Here are the next four of my 2011 picks. I am behind schedule, after publishing the first 5 earlier in the week (see: Chasing Value: 2011 Stock Picks -- 5 of 11). This year instead of starting completely anew, I am adjusting my 2010 picks. There is no sense in abandoning good ideas just because the calendar turned a page.

You will actually find support of running themes I have been writing about over the past few months. One of these is the idea of making a contrarian investment in a basket of stocks that have been both scalded and scolded in the headlines. Six stocks were included in such a group that I called the "toxic stocks" (see: Chasing Value: Toxic Stock Update #3 -- BAC, BP, C, GE, GS, RIG).

It has become a European tradition that the government owned airlines and phone companies are often "bossed" around by the politicians who have kept anything but an arm's length relationship when it comes to decision making. Many European countries hold ownership shares in the industries' major players, and it is very common for these governments -- including sometimes even their heads of state -- to meddle and interfere in their business affairs. Then, when there's even a whiff of economic endangerment, they run for the hills.

"Turkey is a country that nearly everybody overlooks -- but probably not much longer," says Jim Powell, editor of Global Changes & Opportunities Report.

The advisor suggests, "The best way for investors to take a position in the country's growth is with the iShares MSCI Turkey Investment Market Index (TUR).

"The ancient nation is rapidly becoming a major Middle Eastern power and an important European power at the same time. And yet, very few investors are paying attention. Those who are stand to make excellent long-term profits as Turkey continues to develop.

Fears surrounding the ever-expanding European debt crisis are starting to flare up again as news is rolling out of Eastern Europe that the crisis is spreading to Hungary.

The Hungarian government announced that it is at risk of defaulting on its sovereign debt thanks to accounting shenanigans perpetrated by a previous administration. It seems the Greek government wasn't the only one cooking the books to make its economy look better.

"WisdomTree International Utilities (DBU) is an excellent way to diversify outside of the U.S. in a defensive portfolio of quality stocks," says Carla Pasternak .

In High Yield International, she explains, "This ETF tracks the WisdomTree International Utilities Sector Index of international dividend-paying utilities outside of the United States and Canada. To be included in the index, companies must have paid at least $5 million in cash dividends on their common stock in the prior year. Positions are weighted based on the amount of regular cash dividends paid.

When a country's economy gets stronger, its currency follows. The recent unemployment report on Dec. 4 was much better than expected. If the economy is stronger, the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates. Both of these factors have sparked a dollar rally.

The rally was most likely caused by short-covering, the Financial Times reports. When a trader "sells short," he or she must "buy" to cover the position. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), where currency contracts are traded, keeps a running tally of the long and short positions in each currency. On Dec. 1, there were 172,367 net short dollar positions. By Dec. 8, this number had dropped to 107,284, The value of this shift in net positions was $9.8 billion dollars.

Consumer confidence ticked upward for the first time since 2007. Around the world, consumers are becoming more comfortable with the prospect of shelling out some cash, even if they're still approaching the notion with caution.

According to a survey conducted by The Nielsen Company between September 28 and October 16, 2009, consumer confidence was highest in India, with Indonesia and Norway following. Japan, Latvia, Portugal, and South Korea were at the other end of the spectrum, though South Korea did show a significant quarterly improvement.

The clean technology wave just got a little bigger. This tends to be a side-effect of interest from billionaire investor George Soros. And, as usual, it's more than just money; it's more than just a return. Soros, yet again, is trying to save the world. Interestingly, the bold move was announced at a meeting on climate change sponsored by Project Syndicate – an international association consisting of 430 newspapers from 150 countries (and thus with clear ties to the past, rather than future).

The investor and founder of Soros Fund Management LLC is planning to put $1 billion into clean-tech opportunities using what he calls "rather stringent criteria," which involves being "profitable but should also actually make a contribution to solving the problem [i.e., of clean technology adoption and proliferation]." Soros didn't provide any other details on the nature or scope of his investments.

"The steel stocks tend to go through boom and bust cycles depending on global economic activity; they have been pummeled over the last year, as the global economy slowed," notes turnaround expert George Putnam.

In his The Turnaround Letter, he explains, "But the news about steel is not all bad." Indeed, he believes some steel companies are poised for a turnaround. Here's his review of 6 leading steel production companies.

"Weakness in two big steel consuming industries, autos and construction, has been particularly troublesome for the steelmakers.

"However, there is evidence that steel inventories are gradually being worked off to low levels. There are also signs that economic activity in China, which is a huge consumer of steel, will not fall off as far as some economists initially feared.

Brendan Coffey is a specialist on "green" investing; in his The Cabot Green Investor, he looks to alternative energy firm American Superconductor (NASDAQ: AMSC).

Here's his review of the company, which is a player both in wind power and energy efficient wiring that can play a role in improved power grid systems.

"Long an R&D company, focusing on highly conductive wiring, American Superconductor made a game-changing purchase of an Austrian wind company, Windtec, in early 2007.

The G 20 countries wrapped up their ground breaking summit with amazing cooperation among members. The tackled a wide range of problems and were able to agree on just about every key issue.

Let's look at some specific policies that the G 20 members agreed upon:

• Regarding the matter of stimulus, they agreed to boost the International Monetary Fund's lending power to around $750 billion.
• They also unveiled a $250 billion expansion of the IMF's reserve currency, referred to as "special drawing rights." This will boost liquidity in the global financial system by expanding member countries' foreign exchange reserves.
• They agreed to selling gold to help poor countries.