"The companies that will fare the best when the next credit crunch hits are those that have large amounts of cash," says turnaround expert George Putnam. "With that in mind," he adds, " we looked for companies with lots of cash, little debt and good businesses in some form of a turnaround."

Here, the editor of The Turnaround Letter looks at Corning (NYSE: GLW), Motorola (NYSE: MOT), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Pfizer (NYSE: PFE).

Putnam explains, "Corning has transformed itself from a marketer of housewares into a leading provider of optical fiber as well as precision glass used in liquid-crystal displays. It also has a presence in the environmental and life sciences industries.

"The company experienced roller-coaster results over the last decade, as the telecom industry went through a boom and bust cycle, but recently it has reported more stable growth and profitability.

"Motorola has a long history of successful innovation in electronics. After considerable success with cell phone handsets, Motorola has stumbled recently in that sector. However, we expect it to rebound shortly with some new cell phone products.

"And Motorola is more than a handset company. It is using its formidable balance sheet to fund advances in set-top boxes/modems, wireless infrastructure and radio frequency ID products.

The advisor continues, "Microsoft is widely recognized as the most successful software company of the computer age. But Microsoft has diversified into other tech sectors. The company also has a strong foothold in game consoles and Internet portals.

"After going basically sideways for the last seven years, Microsoft's stock is finally showing signs of renewed life. At a forward P/E of 15 and with an outstanding balance sheet, Microsoft appears to be an attractive investment for long-term investors.

"Pfizer was riding high back when the pharmaceutical companies were one-decision, buy-and-hold stocks. The company's $90 billion acquisition of Warner Lambert and $60 billion purchase of Pharmacia positioned Pfizer as the world's largest pharmaceutical company.

"But results weakened as the FDA lengthened the drug approval process, and generics have risen to capture market share. Furthermore, Pfizer's pipeline hasn't shown much in the way of obvious blockbusters. But the balance sheet is impeccable, and outstanding cash flow supports tremendous R&D and possibly a biotechnology acquisition."

Each day, Steven Halpern's TheStockAdvisors.com website features the latest investment commentary and favorite stock picks of the nation's leading financial newsletter advisors.