After being swamped with snow just a few weeks ago, the Northeast is still in the middle of a winter wonderland with forecasts for snow this evening and Friday. That has a lot of investors wondering about which company is the best bad weather stock. Is it home improvement retailers like Home Depot (HD) or Lowes (LOW), which both posted strong earnings results recently? Is it a company with a foothold in natural gas like Chesapeake Energy (CHK) or a utility like Exelon (EXC)?

Actually, it’s none of these. My favorite stock for cold weather is Detroit automaker Ford (F). Surprised? Don't be! Ford actually has a very lucrative branch of sales that is doing brisk business due to the horrible winter weather of February.

Specifically, Ford makes internal combustion engines for far more than just Mustangs and F-150s. The fact is that Ford remains one of the largest engine suppliers for top privately held generator companies like Generac and Kohler. As a matter of fact, I have a V-10 Ford engine running the Generac generator I use in emergencies.

Ford is a great stock to buy right now for a number of reasons -- it’s gobbling up market share from bankrupt GM and Chrysler and is benefiting from uncertainty over Toyota (TM) vehicles in the wake of the recent recalls. The generator angle provides just one more reason to like Ford stock right now.

For those of you looking for a more pure play in the bad weather, another great pick would be Compass Minerals (CMP). Compass is a leading chemical company that specializes in fertilizers and salts. While it’s clearly not time to be watering the garden, Kansas-based CMP is seeing brisk business from its deicing and salt products thanks to the wintry weather.

For more bad weather stocks in addition to Ford and Compass, check out 5 Winter Stocks Set to Cash In on the Clean Up.

At the time of this writing, Louis Navellier owned shares of Ford in personal or client portfolios.

Related links:

• 5 Winter Stocks Set to Cash In on the Clean Up
• Top 10 Dow Dividend Stocks
• Perk Up Your Portfolio with These Coffee Stocks