In past years, large cap integrated oil firms seems to dominate the advisors buy lists; this year, none were selected. Instead, the focus among advisors in the energy sector has been on companies operating in more specialized areas.

For example, Elliott Gue chose uranium miner and recent NYSE-list IPO, Energy Metals. Ken Kam also looked to the energy sector for his favorite, but went with an oil refiner, Valero Energy. Meanwhile, Ivan Martchev chose International Coal Group, while Keith Fitz-Gerald picked Rentech, a play on clean coal technology.

And despite the carnage in the Canadian energy trust sector, which has been hurt not only by weakness in oil but also by changes in tax laws, numerous advisors still see long term opportunity in these income-oriented energy trusts.

Roger Conrad selected Precision Drilling and Richard Lehmann chose Penn West Energy Trust. And two global advisors - Vivian Lewis selected Canadian Oil Sands; Gordon Pape also selected Canadian Oil Sands.

Readers should note that the advisors tend to view these annual Top Picks surveys in a competitive light, and therefore have a tendency to choose higher-risk, higher reward ideas. Thus despite the high volatility and inherent risk, the advisory community -- as seen by this year's Top Picks report -- remains bullish on energy and metals for those investors willing to look out over the coming year.

Steven Halpern is the editor of TheStockAdvisors.com, which provides a free, daily overview of the latest investment ideas and commentary from the leading financial newsletter advisors.