"Virgin Mobile USA (NYSE: VM) is one of the strongest issues this year among the low-priced stocks; it has climbed from 76 cents to nearly $5," says technical expert Leo Fasciocco.

Fasciocco is a technician and editor of Ticker Tape Digest, an advisory service that focuses on finding stocks that are breaking out from technical basing patterns.

He suggests, "Based in New Jersey, Virgin Mobile offers wireless subscribers a choice in wireless service and innovative products without annual contracts; annual revenues are $1.3 billion.

"The stock's long-term chart shows VM trading as high as 15. It was dragged lower during the bear market. However, the stock has made the turn and is now in an up trend supported by good earnings prospects.

"If you can tolerate the volatility, it's a good idea to begin dipping back in to the stock market, in solid companies with strong cash balances, little debt and great prospects," says wireless sector expert Nikhil Hutheesing.

In The Forbes Wireless Stock Watch, the advisor asks, ""In the long run, smart investments today will lead to profits down the road. One of those companies, that I now think looks attractive, is the Canadian maker of the BlackBerry - Research in Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM)."

"The Canadian company introduced the BlackBerry in 1999 and it quickly became a must-have way for employees oflarge companies to communicate through email and voice wirelessly. In its fiscal 2008 (which ended in February) the company sold nearly 14 million devices (more than double the year before).

"Recently, though, the financial crisis has dealt a strong blow to the company. Investors doubt whether RIMM can repeat the 90% growth in revenues that it achieved in fiscal 2008.

"Not only is the slowing economy a threat to growth but so is increased competition. Apple's iPhone, for example, has been a hit among consumers and now the company is pushing into the corporate market, trying to erode Research In Motion's market share.

"Recent price weakness in AT&T (NYSE: T) is presenting investors with a high-yield bargain for conservative investors," says Ivan Marchev in Leeb's Income Performance Letter.

"AT&T, a holding in our income portfolio, has had a tough 2008 so far. Its performance has been good in a price-sensitive business environment, despite evidence of greater pressure than expected from both the slowing economy and increased wireless competition.

"So why would anyone consider a phone company given the unfavorable economics? Earnings estimates for AT&T have been cut for the next couple of years due primarily to assumptions of sluggish economic growth in the U.S.

"The answer is that those developments are already reflected in the stock price. The shares now trade at a big discount to the S&P 500 despite similar long-term earnings growth potential of 8-10%. That growth will come particularly from data usage over mobile phones.

"The original Apple iPhone contract went to AT&T and there has been a burst of new product offerings of other so-called 'smart phones,' which are very data intensive. This will drive data usage rates considerably in the next five years.

"What's more, AT&T now pays a rich dividend yield of 5%, more than double the S&P 500. We like the stock for conservative, buy-and-hold income investors."

Steven Halpern's TheStockAdvisors.com offers a daily look at the latest market commentary and favorite stock picks and investment ideas from the nation's leading financial newsletter advisors.

"Growth investors can hitch their portfolio to any number of Asian stars; I think one big winner is going to be China Mobile (NYSE: CHL)," says Tony Sagami in his specialized Asia Stock Alert.

"Mobile phones are much, much more than telephones to Asians. If you travel to Asia, one of the first things you'll notice is how most locals walking down the street have mobile phones glued to their ears.

"It would be a big mistake to think of China Mobile as simply a mobile phone provider. In addition to traditional calling services, the company offers value-added services such as voice mail, conference calling, instant messaging, text messaging, as well as accessing the Internet.

"Even though the price of computers has fallen dramatically in the last few years, a personal computer (PC) is still out of financial reach for the average Chinese. Meanwhile, mobile phones are both cheap and capable of many of the same functions as PCs.

"Look, $500 to $1,000 dollars for a PC may seem reasonable to you and me, but that is a small fortune for the typical Chinese consumer, who makes less than $3,000 a year.

"What's so special about the new Nuvifone from Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN)?" asks global expert Tony Sagami. In his The Asia Stock Alert he takes a look at the new high tech device.

'The tech world has been waiting for the one of the more natural technological marriages to happen. I'm talking about merging the useful functionality of hand-held GPS devices with the mobile phone.

"Along with that anticipation has been the speculation of which cell phone maker Garmin would team up. The mystery is over! Instead of teaming up with somebody, Garmin itself is entering the cell phone business.

"The company will leap into the mobile phone market during the third quarter of 2008 with its new Nuvifone - a one-of-a-kind communication tool, because it has all the bells and whistles of the iPhone plus Garmin's great navigation system.

"Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM) is my favorite stock for gains over the next 12 months," says Chuck Carlson. Here's his bullish assessment from The DRIP Investor newsletter.

"Yes, the market is declining. And, yes, it is often scary to buy during such market periods. Nevertheless, there's an adage that 'the best time to invest was yesterday; the next best time is today'.

"Indeed, countless studies have shown that the best thing any investor can do is invest early and often. That is the best way to maximize the power of time, and time will have the greatest bearing on your investment results.

"Thus, investors need to be willing to buy even when it is difficult to do so, or should I so especially when it is difficult to do so. The reason is that we usually are reluctant to buy stocks during market declines. Yet, if you think about it, declining markets should be precisely the time we buy since stocks are cheaper.

"The stock has demonstrated impressive price performance throughout the market volatility in recent months, rising to its highest level in a year above $50 before pulling back.

"On the strength of two key acquisitions, Brightpoint (NASDAQ: CELL) has become the largest global distributor of wireless devices," says quantitative analyst Vahan Janjigian of Forbes Growth Investor.

"The acquisitons helped boost the number of wireless products handled in 2007 by 55% to 83 million. The company is also the leading provider of customized logistics services to the wireless industry.

"CELL purchases cell phones, batteries, chargers, and memory cards, and then sells them to a global network of 25,000 customers.

"The objective is to acquire distribution rights to products offering the greatest potential for growth. It sells brands made by LG Electronics, Nokia, Kyocera, Motorola, Samsung, Sony, Siemens, and Ericsson. This category produced 92% of total 2007 revenues, but it had a gross profit margin of just 4.24%.

Shares of Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) are rising on a Wall Street Journal (subscription required) report that Deutsche Telekom AG (NYSE: DT) is poised to make a bid for the wireless telecommunication company. If the report is accurate, Sprint's long suffering shareholders should do as the Steve Miller Band song suggests "take the money and run" because the deal may not happen.

For Sprint, though, this may be its only hope. Sprint shares have slumped almost 40% this year as the Overland Park Kansas-based company tried in vain to gain marketshare against larger rivals including Verizon and AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T). The commercials starring the company's affable CEO Daniel Hesse haven't helped much either. Remember when Hesse was named CEO last December, board member Irvine O. Hockaday Jr. remarked that Hesse "has the board's full support to take decisive actions necessary to improve our performance."

Does that mean a sale to the former German telecom monopoly? The deal makes sense in theory because combining Sprint and Deutsche Telekom would create the top wireless company with more than 82 million customers. Verizon, which is a joint venture between Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) and Vodafone Group Plc. (NYSE: VOD) has 67.2 million customers while AT&T has about 71 million wireless subscribers.

But as Bloomberg News points out, analysts argue that integrating the Deutsche Telekom and Sprint Nextel networks wouldn't be easy. Moreover, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security may not look kindly on a foreign company taking over a U.S. telecom provider for national security reasons, the news service notes.

Even so, the arguments for the merger are so compelling that it might be worth the risk.

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 Picks Report.

Airspan Networks (NASDAQ: AIRN) is the favorite speculative idea for 2007 from Nikhil Hutheesing. The editor of The Forbes Wireless Stock Watch explains, "It's clear that over the course of 2007 and into 2008, WiMax (a high-speed next generation wireless network) will become a big story for wireless stocks.

"Investors should consider investing in some potentially exciting WiMax companies now, before hype and WiMax rollouts drive stock prices up. One way is to buy shares of Airspan Networks, a company that makes equipment for these networks.

"Shares of the Boca Raton, FL-based company have fallen about 60% since April of this year because of uncertainty in orders from two customers. One is Yozan, a Japanese wireless carrier that was the first to provide WiMax service in Japan. The other is Axtel, a Mexican telecom operator.

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 Picks Report.

Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) is the favorite conservative stock selection from wireless and telecom industry analyst Nikhil Hutheesing, editor of The Forbes Wireless Stock Watch.

He notes, "From May through August of 2006, shares of Qualcomm fell by 37%, spurred in large measure by Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia announcing in June that it would stop making cell phones based on Qualcomm's CDMA (code division multiple access) technology, which it licenses to manufacturers of wireless equipment.

"Qualcomm refused to buckle under pressure from Nokia to reduce its licensing fees and the two companies are now in talks about extending the current licensing agreements, which end in April. If there is no extension, Nokia could stop paying Qualcomm about $500 million in fees annually.

"Also lingering over the company has been a bitter patent dispute battle with Irvine, California-based Broadcom. In October, a judge ruled against Qualcomm in the dispute over one particular patent, saying that Qualcomm violated parts of the patent that help cell phones conserve battery power when out of network coverage. Qualcomm said it would appeal the decision -- the final determination comes next year.