With the economy continuing to flirt with a recession, a recovery may still be a ways away.  However, markets tend to be forward-looking and will begin to move up prior to an upturn in the economy.  Therefore, it’s not too soon to begin thinking about how you will want to position your portfolio to take advantage of this.

Ibbotson did a research study and looked at the sectors that tend to outperform during a recovery.  Top performers included:

• Information Technology (IT)
• Consumer Discretionary
• Industrials
• Consumer Staples

So which stocks should you consider?  We did some research and identified ten stocks that are leaders within their industries, but are also reasonably valued at current prices.  Stocks on this list include:

• 3M (MMM) – Think “Post It” notes.  They’re a diversified manufacturer of products that are used in a wide-range of applications.
• Microsoft (MSFT) – Sure, they’ve had issues with Vista (haven’t we all?), but they are still a predominant player in the software space.
• Kraft (KFT) – Focuses principally on the manufacturing and marketing of consumer packaged goods.  Brands include well-known favorites like Oscar Mayer, Oreo, and Maxwell House.
• Cisco (CSCO) – A leader in network routers and other networking solutions.  An internal manager once described Cisco as the “Arms supplier for the Internet Revolution”.
• Disney (DIS) – The kingdom built by a cartoon mouse.  Disney is a well-known entertainment company that owns properties such as ABC and ESPN, not to mention their movie studio, resorts and cruise line.
• Apple (AAPL) – Between the iPod, iPhone and their line of Mac computers, Apple has see their growth outpace the rest of the computer industry.  And at the moment, they’re a good value relative to their underlying business.
• SAP (SAP) – A large, multi-national supplier of software for the enterprise.
• Coca-Cola Co. (KO) – A worldwide manufacturer and distributor of beverages.   In addition to their name-sake brand, other properties include Sprite, Fanta, and Dasani water.
• Oracle (ORCL) – Like SAP, Oracle is a large supplier of software for business.
• Intel (INTC) – Manufacturers the CPUs used in the majority of personal computers in use today.  Their primary competitor, AMD, has fared quite poorly recently.

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