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.

"Stericycle (NASDAQ: SRCL) is an almost perfect business -- an absolutely essential service, but nobody wants to do it," says Dave Dyer in his Dave Dyer's Newsletter, referring to his more conservative favorite for 2008.

"It is about as close to being a monopoly as you are likely to find, especially in a critical national industry. Stericycle is the acknowledged leader in the unglamorous but necessary task of medical waste disposal.

"It is 12 times bigger than its nearest rival and SRCL is the only vendor able to provide services on a nationwide basis, which means that the large, nationwide customers have only one good option unless they want to deal with multiple vendors.

"The highly regulated nature of its business acts as a convenient barrier to entry by potential competitors. And even if someone does manage to start a competing company, there is a good chance that SRCL will buy them.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Clearwire, Citrix Systems, Altria Group, Overstock.com and Interpublic Group were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Jefferies upgraded shares of Clearwire Corporation (NASDAQ: CLWR) to Buy from Hold on valuation as they believe the stock is trading as if the Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE: S) deal is off. Jefferies thinks the Sprint/Clearwire deal is still in the best interest of both companies.
  
• Deutsche Bank upgraded shares of Citrix Systems (NASDAQ: CTXS) to Buy from Hold, as they believe the contribution from XenSource beginning in Q4 could be better than expected.
  
• UBS upgraded shares of Altria Group (NYSE: MO) citing stronger Q3 International results and potential share repurchases. Shares were upgraded to Buy from Neutral.
  
• Piper Jaffray raised shares of Overstock.com (NASDAQ: OSTK) to Market Perform from Underperform, as they are incrementally more positive on shares following the company's Q3 upside. They believe the company has turned the corner on profitability.
  
• Bear Stearns upgraded shares of Interpublic Group (NYSE: IPG) to Outperform from Peer Perform on valuation and expectations for improved performance in 2008.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Morgan Stanley upgraded Walgreen (NYSE: WAG) to Overweight from Equal Weight.
  
• Friedman Billings raised its rating on IMS Health (NYSE: RX) to Outperform from Market Perform.
  
• JP Morgan upgraded Stericycle (NASDAQ: SRCL) to Overweight from Neutral.
  
• Citigroup upgraded Xerox Corporation (NYSE: XRX) to Hold from Sell.
  
• RadiSys Corporation (NASDAQ: RSYS) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Cantor.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Shutterfly, Drugstore.com, S.Y. Bancorp and Stericycle were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Oppenheimer started shares of Shutterfly Inc (NASDAQ: SFLY) with a Buy rating and $42 target. The firm believes secular growth in digital photography and increasing adoption of user generated print publishing will drive EBITDA growth of 30%-40% over the next 2-3 years.
  
• Oppenheimer also initiated Drugstore.com Inc (NASDAQ: DSCM) with a Buy rating and $5 target, as they expect growth in the company's higher margin beauty segment could drive EBITDA above consensus estimates.
  
• Baird is positive on S.Y. Bancorp Inc's (NASDAQ: SYBT) valuation, capital-rich balance sheet, and top-tier profitability and resumed coverage with an Outperform rating.
  
• The firm also started shares of Stericycle Inc (NASDAQ: SRCL) with a Neutral rating, noting it would be more aggressive on shares in the mid-$40s or if earnings catch up with the passing of time.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• UBS initiated Praxair Inc (NYSE: PX) with a Buy rating and $94 target and added shares to its Strategic Stock Selection List.
  
• Lehman initiated Infosys Technologies Ltd (NASDAQ: INFY) with an Equal Weight rating and Wipro Limited (NYSE: WIT) with an Underweight rating.
  
• William Blair reinstated coverage of the commercial real estate services sector, starting FirstService Corporation (NASDAQ: FSRV) with an Outperform rating, Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated (NYSE: JLL) with a Market Perform rating and CB Richard Ellis Group Inc (NYSE: CBG) with a Market Perform rating.