"With $37.2 billion in revenues in 2007, Kraft Foods (NYSE: KFT) is the largest food manufacturer in the U.S. and second-largest worldwide," notes leading turnaround stock expert George Putnam.

The editor of The Turnaround Letter explains, "New management has begun to shake things up and the turnaround program is well underway." Here's the advisor's review.

"The roots of some of Kraft's products reach all the way back to 1767, but it wasn't until 1903 that James L. Kraft started his wholesale cheese business from a horse drawn wagon in Chicago. Today, Kraft produces many of the best-known food brands in the world.

"In 1988, Philip Morris (renamed Altria) purchased Kraft, and in 2000 it integrated the purchase of Nabisco into Kraft. Altria sold a small stake to the public in 2001, but maintained majority control until 2007, when the company was completely spun off as an independent company once again.

"Under the Altria umbrella, Kraft stagnated, with declining revenues and little product innovation. As a result, the stock price today is within $1 of the price where it was when first sold to the public in mid-2001.

"New management has begun to shake things up at Kraft. In June 2006, veteran food executive Irene Rosenfeld became CEO, returning to Kraft from a stint at Pepsico running its Frito-Lay division.

"I've spotted an excellent opportunity to cash in on the turnaround of one of America's most visible companies -- Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX)," says Jim Stanton.

The quantitative analyst and contributing editor to Xcelerated Profits Report explains, "I've had my eye on a number of retail stocks for some time now, looking for signs of a potential turnaround, and Starbucks is now high on my list."

"One of the main reasons for the slide in SBUX shares from its high of $40 in November 2006 was the overly aggressive expansion plan.

"And as food and dairy prices have soared, this has led to higher operating costs. In turn, this forced Starbucks to raise prices, just as consumers were struggling from the housing slump and soaring inflation.

"And as competition from the likes of McDonalds and Dunkin Donuts has turned up the heat, Starbucks has suffered charges related to closing out unprofitable stores. But Starbucks is tackling the problems.

"As the tech industry has matured, some technology companies are beginning to devote some of their cash flow to dividends," explains George Putnam, who notes, "This helps reduce downside volatility and offers some positive return when the stock prices lag."

In his industry-leading The Turnaround Letter, the advisor highlights some dividend-paying tech stocks; here a look at three of those picks.

"Many tech stocks have underperformed for the last couple of years as capital spending on technology products has been weak. The sector will eventually rebound, but the timing is far from certain.

"A conservative way to play the industry is to focus on technology stocks that pay dividends. That way you at least get paid something while you wait for the rebound. The following technology stocks pay decent dividends, many of them higher than the average 2.1% dividend paid by the stocks in the S&P 500 Index.

"Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) recently surprised Wall Street by posting its first profit in ages," notes Mark Skousen in The Turnaround Trader. Here's the advisor's bullish outlook on the auto maker.

"Ford announced a $100 million profit in the quarter, even though sales lagged General Motors and Toyota. I see Ford as a deeply undervalued company that finally is producing good quality cars, both here and abroad, and I don't think higher gasoline prices will have much effect on the turnaround.

"Ford must be seen as a global producer. And foreign sales are booming for Ford and GM. Moreover, now that Ford has decided to include Microsoft's Nuance-powered Sync voice control system in some of its 2008 models, it could help improve sales dramatically here in U.S. showrooms.

"If the profitable quarter continues, Ford now is selling for only 14 times next year's earnings. With revenues of close to $40 billion in the quarter, a smart business person certainly could cut the fat from that and turn a profit, and that is exactly what turnaround specialist CEO Alan Mulally is doing.

"Under his guidance, Ford saved $1.7 billion from cost reductions in the quarter and agreed to sell Jaguar and Land Rover. Wall Street likes what Mulally is doing, and so does billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian, who is buying its stock. Let's join him by buying Ford."

Each day, Steven Halpern's TheStockAdvisors.com offers the latest market commentary and favorite investment ideas from the nation's leading financial newsletter advisors.

There's also the bearish case: Ford (F): No short seller faith in turnaround

Shares in weight-management company NutriSystem Inc. (NASDAQ: NTRI), which have starved investors over the last year, falling from over $70 to as low as $12.55 a share, are surging more than 30% today on news of a new CEO and the release of preliminary numbers much stronger than analysts had expected.

Earnings estimates for the first quarter show revenues of $216 million, $13 million more than analysts had figured. The company also named Joseph Redling as the new CEO.

According to a report in Forbes, current Chairman and CEO Michael Hagan said: "The business is in good shape as we enter the second quarter. The business performance in the first quarter was better than expected as the marketing efficiency in the latter stages of the quarter showed improvement, and it's certainly stabilized versus January trends. We also continue to witness improvement in our customer retention efforts and in the business of reactivating ex-customers."

Looking for a former billion-dollar company that has fallen off most investors' radar? Have a look at Verint Systems Inc. (OTC: VRNT). As part of the Comverse Technology, Inc. (OTC: CMVT) options backdating scandal, the company was delisted from the NASDAQ because of filing issues. Comverse was delisted as well, and its CEO fled to Africa after he was wanted by U.S. authorities. Verint is a leading provider of analytic software-based solutions for security and workforce-enterprise optimization. Their solution generates actionable intelligence through the collection, retention and analysis of various communication networks.

The company today received an upgrade from JP Morgan. The stock has gotten crushed over the last 2 years falling from a high of over $40 to today's price in the $17.40 range. Business is doing well, and as that they are in the security space, that should help valuation. There has been speculation that either the parent Comverse will get bought or they will sell off their divisions, Verint among them. This sale would fetch a hefty premium, and with a market cap in the $500 million dollar range, this could get juicy for investors. Another potential catalyst, would be for them to get current in their filing and potentially regain the NASDAQ listing, which would get them back on institutional investors radar screen.

If you are looking for an interesting turnaround story for '08, check out Verint.

Aaron Katsman is the lead Portfolio Manager and Managing Director of America Israel Investment Associates, LLC. and Senior Editor of IsraelNewsletter.com. Disclosure: Writer owns stock and is long both VRNT.pk and CMVT.pk. He has no position in any other stock mentioned as of 12/5/07.