Apollo's AP Alternative Assets fund trades at a huge discount to net asset value. But that doesn't mean it's cheap, given the questionable value of those assets.

The shares, already up more than 100% from their low this past November, could eventually climb another 50%. Management is making smart moves to combat the recession.

Investment plans run by San Francisco and San Jose suffered losses on an ING strategy involving stable-value funds. At issue: widening discounts between market and book values.

On the other hand, SLM (SLM), or Sallie Mae, has lost 60% of its value in the past six months as funding constricts and fears increase that new government rules will squeeze profits of private student-loan providers. But shares trading well below four times 2009 profits have attracted investors betting on SLM's shift from lending to the origination and servicing of federal student loans -- a role that might benefit from President Obama's pledge to boost college graduation rates across the country.

Zack Shafran, portfolio manager, says the fund specializes in companies that use science in categories ranging from agriculture to biotechnology and even financial services. "We pay special attention to the application of science in all fields, particularly hospitals and biotechnology," says Shafran. The fund has a position in computer company Cerner (CERN), which should take off as hospitals move in earnest from paper to computers. Also, Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) stands to win as certain starch-based products substitute for plastic.

Zack Shafran, portfolio manager, says the fund specializes in companies that use science in categories ranging from agriculture to biotechnology and even financial services. "We pay special attention to the application of science in all fields, particularly hospitals and biotechnology," says Shafran. The fund has a position in computer company Cerner (CERN), which should take off as hospitals move in earnest from paper to computers. Also, Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) stands to win as certain starch-based products substitute for plastic.

Investors who want to monetize Mrs. Obama's fashion sense can buy J. Crew stock at $14.69, sell the September 17.50 call for $2.10, and sell the September 12.50 put for $2. On the upside, the risk is that the stock will get called away at $17.50. If this happens, investors will realize a return of $6.84, or 46%. On the downside, the premium received for selling the put and call provides protection down to $11.58, which is the break-even. If the stock falls below $12.50, investors may have to buy the stock, but the effective purchase price would be $8.40, or $12.50 less $4.10. If J. Crew's stock price remains flat, investors get to keep the money received for selling the options, which represents about 28% of the stock's current price.

Some sharp market watchers are betting that Union Pacific 's (UNP) recent run of dramatic outperformance versus fellow railroad operator Kansas City Southern (KSU) is ripe for a reversal. Kansas City Southern has dropped a staggering 30 percentage points more than Union Pacific since October, thanks to the former's higher debt load and higher exposure to Mexican traffic, which is hurt by the weak peso. Union Pacific is barely down at all for the year, ranking as the Street's favored way to play a rebound in rail traffic. The market certainly isn't wrong every time two related stocks diverge so profoundly, but this could well be an instance where things have overshot enough that any recalibration would be dramatic. Kansas City Southern has been dogged by balance-sheet concerns. But UBS analyst Rick Paterson, among the minority of bulls on the stock, says a recent debt issue and an expected equity offering will take that off the table. He's carrying a price target of $21.