental agencies. The stock has a P/E of 10.04 and a price sales ratio of 0.89. (Read this article in its entirety, here) 

NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Asked to describe his performance this year, value manager Bill Miller said that "terrible," "disastrous" and "awful" are words that come to mind. But Miller is expecting better for himself and other value managers in the coming year.

It looks as if the "bottom was made" in the stock market earlier this year, both from a psychology standpoint and "from what we've seen in the credit markets," said Miller, chairman and chief investment officer of Baltimore-based Legg Mason Inc.'s (LM) Legg Mason Capital Management Inc.

If we aren't going to have 20% unemployment and gross domestic product down 15% or 20%, historical odds favor the market being up well over 20% in the next year, Miller said at the money manager's year-end briefing.

"Panic is really hard to sustain," said Miller, so the worst case for next year "is the market just moving sideways."

Any recovery from this year's slaughter, however slight, would likely be a welcome respite for Miller. His Legg Mason Value Trust (LMNVX), which outperformed the S&P 500 for 15 consecutive calendar years through the beginning of 2006, is down more than 59% this year through Tuesday and more than 12% over five years, according to Morningstar Inc. In comparison, the average large blend fund has lost about 42.4% this year through Tuesday, and is down about 3.3% over five years, Morningstar said.

"We have performed far worse than I would have predicted we would," said Miller. "We have had maybe a tougher time than most value investors, but few are doing well because value spreads have widened." When those spreads start to narrow, value managers should do very well, he said.

Miller said he has seen characteristics of late that are consistent with a market bottom, such as a series of lows over a course of a few months. No one knows for sure whether those signs mark the end of this bear market or just a bear-market rally, he said. But Miller echoed Warren Buffett, saying, "If you can buy U.S. equities at these prices, you are likely to do well over time."

Value Trust is experiencing redemptions, though they have been "pretty steady" over the past year or so, meaning that they haven't accelerated or declined over the period, Miller said.

The fund is pretty much fully invested, though its cash position is currently higher than its normal "1% or so," he said. "It's not like we are sitting out there with 30% or 40% in cash like a lot of hedge funds are."

What he's trying to do and what he believes other value managers are trying to do is to "keep moving your capital to where it can give you the best risk- adjusted returns over whatever time horizon," Miller said.

Since the end of the second quarter, there's been "a pure scramble for liquidity," he said. "People sold without regard to value." As a result, quality is very cheap now, Miller said.

The only place where relative values aren't as good is the consumer staples sector as well as companies regarded as bulletproof, such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Miller said. Colgate-Palmolive Co. (CL) is a good example, he said. He noted that at one point a few days ago, Colgate traded at a higher price/earnings multiple than Google Inc. (GOOG), likely because Google is younger and less well-known. Google was one of Value Trust's weakest performers in the quarter ended Sept. 30, according to a regulatory filing made Tuesday.

The Value Trust fund currently holds Time Warner Inc. (TWX), which closed at $ 9.11 Wednesday, and Citigroup Inc. (C), which closed at $7.82, but nothing else in the single digits, Miller said.

The fund took a stake in credit-card company American Express Co. (AXP) in the third quarter, according to the filing Tuesday. "You can buy now the No. 1 companies in a wide variety of industries" very cheaply, Miller said when asked about that purchase.

Value Trust also added positions in Bank of America Corp. (BAC), EMC Corp. ( EMC), Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), NYSE Euronext (NYX) and 3M Co. (MMM) in the third quarter, according to the SEC filing. Among the stocks the fund sold were American International Group Inc. (AIG), Countrywide Financial Corp., Expedia Inc. (EXPE), Freddie Mac (FRE), Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) and Sprint Nextel Corp. (S), according to the filing. Bank of America bought Countrywide in July.

Among Value Trust's top 10 holdings as of Sept. 30 were Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) , Citigroup, Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD), General Electric Co. (GE), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and Eastman Kodak Co. (EK).

Asked how far along we are in the delevering process, Miller made it clear that things can change quickly.

"There is a huge amount of cash sitting out there on the sidelines," he said. "To the extent that that cash starts coming in, delevering will essentially be over."

Miller said the Federal Reserve should "buy everything in sight" because "the taxpayer is going to make a killing." There is virtually no investor who doesn't believe there is value in the market, he said.