This post is one in a series in which more than 60 newsletter advisors share their Top Stock Picks for 2011. This special report is courtesy of TheStockAdvisors.com.

"One a theme that hasn't worked in, well, forever -- large cap technology stocks; many large cap tech are trading at historically low valuations," note Lou Basenese.

The editor of the White Cap Research Group explains, "As a contrarian, I'm picking the most contrarian large cap technology stock out there: Cisco Systems (CSCO), which could be a top-performer in 2011.

This post is one in a series in which more than 60 newsletter advisors share their Top Stock Picks for 2011. This special report is courtesy of TheStockAdvisors.com.

"We recommend broad portfolio diversification is a core tenet of our investment approach," says value investor John Buckingham.

The editor of The Prudent Speculator explains, "However, we think the tech sector presents some attractive opportunities, especially in the large-cap arena. Oone stock we particularly like for the coming year is Cisco (CSCO).

This post-holiday session still felt a bit like a holiday trading session, something which may be the norm for the week ahead into New Year's. Gold went back over $1400 per ounce on dollar weakness and as a mid-term Treasury auction was deemed to be a dud. China was weaker and many of the stocks acted with a mind of their own after consumer confidence was deemed a disappointment today, and as oil production estimates were trimmed.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow Jones 11,575.54 +20.51 (0.18%)
S&P 500 1,258.53 +0.99 (0.08%)
Nasdaq 2,662.88 -4.39 (-0.16%)

Top Analyst Upgrades/Downgrades

Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO) December 20 and January 20 calls were active with total call option volume of 497K contracts compared to 143K puts. December and January call option implied volatility is at 22, February is at 26, compared to its 26-week average of 30 according to Track Data. Large volume suggests traders positioning for movement.

Charles River Laboratories (CRL) closed up 3%, on Relational Investors LLC and the California State Teachers' Retirement System having a combined 6.1% stake in the company, and wanting the company to put itself up for sale, reports the Wall Street Journal. January option implied volatility of 29 is below its 26-week average of 34 according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

Options Update is by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Analyst Upgrades

• Cisco (CSCO) to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.
• Cognizant (CTSH) to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Polypore (PPO) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• Elan (ELN) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Millicom (MICC) and NuStar GP Holdings (NSH) to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley.
• Teekay LNG (TGP) to equal weight from underweight at Morgan Stanley.
• American Railcar (ARII) to outperform from market perform at Morgan Keegan.
• Texas Instruments (TXN) to buy from neutral at Sterne Agee.

The stock markets' current doldrums can be linked to many causes, and each day pundits will throw out their notions for the day. On one such occasion I could not resist playing the spoiler (probably more than once) posting Chasing Value: Cisco Shmisco -- It's Nothing. But today I will rally behind Cisco Systems (CSCO) and the potential to make an easy 25% return -- or own it cheaper than cheap!

Cisco is currently trading near its 52-week low, opening Tuesday at $19.24. The range is $19.18 to $27.74, so it has fallen 30.6% from its high on a very modest 2010 and lackluster projections going forward. Seems to me everyone is zigging so it's time to zag -- or is it the other way around? Nevertheless, its time for action and opportunity.

Analyst Upgrades

• Qualcomm (QCOM) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• JPMorgan upgraded Allegheny Tech (ATI) to overweight from neutral.
• NetApp (NTAP) was upgraded to buy from hold at Canaccord.
• Estee Lauder (EL) was upgraded to perform from underperform at Oppenheimer.
• Citigroup upgraded Suntech (STP) to hold from sell.

Today was partly a China-tightening day and it was also a big flush out of commodities. There was follow-on selling in technology and many high-flyers were the biggest losers on no news at all. Stocks, bonds, and commodities all sold off despite better consumer confidence. If anything, today might even have some hallmarks of a sentiment shift in the market.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

DJIA: 11,192.58 (-90.52)
S&P 500: 2,518.21 (-37.31)
NASDAQ: 1,199.21 (-14.33)

Top Stock Analyst Calls
Next Week's Top Earnings

Stocks opened lower after a downbeat report from Cisco Systems on its guidance. The G20 meeting of leaders of the industrial and developing countries in Seoul, South Korea, is beginning discussions on world trade and currencies. The currency markets are roiled again, with the US dollar gaining strength against the Euro, primarily on fears that the European Union will have to do something about Ireland's debt. Something like a bailout similar to the Greek bailout of earlier this year.

Here are the unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow Jones 11,283.10 -73.94 (-0.65%)
S&P 500 1,213.54 -5.17 (-0.42%)
Nasdaq 2,555.52 -23.26 (-0.90%)

Top Stock Analyst Calls

The market is down and the headlines are blaming Cisco Systems (CSCO), in part because they reported tepid earnings and somber growth projections. This once again underscores the fact that stock prices are always determined at the margins. Most folks could care less, and this is reflected by the big silent yawn of the majority of investors.

Cisco is not the bell-weather it has been in the past. Some of its business is down because there are more alternatives from competitors, "the cloud" keeps growing, and also many products have become commodities.

There are many other companies I would consider better measures of how the economy is doing.

Analyst Upgrades

• Intel (INTC) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight and Autodesk (ADSK) to equal weight from underweight at Morgan Stanley.
• Citigroup upgraded Blackrock (BLK) to buy from hold.
• 99c Only Stores (NDN) was upgraded to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• PetSmart (PETM) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• Piper Jaffray upgraded Ruth's Hospitality (RUTH) and Morton's Restaurant (MRT) to overweight from neutral.
• BioMed Realty (BMR) was upgraded to market perform from underperform at FBR Capital.
• Wells Fargo upgraded Piedmont (PDM) to market perform from underperform.

U.S. stock futures are lower this morning after Cisco Systems (CSCO) issued a weak revenue forecast last night, and China reported 4.4% surge in its consumer-price index in October. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 14 points at 11,288.00, while S&P 500 futures moved down 2.80 points to 1,211.30. Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 12.75 points to 2,161.75.

However, U.S. markets did gain yesterday, with the Dow Jones industrial average rising 0.1%, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index gaining 0.4% and the Nasdaq Composite Index advancing 0.6%.

Every time a CEO utters the word challenging you can hear the stampede of investors to the exit. You would think that corporate management would have learned to use some other word to describe the the times ahead.

Many a CEO has unwittingly cost his company billions in stock value while speaking at an earnings conference by stating that the business outlook was going to be challenging. If they put the word very in front of the word challenging, then still more value will be lost, at least in the short run.

Today was a mixed day where traders and investors alike could not decide whether to trade cautiously or whether to take on risk again. More technology concerns were prevalent and the newest jobs data led traders to believe that the non-Farm payrolls data will come in weaker on Friday.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow Jones 10,967.65 +22.93 (0.21%)
S&P 500 1,159.97 -0.78 (-0.07%)
Nasdaq 2,380.66 -19.17 (-0.80%)

Cisco (CSCO) will begin to pay a dividend, which is expected to have a yield of 1% to 2%. The payout will start near the end of the company's fiscal year. A few large tech companies like IBM (IBM) and Microsoft (MSFT) have payouts already. There has even been speculation that Microsoft will borrow money to increase its payout and begin a share buyback.

The dividend is often considered a sign that a company's growth has begun to slow and that investors need a new incentive to buy shares. As some of the largest tech firms with huge amounts of cash have posted more modest year-over-year earnings, Cisco's move may be a precedent. It may also be an answer to investors who question what tech companies plan to do with their large cash balances. IBM has $13 billion in cash. Cisco has $35 billion and Microsoft over $36 billion.