By ANNA PRIOR

Play It Safe : Railroad Stocks

• Risk Level: 15

Talk about all aboard. The six largest publicly traded North American railroads have been chugging along, delivering a 8.5 percent gain as a group over the past year, compared with the broader Dow Jones transportation index, which is down more than 3 percent. Helped by strong pricing, a shift away from trucking and an improving economy, "rails have been the less volatile, safer play," says Brad Delco, railroad and transportation-supplier analyst at financial services firm Stephens. Experts also emphasize that large companies -- which include Union Pacific (UNP), Canadian National Railway (CNI), Norfolk Southern (NSC) and CSX (CSX) -- typically pay out dividends and buy back stock. Even economic bears can find something to like in railroads, says John Maloney, CEO of M&R Capital Management, because no matter what happens in the economy, transporting freight by rail is a necessity for many firms. Says Maloney, "These companies aren't going to disappear."

Go for Broke: Baltic Dry Index

• Risk Level: 80

Landlubbers might not have noticed, but there has been a bonanza in shipbuilding; hundreds of vessels ordered several years ago have been delivered to global ports. But now there are too many ships, and that, combined with the so-so global economy, has helped sink the stocks of shipping firms. All those extra boats have forced shippers to cut their prices, says Douglas Mavrinac, managing director of the maritime group at Jefferies. The Baltic Dry index, which measures how much it costs to transport commodities by ship, is down 8 percent in the past year and 90 percent since a high in May 2008. Some analysts, however, say shipping prices have nowhere to go but up. Investors who don't mind rough seas could buy into leading shippers such as Diana Shipping (DSX) and Genco Shipping & Trading (GNK) . Experts say a rebound for shippers will largely depend on the economic prospects of their largest customer: China.