Somebody recently asked about setting up a retired person with $120,000, who needed income & safety. I suggested that he look at the "Utility Portfolio" strategy recommended by o'Shaughnessey in _How to Retire Rich_".

Pixy cautioned that what with coming deregulation and all, utilities might be in for a rough time in the future. Surely, they will be operating in a new and unfamiliar financial environment!

This weekend, I took a look at Value Line, and ran this screen. Of the 10 stocks secected, 5 were electric utilites, 2 were gas distribution companies, and 3 were investment companies.

In evaluating this strategy (or any other strategy!), you need to access the source of the information. These stocks are taken from the Value Line "#1 Top stocks for safety" category. Presumably, VL has a clue or two, so I suspect that they have taken the new regulatory climate into account, and these stocks (about 120) are considered safe, even with deregulation taken into account.

Regards,
Ray