"In a world where complex derivatives contracts and other paper assets can evaporate at any time, it's refreshing to own something real and tangible -- and you can't get much more solid than a tree," says value investor Nathan Slaughter.

In his Half-Priced Stocks, he explains, "Potlatch (PCH) owns plenty of them, with a portfolio of 1.6 million acres spread throughout Arkansas, Idaho, Minnesota and Wisconsin. That forestland produces a steady harvest year in and year out. Timber production has been rising at a healthy +9% annual pace, reaching 4.4 million tons before last year's slowdown

"The health care business is immune to an ill economy, as people still need vaccinations, sutures and blood screens regardless of business cycles," notes value investor Nathan Slaughter.

In his Half-Priced Stocks, he suggests, "When it comes to medical waste disposal, demand is constant and barriers to entry are high." To play this specialty sector, he looks to Stericycle (SRCL).

"Stericycle is the dominant player in this field. The firm safely empties all those bins, and also removes discarded waste from research facilities, laboratories, hospitals, surgical centers, pharmacies, veterinary clinics and even dentists' offices.

"Vacationers and professionals finally appear to be hitting the road, and many are relying on Expedia (NASDAQ: EXPE) to handle the details," says Nathan Slaughter in Half-Priced Stocks.

The value investor explains, "Expedia's travel sites processed 15.3 million transactions during the second quarter, 18% above the same period last year. Howevver, the gross dollar amount of those bookings dipped slightly to $5.6 billion/

"Whenever you have more trips bringing in less money, it's a pretty good indication that prices are way down.

"Like a sailboat waiting for a gust of wind, Carnival (NYSE: CCL) hasn't had any means of propulsion lately; in fact, they've been anchored by swine flu and sluggish travel demand," notes value investor Nathan Slaughter.

Nevertheless, in his Half-Priced Stocks, he remains optimisticbullish, noting "Eventually these storm clouds will clear." Here's his bullish long-term outlook for the cruise ship opertor.

"Fortunately, these negatives are macro-level factors, not company-specific issues. All things considered, the world's largest cruise operator is performing admirably in this tepid environment.

This post is part of a special report, Global advisors look to China.

"It's not often you find a company trading at about $3 that has more than $5 per share in cash," says Nathan Slaughter, referring to Nam Tai Electronics (NYSE: NTE).

Here's his review from Half-Priced Stocks he suggests, "Nam Tai is a textbook example of a company that has been beaten up and left for dead." Here's his assessment.

With its own economic stimulus program in place, a relatively stable banking system, and a stock market that has been resilient in recent months, numerous leading global investment advisors are looking bullishly towards China.

From technology to power, and from individual stocks to ETFs, and from Hong Kong to Taiwan to mainland China, we turn to seven leading advisors for their favorite ways for US investors to take a stake in Asia.

"PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP) Pepsi is about as dependable a company as there is and the stock would be an excellent anchor for most portfolios," says value investor Nathan Slaughter.

In his Half-Priced Stocks, he says, "All told, PepsiCo has built an impressive lineup of 18 brands that each generate more than $1 billion in annual sales."

"Long ago, management realized that carbonated drink sales would fizzle out and per-capita consumption would become sluggish. In their place, bottled water and sports drinks became two of the fastest-growing categories. And Pepsi is the dominant player in both, with its Aquafina and Gatorade brands.

"Meanwhile, energy drinks have emerged as the industry's hottest segment -- with sales soaring from $1.2 billion in 2002 to more than $6.6 billion last year. Again, Pepsi is well-represented with Amp.

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.

"Fluor (NYSE: FLR), my top pick for 2009, is a global heavyweight in the engineering, procurement, construction and maintenance field," says noted value investor Nathan Slaughter.

The editor of Half-Priced Stocks explains, "2008 won't go down as one of the most memorable for Fluor shareholders -- but 2009 is likely to tell a different story.

"Texas-based Fluor began by building oil refineries over a century ago and has since expanded its repertoire to encompass other specialties including power, telecommunications, and transportation. Annual revenues are now $20 billion.

"In early December, President-elect Obama unveiled ambitious plans for a hefty economic stimulus package, spearheaded by a pledge to rebuild highways and complete other public works projects that will revitalize our aging infrastructure.

"These bold initiatives are aimed at putting workers back on the payrolls and reinvigorating the nation's economy -- but they will also funnel billions into the coffers of construction firms like Fluor.

This post is part of a special report, A Dozen Ways to Play an Obama Building Boom.

"Stocks in the water sector could soon flood their shareholders with a deluge of profits," says value investor Nathan Slaughter. In his Half -Priced Stocks, he explains, "Even in the 21st century, UNICEF reports that a staggering 1.1 billion in emerging markets still lack access to safe drinking water.

"And here in the U.S., the EPA has said we need to spend $275 billion to replace aging facilities -- including 800,000 miles of leaky, corroded pipeline that haven't been upgraded since the 1800's in some places.

"We see an incredible opportunities for the companies trying to combat the problem, particularly those involved with water distribution pipes, treatment facilities, purification technologies and other critical infrastructure.

"My top play in the sector is Veolia Environnement (NYSE: VE), a global juggernaut with $45 billion in annual revenues, operating on every continent.

"From humble origins supplying water to Parisians over 150 years ago, Veolia has grown to become the world's largest water utility. Today, it provides water and sewerage services to 130 million people in nearly 60 countries worldwide.

"Energy Transfer Equity (NYSE: ETE), a major player in the midstream energy sector, is a cash-producing machine," says value investor Nathan Slaughter.

The editor of Half-Priced Stocks explains, "Even more promising, those who know the company best -- the CEO and one of its co-funders -- have been voting with their wallets lately." here's his review of the income holding.

"The company -- a master limited partnership (MLP) -- owns over 17,000 miles of natural gas pipelines in several states, including the largest network serving the prolific gas basins of Texas.

MLPs come in two classes: general partner and limited partner. The general partner (GP) typically handles all of the day-to-day operations and in return gets a cut of the distributions that are dished out to the limited partners (LP).

"In this case, the General Partner is Energy Transfer Equity, our recommendation, which should not be confused with the Liimted Partner -- Energy Transfer Partners (NYSE: ETP).

"Energy Transfer Equity owns all the General Partner interests -- as well as 62.5 million LP units (46%) of ETP. All of which is a convoluted way of saying that ETE unitholders can expect to be showered with cash.

"Around the globe, wind-generating capacity has been expanding at a rapid 30% clip in recent years," notes value investor Nathan Slaughter, who adds, "And 2008 is already shaping up to be even better."

The editor of Half-Priced Stocks looks at industrial product firm Trinity Industries (NYSE: TRN), explaining, "The company's most promising division is involved in the production of structural wind towers." Here's the advisor's of the latest addition to his "deep-discount' model portfolio.

"Led by states such as Texas and California, wind farms around the country will generate almost 50 billion kilowatt hours of electricity this year. Of course, the U.S. is still playing catch-up with many other regions.

"In fact, countries such as Spain, Portugal and Denmark all rely on wind farms for as much as one-quarter of their total power needs. Across Europe, wind turbines will account for roughly one-third of all new generating capacity installed over the next few years and could provide electricity for 90 million people by 2010.

"The outlook is even brighter in many booming, energy-hungry Asian markets. In China, installed wind power capacity surged +130% last year and will reportedly supply a great deal of the electricity needed for the upcoming 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

"Thanks to the great strides in engineering, wind turbine output has increased by a factor of ten (or higher in some cases) over the past decade.

"If you think filling up an SUV is painful, try footing the bill for a massive 1,000-foot ocean liner -- or in the case of Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL), an entire fleet of 84 floating cities," notes value investor Nathan Slaughter.

In his Half-Priced Stocks he explains, "Despite unprecedented fuel costs, the company continues to power forward." Here's his bullish review.

"Last quarter, Carnival shelled out $530 per metric ton for fuel, up sharply from $330 per ton a year ago. And after pumping about 800,000 metric tons, the company rang up a total fuel bill of $425 million.

"For the year, management is expecting fuel costs to come in about $750 million higher than in 2007, which will trim earnings by about $0.92 per share. Fortunately, the company is in a position to absorb those higher costs.

"Over the past three months, two million passengers have boarded a Carnival ship, for an occupancy rate of 104.8% (indicating some berths held more than two guests). And those visitors paid $2.6 billion for their tickets and plunked down another $743 million in the lounges, casinos and gift shops after they arrived on board.

In his Half-Priced Stocks newsletter, value investor Nathan Slaughter recently assessed stocks based on the general investment philosophy of Benjamin Graham, the noted value investor under whom Warren Buffett studied.

One issue that stands out in his view is Cabela's (NYSE: CAB), one of the world's largest specialty retailers of hunting and fishing gear, camping equipment, and outdoor apparel.

"The cornerstone to Graham's success and his enduring legacy to value investors was his 'margin of safety' concept. Specifically, he would take a hard look at dividend yields, price-to-book ratios, and other key metrics.

"Cabela's originated as a direct marketer and once primarily sold its products via catalog, but has since augmented that distribution channel with e-commerce operations and a growing chain of nearly 30 stores spread throughout 19 states.

Nathan Slaugher sees video game retailer GameStop (NYSE: GME) benefiting from several popular new video software titles. Here's the advisor's latest review from his Half-Priced Stocks newsletter.

"The shares of have staged an impressive rally, vaulting over 30% since the beginning of March. Most of those gains followed the firm's fourth-quarter earnings release, which showed more of the same phenomenal growth that we've grown accustomed to.

"Driven by brisk demand for popular software titles like Activision's Call of Duty 4 and Electronic Arts' Rock Band, same-store sales jumped 17.4%, pushing overall revenues ahead nearly 25% to $2.9 billion.

"Meanwhile, despite the quarter being one week shorter, earnings soared 46% to $190 million, or $1.14 per share -- ahead of optimistic guidance that had been raised not once, but twice.

"The indiscriminate sell-off in the financial sector has left some banks at valuations that haven't been seen in 20 years," says value investor Nathan Slaughter.

In his Half-Priced Stocks newsletter, the advisors looks to one out-of-favor favorite among banks: Minneapolis-based U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB). Incidentally, he notes that Warren Buffett recently added to his position in the banking stock.

"US Bancorp is the nation's sixth-largest bank in terms of assets, with nearly $238 billion at last count. The firm operates over 2,500 branches in 24 states, mostly in the western and midwestern parts of the country, including an established presence in key markets such as St. Louis, Denver and Seattle.

"Over the past year, the company has seen solid increases in both loans and deposits. More importantly, it paid out just 3.8% on those interest-bearing liabilities, far below what it earned on loans and other investments -- with the net interest margin expanding to 3.91%.

"And, that rate could move even higher in the coming months thanks to a more favorable interest rate environment. And as for credit quality, U.S. Bank remains at the very top of its peer group.