Essentially, there are two ways to keep investors happy. One is share price appreciation, and the other dividend payments. Investors experienced the first with a powerful stock rally in the past year and half. Now, its time for dividends to play a part, writes Rachel Beck of the Associated Press.

When the meltdown occurred, companies pushed the fear button and hoarded cash, now amounting to $940 billion, Beck writes. Now that the economy is on firmer footing companies can let go of some of this pile of money. In the first quarter, 117 companies issued dividends, compared with only 78 a year ago, according to the AP.

"We live in a networked world. And much of the backbone of that wired and increasingly wireless data/voice/video network is built on equipment produced by Cisco Systems (CSCO)," says Stephen Leeb.

The editor of Leeb's Income Performance Letter explains, "A colossus of the technology sector, it's the market leader in each of its business segments, including area networks, routing, switching, wireless LANs, web conferencing and digital video.

"Even when the market is up a lot, you can always find some good stocks that have been left behind but could be on the verge of a rebound," says George Putnam.

The editor of The Turnaround Letter explains, "That's where we suggest you focus your efforts right now. These eight stocks all have strong business franchises and have all significantly lagged the market over the last two years.

"In fact, several of them are still trading near or even below where they were in early 2009. Here, we look at Bank of America (BAC), Best Buy (BBY), Campbell Soup (CPB), Cisco Systems (CSCO), Microsoft (MSFT) and Sprint Nextel (S).

Analyst Upgrades

• Interpublic Group (IPG) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• Radware (RDWR) to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.
• Fluor (FLR) and Waddell & Reed (WDR) to buy from hold, as well as AllianceBernstein (AB) to hold from sell, at Citigroup.
• MetroCorp (MCBI) and American Capital (AGNC) to outperform from market perform at Keefe Bruyette.
• International Flavors (IFF) to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• BioCryst (BCRX) and Southern Company (SO) to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Bunge (BG) to overweight from neutral at HSBC.

Analyst Upgrades

• Polo Ralph Lauren (RL) to neutral from underperform at BofA/Merrill.
• Sigma-Aldrich (SIAL) to outperform from market perform at Leerink.
• Petrobras (PBR) to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• Silvercorp Metals (SVM) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• PROS (PRO) to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Power Integrations (POWI) and Monolithic Power (MPWR) to buy from neutral at Roth Capital.
• Diodes (DIOD) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• Whole Foods (WFMI) to hold from sell at Hapoalim.
• Sinclair Broadcast (SBGI) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Sappi (SPP) to outperform from neutral at Macquarie.
• Alpha Natural (ANR) to buy from hold at BB&T.
• Watts Water (WTS) to buy from hold at Brean Murray.

Things look to be pretty quiet on the economic calendar this week. Here are the highlights:

• Tuesday: Weekly chain-store sales
• Wednesday: Federal budget balance for January
• Thursday: Wholesale trade data in December
• Friday: Trade balance in December and the weekly inflation survey

However, three iconic companies -- Walt Disney (DIS), Coca-Cola (KO) and Hasbro (HAS) -- highlight this week's quarterly results. Here's a look at what analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are anticipating from these and others.

JPMorgan (JPM) overall option implied volatility of 26 is below its 26-week average of 32, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

Cisco (CSCO) overall option implied volatility is at 28, according to Track Data, near its 26-week average into its release of Q2 EPS on February 9, suggesting nondirectional price movement.

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

"We recommend broad portfolio diversification is a core tenet of our investment approach; however, we think the tech sector in particular presents some attractive opportunities, especially in the large-cap arena," says value investor John Buckingham.

The money manager and editor of The Prudent Speculator explains, "One stock we particularly like for the coming year is Cisco Systems (CSCO).

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.

Barron's is forecasting a 10% rise in stock prices in 2011 led by big cap stocks. They argue that the big caps have lagged the market for the past decade and are now poised to take the lead, as reported by CNBC.com.

Here are their top ten picks for this year: Exxon Mobil (XOM), Walmart (WMT), Pfizer (PFE), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), General Motors (GM), Cisco Systems (CSCO), United Continental Holdings (UAL), Barrack Gold (ABX), Entergy (ETR), and PepsiCo (PEP).

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).