With cornerstone investors United Energy and Utilicorp both under a cloud, DJ Carmichael recommends AlintaGas as a buy.

"These parties have a combined 45% of AlintaGas and can deal the line in October," Carmichael said. "We see two obvious acquirers of the stock, being Wesfarmers and Origin Energy."

With only power generation and exploration on the west coast, Carmichael said an Origin acquisition of AlintaGas - with its 450,000 strong customer base - would be a good complement to its 1.8 million retail customers on the east coast.

"Wesfarmers is another obvious candidate, as AlintaGas would add substance to its energy division. In any case, the situation looms large as a positive for AlintaGas," Carmichael said in its weekly brief.

DJ Carmichael also recommends Sydney oil and gas exploration company Roc Oil, which it says has been caught in a tax-loss selling cycle, offering investors the opportunity to purchase in June from those selling to capture tax losses.

"Roc is worth in excess of $2 but is trading at about $1.40," said senior analyst Peter Strachan "The stock trades very cyclically with its exploration success and is in a slump. There is an opportunity to buy now at $1.40 before it recovers during July and August."

DJ Carmichael also recommends investors looking at BHP Billiton shares to buy below $10.40. "Some improvement in coal prices and the continuing strength of oil and gas prices should support the big South African, though a weaker US dollar and a low copper price could set the price back towards $10 per share before we see any secular recovery," the Perth brokerage house said.

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