"Certain commodities are getting hot again; both copper and gold have the wind at their backs in this market, while uranium has also caught our attention," says Brandon Clay.

In his Invest with an Edge, he explains, "One such company that should gain from a spike in gold, uranium, and copper is Vancouver-based Fronteer Development Group (NYSE: FRG).

"Uranium is a perennially despised substance with a back story in catastrophe, espionage, protests, and nuclear fallout. But this sometimes-sordid history may prove too weak an objection for the outstanding potential in uranium.

This post is part of a special annual report -- Top Stock Picks '09 -- in which TheStockAdvisors.com asked 75 leading newsletter advisors to select their favorite investment for the new year.

"Virginia Mines (TSE: VGQ) is an old favorite that is ready to shine again," says Adrian Day. In The Global Analyst, he looks at the firm holding interests in mining entities.

"In the long-odds resource exploration business, Virginia has a better model: it generates prospects which it farms out to partners at an early stage.

"The partners earn in to the properties by spending the exploration dollars. This is the highest-risk part of the exploration process.

"By this model, Virginia is able to maintain its balance sheet and avoid the dilution that bedevils exploration companies. It can then build a portfolio of minority interests in multiple projects which increases its odds of eventual success.

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.

"My favorite speculative choice for 2008 is InterOil Corp. (Toronto: IOL)," says Yola Edwards, editor of the technically oriented Yola Edward's Charts.

"The company is a junior exploration company involved in liquified natural gas. InterOil has partnered with Merrill Lynch Commodities, Inc. to develop a project in Papua New Guinea.

"InterOil's assets consist of petroleum licenses covering about 9 million acres, an oil refinery, and retail and commercial distribution facilities in Papua New Guinea. During 2006, the company announced a gas and condensate discovery, and doubled the downstream business by acquiring Shell's distribution assets in Papua New Guinea.

"The company announced a net loss of $17.9 million, or 60 cents per share (diluted), for the third quarter of 2007, compared with $7.3 million net loss or 25 cents per share (diluted) in the third quarter of 2006.

I've just returned from the World Money Show, where some 10,000+ investors gathered to learn about global investing. I had a chance to meet with many of the advisors who were featured at the show, and I have been highlighting some of their favorite investment ideas. To view all of the stocks featured in this special global report, click here.

Elsewhere in this global report, we feature the top South African stock from Adrian Day, editor of The Global Analyst. Here, he looks north of the border to a top pick among more speculative Canadian-based, global exploration play.

He explains, "Altius (TSX:ALS) has its roots as a prospect generator, focusing on mineral-rich but under-explored Newfoundland and Labrador. It has grown beyond that, but still looks at opportunities to grow, using other people's money to advance projects and minimize its risk.

"And it still generates properties; recently it staked three new uranium properties in central Newfoundland and a nickel property in the east with a plan to advance to a joint venture or strategic equity stake.

Altius has seven main assets now, four of which are joint-ventures or minority interests developed through staking, including 10% of Aurora Energy, 30% of London-listed Rambler Metals, and a uranium property in western Newfoundland, joint-ventured with JNR Resources.

"Altius also owns a royalty on Inco's Voisey's Bay nickel project, which started operations just a year ago. This will generate about $1 million a quarter to Altius, with no cost, at today's nickel prices. This multi-decade project has plenty of exploration upside and great leverage to nickel prices.