A low valuation gives Heinz the potential to rise this year, to a 45 a share from 36. Once credit markets come unstuck, Heinz could well become an acquisition target at 60 or more.

Berkshire's class A shares are down 10% in 2009 to $86,250, a reasonable level that we estimate at 1.3 times book and 14 times projected 2009 earnings of $6,000 a share. That looks appealing.

While the stock has climbed from a low of $45 to a recent $67, Kyocera may be worth more than 90 a share. And the huge cash hoard appears to set a firm floor under the stock.

O'Reilly, well-positioned to serve both repair shops and do-it-yourselfers, appears to be integrating a big acquisition faster than expected. Result: The stock could pop 50%.

Focus Media's (FMCN) growth strategy has grown fuzzier, but overlooking China's premier digital advertising company may prove myopic. The Shanghai company hogs the market for flat-screen ads seen in elevators, office lobbies and stores across China, but its Nasdaq-listed shares have plummeted 90% over 14 months, to below 7 -- thanks to missteps, flubbed opportunities during the Olympics and its recent ejection from the Nasdaq 100 index. Has the selling gone too far? Focus last month agreed to sell its core business to the Chinese Internet portal Sina (SINA). While it relinquishes a coveted display network that drove 73% of gross profits, Focus still retains some choice bits: an Internet advertising unit, a movie theater advertising network, billboards and roughly a third of the company's $381 million cash stash. Yet this stub is paid scant attention by today's bear market.Under the agreement, Sina will issue 47 million shares to Focus shareholders, who will end up with less than half of the combined company. The all-stock deal's nearly $1 billion price tag exceeds Focus' $916 million market cap. This suggests "investors are not attributing any value to the company's remaining business," says Mark Gardyn, a special-situations analyst at Oscar Gruss who flags this as "a compelling opportunity" to position for Focus upside at little or no cost. Another analyst, ThinkEquity's William Morrison, believes the sum of Focus' parts is worth 13.

To pinpoint these fears of systemic risk, Jefferies' Neal likes buying puts on the SPDR KBW Regional Banking Index (KRE). Regional banks face significant challenges owing to commercial real-estate exposure. But the government, he notes, can't keep rescuing banks.