"Since the market started its downturn early this year, I have avoided all financial stocks and resisted the temptation of value plays," says Dave Dyer.

In his Dave Dyer's Newsletter, he explains, "Well, it is now time to violate both of those prohibitions at once." Here, he looks at a new buy for SLM Corporation (NYSE: SLM), commonly known as Sallie Mae, the nation's largest provider of college loans and savings programs."

"There must be some financial areas that have predictable, growing demand, willing customers who actually have low default rates, and securitization processes that do not involve the type of financial engineering that is only intended to hide risk.

"Well, there is such an area, and it even involves a product that it makes sense to finance since it will actually increase in value over time. I'm talking about student loans.

For 25 years, Steven Halpern, editor of TheStockAdvisors.com, has surveyed the leading financial newsletter advisors asking for their favorite stocks for the coming year. This article is one of 100+ ideas in the Best Stocks for 2008 report.

"The era of personalized medicine is arriving and Genomic Health (NASDAQ: GHDX) is one of the first companies to provide both a successful product and an investment opportunity," says Dave Dyer in his Dave Dyer's Newsletter, referring to his more speculative favorite for 2008.

"The company's genetic test provides a way to determine whether women with early stage breast cancer would benefit from chemotherapy. For 70% of people with early stage breast cancer, minimally invasive surgery and radiation is all that is needed.

"The other 30% have a more aggressive type of cancer and would benefit from also receiving chemotherapy. An objective, quantifiable test based on the genetic characteristics of a specific patient can determine with very high probability which group a patient belongs to.

For 25 years, Steven Halpern, editor of TheStockAdvisors.com, has surveyed the leading financial newsletter advisors asking for their favorite stocks for the coming year. This article is one of 100+ ideas in the Best Stocks for 2008 report.

"Stericycle (NASDAQ: SRCL) is an almost perfect business -- an absolutely essential service, but nobody wants to do it," says Dave Dyer in his Dave Dyer's Newsletter, referring to his more conservative favorite for 2008.

"It is about as close to being a monopoly as you are likely to find, especially in a critical national industry. Stericycle is the acknowledged leader in the unglamorous but necessary task of medical waste disposal.

"It is 12 times bigger than its nearest rival and SRCL is the only vendor able to provide services on a nationwide basis, which means that the large, nationwide customers have only one good option unless they want to deal with multiple vendors.

"The highly regulated nature of its business acts as a convenient barrier to entry by potential competitors. And even if someone does manage to start a competing company, there is a good chance that SRCL will buy them.

A trio of leading advisors are looking outside the US for opportnity in the telecom sector: Nick Vardy sees potential with Telefonica S.A. (NYSE: TEF), David Fried looks south of the border to Telefonos de Mexico (NYSE: TMX) and Dave Dyer recommends the more diversified Emerging Markets Telecommunications Fund (ASE: ETF).

In his Global Bull Market Alert, Nick Vardy explains, "Spanish telecom group Telefonica S.A. is like a corporate conquistador, exploiting its historical links to expand into Latin America. This new Spanish explorer is reaping rich profits for itself and its shareholders.

"Telefonica's global footprint extends across three continents and 23 countries with a total population of 670 million. This conquistador planted its first flag in Latin America 15 years ago and today is the leading telecom in Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Peru.

"For an organization that is already the fifth-biggest telecom company in the world with close to 207 million customers, Telefonica's profits are still expanding at a breathtaking rate.

"Just recently, Telefonica announced that its third-quarter net profit rose 39% year-on-year. Overall, net profit jumped to €4.02 billion from €2.9 billion a year earlier. Also important to us, Telefonica is a stock that has held up remarkably well despite the recent market jitters, recently hitting a record high. We recommend buying the shares at market."