Beaten down with the industry, the shares could rise 20% when global markets settle down. As with all banks, however, the full extent of SocGen's credit problems is still unclear.

Hurt by the overall downturn in the stock market, Molson Coors shares look undervalued. Bulls argue that they could rise more than 50%, to around $60, in the next year.

A bit of good news sparked the surge: DineEquity reported a widening third-quarter loss but found buyers for 66 company-operated Applebee's. That brought the tally of restaurants sold or under contract to sell to 110 this year -- surpassing its goal of 100, but hardly the finish line in its plan to sell nearly 500 restaurants to pay down debt incurred to merge the chains. Still, with four institutional investors holding 62% of the lightly traded shares, hedge funds betting on DineEquity's demise and debt default had to scramble to buy back shares they had sold short. But what's changed? The debt load remains daunting, and shares slumping near decade lows still aren't cheap. At 18, the stock fetches 12.4 times 2009 earnings, which seems benign enough until one considers how unrealistic Street estimates still are -- with analysts penciling in profits of $1.45 next year, compared to 33 cents in 2008.

Take Flowers Foods (FLO), whose breads and buns qualify as staples and whose stock is up 27% this year. The company has little debt and benefits from a symbiotic alignment with its biggest client: 20% of its sales come from Wal-Mart (WMT), whose grocery business is growing fast. But shares trading near 30 are priced at 21.5 times 2009 profits, well above the 14.6 times for packaged foods, and it's hard to argue that Flowers is under-appreciated.

Fans of diversification and hedging will appreciate how Church & Dwight (CHD) sells both Trojan condoms and First Response home-pregnancy test kits -- along with Arm & Hammer cleaning products, Brillo pads and other cheap necessities that belt-tightening consumers can't easily relinquish. But that defensive portfolio and modest debt load have lifted shares to 18 times 2009 earnings, above the 14.5 times for household products, making it tough to argue that Church & Dwight is an undiscovered Procter & Gamble.

Staple stocks that remain bargains tend to carry more risk. Sara Lee (SLE), which reports earnings this week, will cheer the slipping prices of ingredients like wheat, pork and coffee. But it earns a big chunk of revenue in Europe, whose economy is fading faster than the U.S.' and where profits could suffer in the translation back into the strengthening dollar. Still, D.A. Davidson analyst Tim Ramey believes Sara Lee's cost cuts and brand building will begin to pay off this year. With the stock near 11, or 11.5 times 2009 earnings, he has a price target of 18.

Today, MUFG's valuation, at less than one times book, is "ridiculously cheap," says Masakazu Takeda, manager of the Sparx Japan Fund. After this capital-raising, he says, "MUFG will be able to meet its capital requirements even with the Topix index at 600." Last week, the Topix was just under 900. Says Ron Holt, who runs the Hansberger International Fund: "It's a well-capitalized bank, which flies in the face of this capital-raising. But look at the forced recapitalization of banks around the world and go out a couple of years, and if it didn't raise capital, it would be at a disadvantage." He adds that MUFG has been "really proactive in looking to deploy capital for shareholders, which over the next cycle would help it earn higher returns. It's in a better position than western banks."