There have been many lessons to learn from the "Great Recession." But while the message is often clear, we can't always muster the courage, discipline or consensus to act on these lessons.

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is about to enter its second season -- the playoffs. And for a Laker fan in Los Angeles, there is much to look forward to. However, the current NBA collective bargaining agreement will end and we will have to witness another battle between the billionaires and the millionaires.

Why can't the NBA learn from other businesses that have successfully maneuvered through economic turmoil to achieve profitability?

"Our goal is helping investors grow their capital and income base from which to derive cash for their current and future needs," notes dividend expert Kelley Wright.

The editor of Investment Quality Trends explains, "To that end we believe that high-quality stocks purchased at historically low-price-to-high-yield offers the best potential for downside protection and upside appreciation. Our Timely Ten list represents our current top ideas.

I'm now going to take a brief look at two stocks that were affected by earnings releases earlier today. The two companies are a study in completely different business models: one sells video games, the other sells drugs. Then again, video games are a drug to some, so maybe they aren't so different?

First up: Electronic Arts (ERTS). EA wasn't exciting during the regular session. It closed up fractionally to $15.62; volume was strong, though. And after looking at the extended-hours reaction to the earnings report that was released following the ringing of the bell, it might be understandable why so many players were intent on getting in on the stock.

Could a stock that you made 1,100% on still have room to run? Yes, it is possible. In particular if it had a near death experience as a penny stock for a while.

That is the case with Newcastle Investments (NCT), the CMBS lender and real estate investment company that reached a recent high of $7.10 and has settled back down, most recently hovering between $6.70 to $7.00. It closed Thursday December 23 at $6.71.

Analyst Upgrades

• Walgreen (WAG) and Triumph Group (TGI) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Focus Media (FMCN) to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Home Depot (HD) to outperform from market perform at FBR Capital.
• Arbitron (ARB) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Waddell & Reed (WDR) and Legg Mason (LM) to overweight from equal weight, and Janus Capital (JNS) to overweight from underweight, at Barclays.
• Central Euro Media (CETV) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• GenOn Energy (GEN) and Ntelos (NTLS) to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.
• Cooper Tire (CTB) to buy from neutral and Goodyear Tire (GT) to buy from underperform at BofA/Merrill.

It's that time of year when I start thinking about my 2011 stock picks, and enough folks have been nudging me that I might as well get on with it. The list will not be finalized until the end of the month. During the interim time I will take readers through a number of possibilities, explaining the rational for my suggestions along the way and adding and subtracting until I get the list down to ten.

Today I will start by reviewing opportunities discussed in another post and determine which of these stocks might provide the best value. The list was originally cast as a globally diversified, large cap, dividend paying and relatively stable group of companies that would likely weather any storm. See: Chasing Value: Bonds, Gold, Stocks and Capital Flight

New Jersey-based pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) is recalling roughly 4 million packages of children's Benadryl Allergy Fastmelt Tablets (cherry and grape flavor) tablets and 800,000 bottles of 24-count Junior Strength Motrin.

The company blamed the recall on "insufficiencies" in the manufacturing process of the two medications, the Dow Jones reported. JNJ said that the recalls are taking place on the wholesale and retail levels, and that consumers can continue to use these products if they are in the medicine cabinet.

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ - option chain) shares are rising today after the company announced that its blood-thinner rivaroxaban, which it is developing with Bayer AG, was more effective in a study than the standard treatment warfarin in preventing stroke in patients with irregular heart rhythm. The results could bring the treatment one step closer to regulatory approval in the US. While JNJ is not up a big chunk today, this stock is usually very steady, so this 1% move is actually more significant thatn it looks. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on JNJ.