"Paranoia is indeed pervasive in the marketplace today; even our ever-optimistic team has been waking up in the middle of the night," says money manager and small cap expert Jim Oberweis, Jr.

The advisor, who also published The Oberweis Report, explains, "And there's no place where that paranoia runs deeper right now than in semiconductor and renewable energy stocks. Even though these two industries are among the few that have realized significant growth, nobody cares.

"Company after company has beaten analysts' earnings estimates this quarter, only to be greeted in the stock market with a big fat yawn.

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.

"If there ever was an opportunity to move energy efficiency strategies into the top-tier of national and industrial policy, it's now," says Toby Smith, referring to President-elect Obama's stated focus on renewable energy.

In his industry-leading ChangeWave Investing, which focuses on isolating emerging, long-term investment trends, he states, "The question isn't really if solar companies will benefit, but when." As a favorite idea for 2009, he looks to SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWRA).

"President-elect Obama seems to be the right person to push energy-efficiency initiatives through -- especially since he is preparing a massive stimulus program that will be unleashed soon after his inauguration on Jan. 20.

"The core of Obama's economic policy appears to be a strategy to transform the United States into an economy mostly powered by renewable and low-carbon energy generation by mid-century. This includes everything from solar to natural gas to nuclear.