This post is one in a series in which more than 60 newsletter advisors share their Top Stock Picks for 2011. This special report is courtesy of TheStockAdvisors.com.

"As is the case with most of my trades and recommendations, my stock prediction for 2011 is a company that many of my peers are not giving much attention," says Jason Shade.

The editor of Texting Trader explains, "Scientific Games (SGMS) is a turnaround story that intrigues me and I select owning it as my top stock idea of 2011.

If you are looking for clues telling you which stocks have a good chance of increasing in value, you might want consider watching what insiders are doing. After all, talk is cheap, but when insiders put their own money on the line, you should sit up and take note.

Scientific Games Corp. (SGMS) topped the insider-buying charts for the week ending July 9th as insiders snapped up 4,387,000 shares of company stock at a market value of $38,159,298. During the past six months, insiders have increased their overall holdings in the company by 74.21% and now own 2.05% of SGMS stock.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Some of today's notable upgrades were Apple Inc (AAPL), Comcast Corp (CMCSA) and Crosstex Energy LP (XTEX):

• Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at Prudential and raised their target to $105 from $100 after their checks indicated a late March launch of Leopard, which is sooner than expected. Prudential believes Leopard will serve as a catalyst for Mac sales.

• Matrix USA upgraded shares of Comcast Corp (NASDAQ: CMCSA) to Hold from Sell as they believe the successful roll out of "triple play" product offering is driving sales growth.

• Crosstex Energy LP (NASDAQ: XTEX) was upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at Credit Suisse based on valuation.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Citigroup upgraded shares of Seagate Technology Holdings (NYSE: STX) to Buy from Hold on valuation as they believe Friday's sell-off on concerns that Apple will use NAND Flash rather than disk drives in the next-generation video iPod was overdone. Citigroup doubts Apple will broadly move to NAND flash this year.

• Jefferies upgraded shares of Universal Health Services Inc (NYSE: UHS) to Buy from Hold with a $67 target as they believe industry fundamentals are strong for behavioral health and the valuation is attractive at current levels.

• Brean Murray upgraded shares of Scientific Games Corp (NASDAQ: SGMS) to Hold from Sell. The firm does not expect Scientific Games to hit its 2008 guidance of $2.00, but recognizes the long-term growth prospects should begin to flow to the bottom line.

• Credit Suisse upgraded the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings Inc (NYSE: CME) to Outperform from Neutral on valuation.

• Baird upgraded Thomas Properties Group (NASDAQ: TPGI) to Outperform from Neutral.

• Bear Stearns upgraded Group Danone ADS (NYSE: DA) to Outperform from Peer Perform.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

MOST NOTEWORTHY: MasterCard (MA), American Express (AXP), Boyd Gaming (BYD) and Overstock.com (OSTK) were the most notable companies on the initiation list today:

• Keefe Bruyette initiated MasterCard Inc. (NYSE:MA) with an Underperform and an $88 target, citing valuation, and American Express Co. (NYSE:AXP) with an Outperform rating and $72 target;
• Coverage of Boyd Gaming Inc. (NYSE:BYD) was resumed with a Buy rating and $67 target, as the firm believes the company's assets are undervalued and investors will look at Boyd as a potential candidate to go private;
• Overstock.com Inc. (NASDAQ:OSTK) was initiated with a Sell rating and $14 target at First Albany.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• BMO Capital initiated Harley-Davidson Inc. (NYSE:HOG) with a Market Perform and $70 target on valuation.
• Susquehanna initiated The Knot Inc. (NASDAQ:KNOT) with a Positive rating, citing the recent buyback and cash infusion; the firm says Knot has an opportunity to capitalize on the growing value of quality online content and favorable sector trends.
• Scientific Games Corp. (NASDAQ:SGMS) was initiated at Bear Sterns with a Peer Perform rating, citing valuation.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).