WSJ- watch out, even utilities are hurt in this market

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120675033481973411.html?mod=home_we_banner_left 

Water’s Slippery Seduction

Investors Flood Sector
Amid Economic Falloff,
Limited Opportunities

By CAROLYN CUI and ANN DAVIS
March 29, 2008

Water may be the world’s most critical commodity. But it has been a tough market for many investors to tap profitably lately.

Since last summer, a flood of investment vehicles have hit the market, seeking to capitalize on the rising global need for clean water. But many of these investments have proved disappointing in the past few months, just as Wall Street has piled into the sector. For one, water-oriented stocks — from big conglomerates like General Electric Co. to water utilities to equipment suppliers like Mueller Water Products Inc. — also are exposed to broader economic problems, including the housing slowdown.

 Even the reliable old stand-bys aren’t holding up in the current housing/financing crisis.  Gold anyone?

Paul