Two Hot Stock Picks for 2010

If your New Year's resolution is to make more money, you will be taking a chance if you want to invest in a few stocks for the upcoming year. Overall, stocks had a tough year in 2009, especially during the first quarter of the year. However, if you take a look at the overall performance of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, it finished about 20 percent higher than it the start of the year. If you are not afraid of risking some of your hard-earned cash, there may be few companies that provide a decent return on your investment.

Here are a pair of companies that are worth watching for this upcoming year. They were chosen as a stock to watch for 2010 because they already are creating hot products and they are set to release a new or innovative product line in 2010. This should enhance their earnings potential for the upcoming year.

Ford (Symbol: F)
While Ford may not make the best cars, they are quickly become the most popular American car maker. Much like an oil company, Ford built up huge cash reserves from its success in the '90s and early part of this decade, with sales of it popular line of pick-up trucks. This huge cash reserve let Ford float through the downturn of 2008 and 2009 without accepting a penny of government bailout money.

Granted, earnings were down for 2008, but Ford is expected to see a nice recovery for the upcoming year. The company scrapped some of its plans for a larger product line. Ford smartly is shed its involvement with Volvo, so it was negatively affected by the downturn. Ford's stock price has shown a strong recovery since the first quarter of 2009, where it sold for lower than $2 per share.

Ford adapted its product line just in time by shifting away from pick-up trucks and SUVs, to smaller more fuel efficient cars like the Focus, and Fusion. The Ford Fusion was selected as 2009's car of the year by Motor Trend Magazine. Ford will look to capitalize on the success of the Fusion by introducing a hybrid model in 2010. Thee Fusion Hybrid sports a better MPG rating than Toyota's Camry, and offers better pricing than even a standard model Ford once you take the large $3000 Federal Tax Credit into account.

Apple (Symbol: APPL)

Apple's stock price is price way above PE when compared to its peers. But does Apple really have any peers? Rumors are rampant that Apple will release a successor to the iPhone and Ipod in early 2010. The product will resemble an tablet PC, running either a full blown version of OSX, or the variant that is on the iPhone. The table PC, iPad, iTab, or whatever you want to call it will likely become the must have product for 2010.

Steve Jobs has a knack for reading the minds of gadget minded consumers. The netbook explosion of 2008 and 2009 have shown that consumers want a device that does a little more than a cell phone, yet they want to keep the device light and still be able to connect to the Internet. Integration of the functionality offered by the iPhone, iPod Nano,iPod Touch, and a Mac PC into device with a larger screen, that is light and connected will make this product a highly sought after prize for consumers.

Apple and Ford have innovative new products coming out in 2010, which make them a stock to watch for 2010.

Disclosure: Investors should conduct their own research into individual stocks before making a purchase decision. Past stock performance is no guarantee of future price appreciation. This author may already own or make future purchases of the stocks highlighted in this article.