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.

"Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) is an a typically defensive industry and has held up much better than most stocks during the past year," says John Reese, who selects the issue has his favorite stock for 2009.

In his Validea -- a newsletter that screens stocks based on the criteria used by legendary investors -- he assesses Johnson & Johnson based on his Warren Buffett and Peter Lynch models.

"The health care and pharmaceutical giant has dipped about 10% over the past year compared to the broader market's 40% plunge.

"In addition, the company has the size ($163 billion market cap) and breadth (250 operating companies and big brand names like Tylenol, Band-Aid, and Neutrogena) to withstand continuing trouble in the economy.

"Johnson & Johnson's price dip this year has only made it more of a bargain according to two of my Guru Strategy computer models, each of which is based on the approach of a different Wall Street great.