The rules for investing in technology have changed as much as the markets themselves. Weiss Capital's Mike Burnick and Fort Pitt Capital's Kim Caughey offered CNBC their tech stock picks — and pans. (Part Two)

To give investors an edge, CNBC asked the market pros for their best stock picks now.

Merrill Lynch is seeing heavy put activity among options traders Wednesday, as its stock plunges to lows not seen in more than a decade. The November options volume is already four times the recent averages and December is more than six times normal levels.

The rules for investing in technology have changed as much as the markets themselves. Weiss Capital's Mike Burnick and Fort Pitt Capital's Kim Caughey offered CNBC their tech stock picks — and pans. (Part One)

Mark Parr of KeyBanc Capital Markets says one thing that investors can count on in this fragile economy is the infrastructure build-out, both domestically and globally. "Steel's been near and dear to my heart for a long time," he said.

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Pete Najarian, one of the master traders of CNBC's "Fast Money" team, tells you how to play alternative energy, cleanup tech and more!

One stock-picker likes big-cap technology plays, and another recommends examining dividend yields to find the best opportunities. To give investors an edge, CNBC asked the market pros for their best stock picks now.

Almost every asset class — with the exception of U.S. Treasury bonds — will provide good opportunities for investors willing to take a long-term view, says Fritz Meyer, senior market strategist at Invesco AIM.

America's push toward alternative and renewable energy sources is a big plus for companies involved in those fields. John Quealy of Canaccord Adams offers "smart grid" advice — and stock picks.

Tina Vital, integrated oil and gas equity analyst for Standard & Poor's, says oil companies remain good investments — despite Barack Obama's pledge to curb consumption.

Options traders are betting against GameStop, which has been in consistent decline for the last six months. The stock is up about 9 percent from its low of $21 last week — but still nowhere near its highs of nearly $60 in mid-April.

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As word came of Citigroup's plans to cut 53,000 jobs, the markets opened the week to the upside. Click here for video highlights of stock picks and investment advice.

Despite health-care reform and the rapidly-growing dominance of generic prescription drugs, Deutsche Bank's Barbara Ryan likes several big-name pharma companies.

Cost containment may scare the health-care sector, but Charles Boorady, healthcare providers analyst for Citigroup, says it's likely to spell success for pharmacy benefits managers.