This market is tough. Pros and novices alike are having a tough time. Particularly in a down market, a market commentators like to call a ""stock picker's market," I find it illustrative to dig deeper into the holdings of those special professional money managers that have found a way to make a go of it.

Take the CGM Focus (CGMFX) fund. This fund consistently shows up at the top of 1-year, 3-year, and multi-year best performers. CGM Focus has returned on average 37% per year for the past five years. While this is absolutely no guarantee that it will continue to perform like this, fund manager Chuck Heebner seems to have the special sauce -- at least for now.

So, what has been so successful for the fund?

Commodity picks like fertilizer plays Potash (NYSE: POT) and Mosaic (NYSE: MOS) have been big positions and have been big winners. Steel plays like US Steel (NYSE: X) have performed very nicely for CGM as well.

Looking at what worked is somewhat like looking into a rear-view mirror. These gains were in the past. What's Heebner and team buying now?

When the entire mutual fund industry is up in arms about a new form of ETF, should investors take note? You bet they should.

There's an interesting article over on SeekingAlpha by HardAssetsInvestor. The article focuses on the Exchange Traded Note product, something I've written about previously. The ETN is similar to an ETF in that it's a fund that trades like a stock. Unlike ETFs though, the ETN is not backed by the underlying assets. Rather, it's a zero-coupon note (essentially, a bond) that's backed by its underwriters. So, it throws an added layer of default risk into the whole investment game.

Where things get even more interesting is the tax treatment of the ETN product. Says HardAssetInvestor's Brad Zigler, "No tax consequence befalls the noteholder until the security is liquidated or matures. Taxes during the holding period? Zip. Nada. Bupkis. That beats the heck out of the tax treatment of mutual funds, too, which distribute income and capital gains." Unlike ETFs investing in commodities which are treated with a complicated tax structure on the futures the funds invest in, ETNs don't pass these taxes through to investors.

In today's Barron's, investors will find the annual Lipper/Barron's Fund Families Survey. This survey, a pretty comprehensive look at performance of mutual fund families across different asset classes and investment strategies.

This year take-aways:

• Growth worked: Those funds that performed best definitely had a bias towards growth.
• International exposure: Funds that bought stocks with substantial foreign operations fared better.
• Avoiding pitfalls: Underexposure to potential "minefields like major banks, housing companies, and retailers" helped boost performance.
• High grade: Those funds that owned highest-quality bonds performed best.

Waddell & Reed (NYSE: WDR) placed first in 2007 betting on companies participating in "major infrastructure plays throughout the world," like Fluor Corp. (NYSE: FLR) and Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE). Check out the Waddell & Reed Dividend Income Fund (WDVAX).

MarketWatch was running a interview today with Will Nasgovitz, co-manager of the Heartland Select Value Fund (NASDAQ: HRSVX). The $332 billion fund has absolutely trounced the S&P 500 (AMEX: SPY) since 2000. Even with an extremely rocky 2007, the fund is up over 100% since 2000, where the S&P is actually (ugh) in the red for the same time period.

The secret sauce?

MarketWatch quotes manager Nasgovitz as saying that the team running Select Value has a background covering small- and micro-cap stocks, which don't get as much analyst research coverage, that they apply when delving into larger companies.

What's Nasgovitz buying of late?

Today's Wall Street Journal reports that The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted unanimously to consider changes to help investors compare choices in the nearly $12 trillion mutual-fund industry through use of summary information. Here's a link to the actual press release from the SEC itself.

Though not a binding vote (passage of the changes would require a second SEC vote), the proposed changes sound like a relatively good thing for investors. Investors looking at mutual fund investments would have more "plain-English" sales and disclosure literature to access. In addition to a full-blown prospectus that each mutual fund publishes, a greater use would be made of summary information through a variety of channels, including greater use of the Internet.

Oakley (NYSE: OO) volatility and volume elevated prior to anticipated LUX deal. Luxottica Group SpA (NYSE: LUX), the world's largest manufacturer of eyewear, agreed to buy OO for $2.03 billion. I reported uncharacteristic OO activity on 5/31/07 and 6/6/07. OO option volume was heavy on 6/20/07. OO July option implied volatility of 43 was above its 26-week average of 35 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price fluctuations.

Morningstar (NASDAQ: MORN) option implied volatility Stable. MORN, a provider of independent investment research, closed at $47.57. MORN's 2007 Morningstar Investment Conference will feature leading mutual fund managers and industry leaders-discussing current topics and industry issues beginning June 27th in Chicago. MORN over all option implied volatility of 30 is near its 26-week average according to Track Data, suggesting standard deviation price risks.

Daily Option Update is provided by Stock Options Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

There's nothing like a quiet Thanksgiving Day to do some investment planning. Lots of cooking and cleaning and tense family conversations to avoid. Better to lock yourself in your home office and do some tinkering with your portfolio.

Or maybe not. For many, inertia often proves in hindsight to be the smartest investment move.

Really! Think about it -- how many times have you sold out of a stock at the bottom, only to watch it recover the next year? I've owned USG Corp. (NYSE: USG) and International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) for decades and I know of what I speak (er, write).

So before you start trading this holiday, take care to avoid these six stupid year-end investing moves:

1. Selling a great stock too early just to take some profits that you will soon blow on holiday spending. Check out the three-year chart for Apple Computer, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) for some discouragement. The stock has had the steepest of slides, but imagine if you'd held on for the past five years?

2. Holding onto a terrible stock because you hope it will come back and forgoing the opportunity to take a tax loss. If you are going to make an investing move for tax reasons, 'tis the season to sell losers. Look over your portfolio for real dogs. Try to be as dispassionate as possible. If you have a sizable loss and don't see a catalyst in the next few months that could drive the stock higher, sell now and reap the tax benefit. You can always buy it back -- but be sure to wait at least 30 days so you don't run afoul of the "wash sale" rule.

Google has close to $10 billion in cash. Even though it is significantly upping its capital investments (such as in data centers), the company is likely to post $1 billion in free cash flow this year.

However, Google is now confronting an obscure Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rule; that is, if securities make up more than 40% of assets, then a company must essentially become a mutual fund. This would be a headache (for example, a mutual fund cannot issue stock options). Consequently, Google's high-paid lawyers are trying to find creative ways of obtaining an exemption. In fact, years ago, Microsoft and Yahoo! were able to get exemptions.

But the $10 billion cash hoard raises some interesting issues. First of all, Google is getting low returns on the $10 billion – which have been roughly 4% this year.

I met recently in New York with the managers of the Quaker Capital Opportunity Fund (QUKTX). The large-cap fund hasn't hit it out of the park the past few years -- its returns are flat so far in 2006 and the fund slightly underperformed the S&P 500 in 2004 and 2005, gaining 16.3% and 9.2% respectively, according to Morningstar.

But fund managers Michael Barron and Charlie Knott have had the fund positioned defensively, given their concerns about the slowing economy and rising interest rates.

I asked them which stocks they like the best right now and was impressed with their picks. The list is made up of solid companies in the food, beverage, consumer staples and drug sectors. A couple are foreign-based firms, which could help cushion them from U.S. turmoil. If, like Barron and Knott, you want to stay in the market but your main goal is preserving your capital, these are six stocks to consider:

PepsiCo Inc. (NYSE: PEP). Recent earnings news has been good and the stock has climbed from $58 to $63.50 in the past three months.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL). The stock is up nicely this year, but fell a couple of dollars recently as second-quarter earnings dropped from a year ago due to restructuring charges. Sounds like a near-term opportunity.

Staples Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLS). This stock hit hard times in May, but analysts are positive on it.

Diageo PLC ADS (NYSE: DEO). This liquor maker has done decently all year, but had a nice pop in just the past week.

Sanofi-Aventis ADS (NYSE: SNY). This large drug company has been very volatile this year (this is the riskiest of the bunch, I'd say). But its treatment to battle obesity has huge promise. It reports earnings on Aug. 2 and analysts expect it to earn 78 cents a share.

Cephalon Inc. (NASDAQ: CEPH). Another biotech, this one has drugs for sleep disorders, cancer and pain. It's down year-to-date, but up nicely since late June.

Amey Stone is a senior editor at AOL Money & Finance and longtime financial writer in New York .