While most investors are fretting the markets recent contraction, you can be quite confident that "my pal Warren" has a smile on his face, as does Peter Lynch, Ken Heebner, Bill Miller, Bruce Berkowitz, and any number of fellow value investors that know now may be a time of opportunity. That is because they have the experience and understanding to pounce when they have a chance to buy things cheap.

This is the fourth installment of my series to discover just that: cheap stocks. If you would like to get on board from the beginning then review the initial post which screened for stocks with lower than market average P/E ratios, see Serious Money: Market Looks Cheap to Me -- 35 Stocks. In the second installment, I looked at yield and PEG ratios: Serious Money: Still Cheap Market -- 35 Stocks + Yields & Growth. Then I moved on to the the P/S and P/CF metrics in Serious Money: Cheapest Stocks Yet -- From 35 to 26, cutting nine stocks.

Is the market overpriced? Maybe it is cheap, or perhaps it is fairly valued. This is the third in a series examining the issue. Still, it has been my contention that it does not make any difference because no matter how the market is valued as a whole, there are plenty of cheap stocks out there to accommodate a large amount of capital allocation even this deep into a bull run.

If you would like to follow along from the beginning, the initial post screened stocks for lower than market average P/E ratios: Serious Money: Market Looks Cheap to Me -- 35 Stocks. In the second installment, I looked at yield and PEG ratios: Serious Money: Still Cheap Market -- 35 Stocks + Yields & Growth.

Let's try and reduce the gambling by examining the facts and ignoring what the bulls and bears are chatting up at the moment. We started the process by screening for lower than market average P/E ratios, see: Serious Money: Market Looks Cheap to Me -- 35 Stocks.

Two more important criteria influence today's review: the yield, a favorite of "my pal Warren"; and the price-to-earnings-to-growth (PEG) a focus of Peter Lynch, the retired fund manager extraordinaire of Fidelity's Magellan Fund.

U.S. stock futures edged higher Friday following robust results from Amazon and Microsoft and as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was confirmed for a second term. But still ahead are GDP figures, which Wall Street will focus on to get a clearer picture of economic activity.

At 8:30 a.m., the government will disclose fourth quarter gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic activity. Most likely, the economy grew in the fourth quarter for a second straight quarter and possibly at the fastest pace in nearly four years. Analysts estimate the economy grew 4.5% in the final three months of 2009, according to Thomson Reuters. Much of it was due to the stimulus, economists say, and if that stops, they worry growth would slow, or even stop.

We frequently receive comments that the market is overpriced. Recently one of our active readers commented that the market P/E was 30, which it's not. The actual rate (S&P forecast) has been even higher at times due to the volatile market.

The average should trend closer to the long term P/E of 15.7 in the next few years. However, I have reviewed companies often covered on our site and come up with a list of 35 stocks that have price-to-earning ratios below the long-term average already. I think there are dozens of bargains regardless of the status of the overall market.

Tired of experiencing pain at the pump? Does the thought of $3.50 per gallon for unleaded regular sort of dim your SUV driving experience?

Well, then profit from oil's likely return trek to $100 per barrel by buying Chevron (CVX), and I'm obviously reiterating my buy rating for the company's shares, first recommended on February 15, 2009 at a price of $66.18.

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage on BloggingStocks:

• Aetna Inc. (AET) shares declined after the insurer issued a surprise earnings warning for 2010.
• Alcoa Inc. (AA) swung to a smaller-than-expected Q4 profit even as revenue declined, sending shares lower.
• Carter's Inc. (CRI) posted strong Q3 earnings that topped estimates and same-store sales growth.
• Chevron Corp. (CVX) shares declined slightly after the company issued a surprise earnings warning.
• Con-Way Inc. (CNW) was downgraded due in part to concerns about near-term earnings.

Today started out as a down day and it stayed that way. The market tried to recover mid-morning, but that failed. The financial sector was under pressure from guidance and from fears of more reprisals out of Washington D.C. that never seem to go away. The rest of the market pressure was on earnings and a pressure of earnings warnings hitting the stocks.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 10,626.81 -37.18 (-0.35%)
S&P 500 1,136.21 -10.77 (-0.94%)
Nasdaq 2,282.31 -30.10 (-1.30%)

Top Analyst Upgrades
Top Analyst Downgrades

U.S. stock market futures slumped Tuesday morning after aluminum giant Alcoa reported disappointing results late Monday to kick off the fourth-quarter earnings season. Warnings from Chevron and Electronic Arts only further rattled already jittery investors.

U.S. stocks were mixed on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 finishing the session higher, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite ended the day lower. While strong trade data out of China boosted confidence about the global economy, investors also eyed a weak dollar and higher commodity prices.

Analyst Upgrades

• Citigroup upgraded Chevron (CVX) to buy from hold after raising its long-term oil price assumption to $80 per barrel from $65. The firm raised its target price for Chevron shares to $97 from $78 and said it expects oil prices to push towards $90 per barrel in the near-term. Note, Citi also upgraded BP (BP) and Petrobras (PBR) Monday morning to buy from hold.
• Jefferies upgraded Overseas Shipholding (OSG) and Nordic American Tanker (NAT) to buy from underperform as it expects crude oil tanker charter rates to improve in 2010 based on expectations for increased OPEC production levels. The firm raised its target on Overseas Shipholding to $60 from $22 and on Nordic American to $41 from $25.
• Goldman upgraded Corning (GLW) to buy from neutral as they believe the LCD cycle may have bottomed in 4Q09 vs. their previous expectation of 2H10. The firm raised its target to $23 from $18. Shares were also upgraded to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank on expectations that consensus estimates will trend higher due to robust TV demand and tight capacity. The firm raised its target price on shares to $24 from $19.
• Lam Research (LRCX) was upgraded to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Intel (INTC) was upgraded to hold from sell at Auriga.
• Regal Entertainment (RGC) was upgraded to overweight from market weight at Thomas Weisel.

After reading an unbelievable sell recommendation by one of my BloggingStocks colleagues, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. In Thirteen Dow stocks that are doomed, we are informed that 13 of the 30 are going down and we should all bail out before it is too late.

I find this silly on many levels. For one, 13 stocks amount to a large-cap index fund and since large-cap stocks have lagged the market the probability that they will outperform going forward is real and has many investors promoting them.

Chevron (CVX) saw its profits slashed in half in its recent Q3 earnings report, and that's even after a big jump in output and a sharp cut in operating costs.

If producing more and spending less can't get this company on the right track, it's basically out of options in the short term. While it may be faring better than some other oil stocks, I still rate CVX a sell.

Next: Dog of the Dow #6: Exxon Mobil (XOM)

Broader economic indicators like GDP and housing numbers seem to be pointing up lately. But despite this, the Dow 30 are stuck in a death spiral. This arbitrary index of outdated stocks is a poor sample of Wall Street right now and just can't seem to get its act together.

Investors who place so much emphasis on the Dow Jones Industrial Average do so at their own peril. Not only are the Dow 30 very disconnected from Wall Street and the broader U.S. economy, this lineup also contains some of the worst stocks out there right now.

Now that there's credible evidence that the U.S. economy is recovering, U.S. gasoline demand may stabilize, helping refiners like Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX), hence I'm Reiterating my Buy rating for the company, first recommended on February 15, 2009 at a price of $66.18.

Look for Chevron's oil/natural gas production to increase more than 5% in FY2009, and then at about a 4-4.5% annual rate 2010-2012.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says you can be bearish, but you have to admit when you're wrong.

Oh boy, I hit a nerve. My last two days of donning the bear suit and imitating the bears has brought on a cacophony of critics, all of whom think that I am attacking them personally! That's right, they think I have read them, seen them and heard them and that I am spoofing them or making fun of them.

Moreover, they think that I am wildly bullish and that I am mocking them for not wanting to buy things here.