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.

For those comfortable with a short position, Mike Larson looks to ProShares Trust Short Financials (NYSE: SEF) as his top 2009 pick. In Money and Markets, he looks at the inverse ETF.

"ProShares Trust Short Financials is an inverse exchange-traded fund. The ETF is designed to rise in value when the underlying index it references, the Dow Jones U.S. Financials Index, declines.

"As of September 30, the Dow index was weighted 42.5% in banks. General financial firms were the next highest weighting at 23.4%, followed by Real Estate Investment Trusts at 13.4%, non-life insurers at 13.1%, and life insurers at 6.9%.

"The top companies in the index were JPMorgan Chase (8.1%), Bank of America (8.1%), and Wells Fargo (5.9%).

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.

"If you live in the US, most of your portfolio is probably denominated in dollars -- your Treasuries, stocks, even gold. The same is true for your bank accounts, real estate and insurance policies," explains Martin Weiss and Mike Larson in Safe Money Report.

"That's natural, and we don't recommend turning your financial life upside-down to switch all of your money to foreign-currency denominated accounts.

"But you can protect yourself -- and even profit from -- the dollar's decline with Prudent Global Income Fund (NASDAQ: PSAFX). Here's why we like it and have selected it as our favorite conservative idea for 2008:

"First, the fund holds mostly fixed-income securities denominated in foreign currencies. Roughly 70% of its investments were in foreign debt at the end of the third quarter, with the euro, Swiss franc, and Canadian dollar receiving the largest allocations.

"Second, its fixed-income securities are predominantly under three years in maturity. This gives you reduced exposure to any bond-price declines.

"Third, the fund concentrates on the highest-rated debt, such as government securities. And as an extra dollar hedge, 11% of its assets were recently in gold and gold shares. They tend to rise in value when the dollar falls. "