By Ben Steverman

The Sweet 16 for 2010

For investors, 2009 was a year when hopes of economic recovery sent a wide swath of the stock market higher. Even the market's most troubled companies had shares that doubled, tripled, or even quadrupled their prices.

In 2010 the emerging rebound will surely have influence, as Wall Street bets on the direction of the economy, interest rates, and inflation. But next year investors may also benefit from some smart stockpicking. Strong individual results—especially unexpected earnings and sales growth—could help certain stocks stand out from the crowd.

Bloomberg BusinessWeek asked experienced investors and market experts for their favorite stock picks of 2010. Not all the 16 stocks featured here will do well—in fact, our experts based their predictions on widely varying outlooks for 2010—but all have the potential to offer shareholders lucrative surprises next year. Click ahead for the diverse group of equities they chose.

(Data from Bloomberg and Capital IQ. Sources currently own the stocks they recommend, unless otherwise noted.)