The shares could rise to at least 30 and maybe as much as 45 once those big cost reductions drop to the bottom line in 2010. And if the stars align perfectly -- the economy enjoys a second-half uptick and the housing market and consumer confidence turn for the better sooner than expected -- the stock's rebound could be quicker. Even a small improvement in sentiment could bring a disproportionate rise in the stock.

Markel's shares have sagged as the company has ceded business in a vicious insurance environment. The stock could jump 20% as industry pricing improves.

Eaton's shares could climb more than 20% as investors come to appreciate the strengths of its products and global markets.

Decimated shares have arguably considered the worst-case scenario, but what about possible pleasant surprises? For a start, cruise stocks should bounce hard when crude oil corrects. Also, investors haven't looked beyond retailers to cruise operators when they anticipate rebate-fueled spending. Yet a recent Goldman Sachs survey showed 49% of consumers planning to spend their rebate checks, with 12% of that group saying they would take a trip. Goldman, for one, rates Royal Caribbean "Buy" and included it in a list of 10 consumer stocks that could benefit from rebate lift.

Still, the caffeinated stock price suggests the downside risks are ill considered. For one, raw coffee beans accounts for the bulk of the company's cost of goods, and rapid inflation of beans recently led to the first price increase in five years. While Green Mountain's lovely Kenyan single-origin coffee, to cite just one example, may boast "big, grapefruit-toned brightness and black raspberry and burgundy flavors," it isn't exactly priced for tougher times at $7.69 for a 10-oz bag. No surprise then that as the stock rallied, insiders, including Chairman Robert Stiller, have been selling shares.

At below 14 times expected earnings, GE -- composed of roughly 45% infrastructure/industrial profits, 35% financial, 11% media and 9% health care -- trades in line with a like blend of industry-comparable multiples, based on a back-of-the-envelope reckoning. In other words, an investor at long last need not assume that GE's businesses are above-average -- as, in most cases, they certainly are -- to justify buying the stock. CEO Jeffrey Immelt admirably turned the other cheek to his predecessor's recent public chiding, when he could have pointed out that former CEO Jack Welch's reputation and personal wealth were swollen beyond calculation by the stock market's general valuation inflation during his tenure. More important, Immelt continues to buy GE shares in the open market, $3.5 million just last week.