Clintonomics fits the bill for some Tar Heel companies.

• Author: Wittebort, Suzanne
• Position: Projected impact of Bill Clinton's policies on securities and industries in North Carolina

Whether Bill Clinton will rebuild America remains to be seen, but he may fortify returns for investors in some Tar Heel stocks and bonds whose issuers are set to benefit from the new president's policies.

Many agree that Clinton's vow to repair the nation's tattered infrastructure could mean business for some North Carolina companies. "From road building to bridge repair to water and sewer projects, this could have a wide-ranging impact and be broadly felt," says money manager Robert Pharr of Eastover Capital Management in Charlotte.

According to money manager Jim Green with Oak Value Capital Management in Durham, Insteel Industries (III-NYSE) in Mount Airy has 20% of the market for welded-wire reinforcement used in culverts, bridges, roads and other construction. Shortly after the election, the company announced plans to abandon the American Stock Exchange for the Big Board, and its stock hit a 52-week high of $13.

Charlotte-based Nucor Corp. could also benefit from infrastructure renewal. "Nucor would be my top |postelection~ favorite," says Bob Bambauer, a retail broker with Interstate/Johnson Lane in Charlotte. Nucor (NUE-NYSE) is the nation's largest manufacturer of I-beams, Green says. Its stock hit a 52-week high of $66 the week after the election and has moved higher.

Longer term, if the new president succeeds in reviving up the economy, the state's consumer-oriented furniture, apparel and textile businesses should get a boost. "These industries jump off quickly once the economy turns around," Bambauer notes.

Machinery and equipment manufacturers may benefit from a corporate investment tax credit Clinton has advocated that would enhance the incentive for companies to put money back into their businesses, says Robb Rowe, president of Charlotte-based Capital Technology, a money-management firm. In particular, spending redirected from the military could benefit some of the state's high-tech research and development firms, says Pharr, who points out that Clinton has mentioned interest in a broad range of industries from telecommunications to magnetic storage devices.

On the negative side, most analysts and money managers interviewed believe that many medical-service and pharmaceutical companies, such as Glaxo, a British company with its U.S. headquarters in Research Triangle Park, might be in for a harder time as the government becomes more active in encouraging caps on or cuts in medical costs. "You could see some slowdown in growth of...