Each year Steven Halpern, editor of TheStockAdvisors.com, surveys the leading financial newsletter advisors asking for their favorite stocks for the coming year. This article is part of his 24th annual Top Stocks Report.

Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) is the favorite conservative stock pick from global investing expert John Christy. The editor of The Forbes International Investment Report says, "My thesis is that Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia used to be a classic European growth play, but now it represents a contrarian bet.

"A lot of folks are skeptical about the handset market -- market saturation, fierce competition, etc. -- and it's easy for cranky analysts to take potshots at them. That pessimism, however, is already reflected in Nokia's share price: It was only up 12% through early December, versus more than 20% for European stocks as a whole.

"It's also reflected in analysts' consensus estimates -- earnings per share are expected to rise 12% in 2007 and about 8% in 2008. That's nothing to write home about. Analysts are underestimating the strength of the mobile phone replacement and upgrade markets.

"Ten years ago the idea of a camera phone would have seemed nuts. I don't think anybody knows what bells and whistles phones will offer in the next ten years, so I think there's a lot of opportunity to keep driving innovation. Maybe not at the same clip as before, but still respectable.

Continue reading Top Picks 2007: John Christy's contrarian call on Nokia

Top Picks 2007: John Christy's contrarian call on Nokia originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 21 Dec 2006 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.