Best Investment Bargains

By Peter Carbonara and Mara DerHovanesian

BusinessWeek canvassed some seasoned money managers to find out if they're in the market buying—or sitting on the sidelines with a bunch of cash. While most of these experts say they might not have pegged the very bottom of the market rout, they have found plenty of buying opportunities from stocks to bonds. Many of the ideas you'll read about are defensive: to quote famed comedian Lily Tomlin, everyone pretty much thinks "things are going to get a lot worse before it gets worse." Nevertheless, these value-seeking investors are in their element now, buying into certain mutual funds and bonds, as well as healthy companies with strong management teams, low debt, and a price that has been thrashed by the market downturn. Here's what they had to say.