"New Oriental Education (NYSE: EDU), which offers English language instruction to Chinese students, recently fell sharply after disappointing the Wall Street crowd," says Tony Sagami.

In his The Asia Stock Alert. the China stock specialist suggests, "This pullback is creating a buying opportunity. Indeed, this is your big chance to buy it on sale.

"Digging deeper, EDU's numbers contain both bad and good news. Among the good news, EDU earned $1.57 per share of profits last quarter, which is exactly what the consensus forecast was and 27% more than the same period last year.

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.

"New Oriental Education (NYSE: EDU), the largest English instruction and college prep course school in China, is my top pick for 2009 says China stock expert Tony Sagami.

In his specialized newsletter, the Asia Stock Alert, he explains, "Every time I travel to Asia, I'm on the lookout for new ideas; on my latest trip I found that one of the oldest stocks in our portfolio -- New Oriental -- is still one of the very best.

"I've previously attended New Oriental classes in Shanghai and Shenzhen before, and during the Olympics, I visited their home office in Beijing. The registration desk had a steady stream of students signing up for new classes throughout the day.

"Its bookstore was just as busy as the registration desk. The most popular books were Chinese versions of SAT, GRE, GMAT, and TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) preparation guides, as well as college-specific books.

"China places high value on education, making New Oriental Education & Technology Group (NYSE: EDU) somewhat defensive in a growth-stunted economy," says Chris Rowe. (Incidentally, we reviewed two U.S. education stocks in a post yesterday.)

Meanwhile, in The Tycoon Report, Rowe explains, "We believe a slowing global economy will have minimal impact on the education sector in China." Here's his review of this firm, which operates English language schools.

"New Oriental Education is a rapidly growing company that provides private educational services to over 1.3 million students via 207 school centers, primarily in the People's Republic of China. They help privately prepare Chinese for admission tests to foreign universities emphasizing English.

"It offers its program, service, and products in six areas: language training; test preparation; primary and secondary school; educational content, software, and other technology development and distribution; online education; and other services and products.

"I consider the stock to be somewhat defensive in a growth-stunted economy. And while you may be able to make large short-term profits on this stocks, the goal in this recommendation is to be very long-term holders.