"Even when the market is up a lot, you can always find some good stocks that have been left behind but could be on the verge of a rebound," says George Putnam.

The editor of The Turnaround Letter explains, "That's where we suggest you focus your efforts right now. These eight stocks all have strong business franchises and have all significantly lagged the market over the last two years.

"In fact, several of them are still trading near or even below where they were in early 2009. Here, we look at Bank of America (BAC), Best Buy (BBY), Campbell Soup (CPB), Cisco Systems (CSCO), Microsoft (MSFT) and Sprint Nextel (S).

"MGIC (MTG) is the leading U.S. private mortgage insurer; in fact, the company claims to have founded the mortgage insurance industry in 1957," notes turnaround specialist George Putnam.

The editor of The Turnaround Letter explains, "After many years of relatively steady earnings, MGIC was forced to sharply increase its reserves beginning in 2007 as more homeowners began defaulting on their mortgages.

"As a result, the company posted large losses in each of the last three years, which reduced its capital to a precarious level. Almost all of the other mortgage insurers suffered similar fates, with several competitors being forced out of business.

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.

"Founded in 1938, Owens Corning (OC) -- my top pick for 2011, is a leading manufacturer of building products, including insulation, roofing products, and composite materials," says George Putnam.

The editor of The Turnaround Letter explains, "The stock looks quite cheap, particularly for a company with such a strong business franchise in a temporarily depressed sector.

"Founded in 1938, Owens Corning (OC) is a leading manufacturer of building products, including insulation, roofing products, and composite materials; the stock looks quite cheap, particularly for a company with such a strong business franchise in a temporarily depressed sector," says George Putnam.

The editor of The Turnaround Letter explains, "From the early 1950s through the early 1970s some of the company's insulation products contained asbestos.

"This led to massive legal liabilities in the 1990s, which forced the company to file for bankruptcy in October 2000. Like most of the asbestos-related cases, Owens Corning's Chapter 11 proceedings were protracted and contentious.

"Even among the broad-based market carnage of the past year, regional banks with heavy real estate exposure have been notably poor performers," notes turnaround expert George Putnam.

In The Turnaround Letter, he explains, "While investors are still wary of this group, there are cases where the market has overreacted and the stocks will eventually rebound dramatically." Here, he looks at four favorite regionals.

"Many regional banking stocks are now trading at a small fraction of their 'book value.' In more normal times, most banks will trade for two to three times book value and sometimes more.

"Despite coming close to bankruptcy in 2002, Williams Co. (NYSE: WMB) has some of the premier assets in each of its business segments: exploration & production, mid-stream and pipelines," says turnaround expert George Putnam.

In his The Turnaround Letter, he explains, "The company now has the financial strength not only to survive the current downturn but to grow and prosper."

"Begun in 1908 as a pipeline construction company, Williams is now a major, integrated natural gas company; it produces, gathers, processes and transports natural gas throughout the United States.

"Stocks have struggled lately after their huge recovery; still, I continue to see opportunities in the market, and I especially like Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ: URBN)," says Mark Skousen in The Turnaround Alert.

"Urban Outfitters, the apparel retailer, after it beat Wall Street analysts' estimates. Two years ago, the stock was selling for $37 a share.

"But today, it's selling for nearly half that. During the deep recession, retailers have seen sales drop as consumers cut back on spending for clothing and other discretionary purchases. As a result, retail apparel stocks fell sharply.

"The road back from near bankruptcy in 2002 for CMS Energy (NYSE: CMS) has been a rocky one," says Roger Conrad. Here's an update from his specialty service, The Utility Forecaster.

"From Three Mile Island to the Enron meltdown, utilities have always recovered from disaster by cutting debt and operating risk and repairing regulatory relations.

"Last fall, the shares of CMS Energy -- our latest featured growth stock -- plunged from high teens to single digits on recession worries in embattled Michigan. Ironically, however, CMS' underlying business is healthier than at any time since the late 1990s.

"The steel stocks tend to go through boom and bust cycles depending on global economic activity; they have been pummeled over the last year, as the global economy slowed," notes turnaround expert George Putnam.

In his The Turnaround Letter, he explains, "But the news about steel is not all bad." Indeed, he believes some steel companies are poised for a turnaround. Here's his review of 6 leading steel production companies.

"Weakness in two big steel consuming industries, autos and construction, has been particularly troublesome for the steelmakers.

"However, there is evidence that steel inventories are gradually being worked off to low levels. There are also signs that economic activity in China, which is a huge consumer of steel, will not fall off as far as some economists initially feared.

"Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) is arguably the most prominent entertainment operation in the world today, with one of the world's most recognized brands across all of its major business segments" says George Putnam.

In The Turnaround Letter, he observes, "We believe that the current market volatility and economic weakness provide an opportunity to buy into a preeminent global brand at a temporarily depressed price."

"Disney controls theme parks, such as Disneyland and Disney World; television networks, including ABC and ESPN; movie studios, and character-themed consumer products.

"While the company's financial results have been hurt temporarily by the global economic weakness, we believe it is well positioned to prosper again when economic conditions improve.

"I now believe some bargains are developing among technology stocks," says growth stock expert Mark Skousen. In his specialized trading service, The Turnaround Trader, he adds, "Motorola (NYSE: MOT) is a fallen tech leader that may even rise in a bear market -- and has a chance to double or triple once the market turns around."

Skousen expplains, "Technology stocks appear to have bottomed and are moving higher. Motorola, the $8-billion mobile ohone manufacturer, is in the midst of a classic turnaround situation.

"It used to be the cell phone technology leader, having developed the world's first handheld cellular phone and technical standard for high-definition TV. Yet the stock has fallen nearly 70% from its lofty highs of $26 a share two years ago.

"If you are looking for maximum rebound potential, you have to go lower down on the quality spectrum; it is typically the lower quality and lower priced stocks that will have the largest gains when the market rebounds," says turnaround expert George Putnam.

In his industry-leading service focused on distressed companies, The Turnround Letter, he looks at a package of 10 stocks recently trading below $5 per share while also offering "bundles of cash."

Here's his review:

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.

George Putnam is the newsletter advisory industry's leading authority on distressed stocks and turnaround situations. In his The Turnround Letter, he looks to semiconductor firm Teradyne (NYSE: TER), his top 2009 pick.

"Founded in 1960, Teradyne is the leading maker of automated semiconductor testing equipment. It also produces testing equipment for circuit board assemblies, aerospace and defense instruments, and automotive systems.

"The current short-term prospects for the semiconductor industry are weak, and so many of the chip stocks are down hard. Testing is a key element of semiconductor production, and so the testing equipment producers will prosper when the chip makers rebound.

"Teradyne has been the dominant player in the semiconductor testing market for quite a while and over the last couple of years the company further solidified its leadership position by acquiring competitors and buying back stock.

"Investors have been focusing on the shortcomings at Qwest Communications International (NYSE: Q), and to be sure, it has plenty," observes turnaround specialist George Putnam.

In his The Turnaround Letter, he adds, "But the company also has very valuable assets and strong cash flow. In addition, we believe the stock would command a good premium in a takeover." Here's his bullish review.

"Following its IPO in 1995, Qwest expanded via acquisitions and partnerships, and participated in the telecom bubble of the late 1990's.

"Unlike many of the other high-flying telecoms of that era, however, Qwest realized that in addition to a story you needed customers. In 2000, it went out and acquired US West, which gave Qwest the revenue base to survive the bursting of the telecom bubble

"Although the company survived, the shareholders have had a rocky ride during the current decade. The stock peaked around 60 in 2000, dropped to just above 1 in 2002, rebounded to 10 in 2007 and then declined to its present level.

"Management's challenge is too maximize the value of its assets. One of Qwest's greatest assets, and biggest challenges, is its huge traditional landline telephone business. The landline business is in a slow but steady decline as customers move to wireless or Internet telephony.

"Among contrarians, one advisors stands out among all others: David Dreman," notes John Reese, editor of the Validea newsletter.

His advisory service selects stocks based on the strategies of time-tested investors, he reviews Dreman's approach and offers one stock that matches the contrarian's investment profile -- specialty metals firm, Allegheny Technologies (NYSE: ATI).

"Dreman, perhaps more than any other guru I follow, is a student of investor psychology. And at the core of his research is the belief that investors tend to overvalue the 'best' stocks -- those 'hot' stocks everyone seems to be buying -- and undervalue the 'worst' stocks -- those that people are avoiding like the plague.

"In addition, he also believed that the market was driven largely by how investors reacted to 'surprises', frequent events that include earnings reports that exceed or fall short of expectations, government actions, or news about new products.

"And, he believed that analysts were more often than not wrong about their earnings forecasts, which leads to a lot of these surprises. By taking a contrarian approach -- i.e. targeting out-of-favor stocks and avoiding in-favor stocks -- Dreman found you could make a killing.

"To find out-of-favor potential turnarounds, he compared a stock's price to four fundamentals: earnings, cash flow, book value, and dividend yield. Because Dreman took advantage of the overreactions of others, he found that one of the best times to invest was during a crisis.

"Allegheny Technologies is a diversified specialty metals producer; its metals are selected for use in environments that demand metals having hardness, toughness, strength, resistance to heat, corrosion or abrasion, or a combination of these characteristics.