"It's not secret that small caps perform best coming out of recessions; further, if we want to ride the small-cap rally for maximum gains, we should similarly rotate into small-cap value stocks," says Louis Basense.

The contributing editor to The Oxford Club explains, "Thankfully, it's an easy transition to make. I say that because the most attractive small-cap value investment is sitting right under our noses. No one on Earth is better at discovering small-cap value investments than David Dreman.

"We include Price Small Cap Value (PRSVX) in all five of our Master portfolios as well as our Best Buy model portfolios," says Mark Salzinger.

In his The No-Load Fund Investor, the fund expert suggests, "Overall, we consider this fund to be an excellent core holding for small-cap exposure." Here's his bullish overview.

"The fund lost just 28.6% in 2008, vs. anearly 37% loss for the average small-cap-value fund. In 2009, though, that has reversed a bit: Price Small Cap Value has gained 19.6% to its average peer's 22.7% gain. Two reasons for the sluggish performance this year are rooted in the fund's basic composition.

"At the Morningstar Investment Conference, I had a chance to hear directly from manager of several of our 'best buy' funds," says fund expert Mark Salzinger.

In his The No-Load Fund Investor, he discusses a pair of "contrarian" funds: Dodge & Cox Stock (DODGX) and T. Rowe Price Equity Income (PRFDX) recommended for long-term investors.

Salzinger explains, "The managements of these equity funds are sticking to its guns. In the case of Dodge & Cox Stock, this means a continuation of a contrarian focus on large out-of-favor stocks. often in equally out-of-favor sectors.

"In the case of T. Rowe Price Equity Income, this means a continuation of focus on high quality companies that appear historically cheap based on various levels of valuation, including their dividend yield relative to the market.

"Charles Pohl, the chief investment officer of Dodge & Cox and a member of the portfolio management team on DODGX, spoke strongly about what he considers to be the attractive opportunities in financials now that the sector is so out of favor.

"He says that the Dodge & Cox team is focusing on intense analysis of companies within subsets of the financial services industry, looking for stocks that have been beaten down with their peers despite superior operations, including safer historical underwriting standards.