Even in a sea of markdowns, shrewd shoppers can spot the difference between poor-quality merchandise and brand-name labels.

The stock market is trickier. All stocks in a bear market appear low-priced, but investors can't be absolutely certain that the downturn is over or that all name brands will regain their former luster.

As you blink your eyes in astonishment at how low some famous-name stocks have fallen in the past year, also ponder the odds of whether their performance will be providing pleasant surprises a year from now.

Many experts predict the stock market will be ratcheting upward, though admittedly in erratic fashion. If so, the current values in those quality companies considered safe choices won't last forever.

"We're looking at a historic time in which the investor can say, 'OK, even though it's a roller coaster, we're in the trough, and stocks have got to go back up,'" says Richard Cripps, chief market strategist with Stifel Nicolaus, in Baltimore. "This is a very good time to be buying high-quality stocks, because when the recovery starts to gain hold, investors will become more interested in quality."

Of course, some stocks are cheap for good reason. They may need to finance or already have taken on too much exposure to the credit markets.

"This is the first time in the last 20 years when it's actually easier to be an investor," says Thomas Forester, portfolio manager of Forester Value Fund (FVALX), who still can see opportunities even though some stocks have recovered ground. "Nothing was cheap at the beginning of last year, but everything was cheap at the beginning of this year."

Forester says stock investors typically consider whether the company will be around in 20 years, how much it is going to grow, and how much they're going to pay for its stock.

"People tend to overpay for growth because they don't pay attention to the third point," says Forester, a value investor always on the lookout for stocks on the cheap. "They only want the company that's growing the fastest, without paying attention to how much they're paying for it."

Catching a punished industry leader with a great future is the strategy:

•Software powerhouse Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), Cripps and Forester agree, is a bargain during this recessionary lull of lower PC shipments. Wall Street analysts give it 15 "strong buys," nine "buys" and 11 "holds," according to Thomson Reuters.

•Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. (PFE), which just agreed to acquire Wyeth, has tons of cash yet is being unfairly priced "as though it is never again going to come out with a new drug," Forester says. It receives five "strong buys," seven "buys," and eight "holds" from analysts.

•Unlike many financial firms, The Travelers Companies Inc. (TRV) is a conservative insurance company that didn't swing for the fences with its investments and doesn't have the same concerns as banks.

Forester recommends the stock, which receives six "strong buys," seven "buys," seven "holds," and one "sell" from analysts.

The $68 million Forester Value Fund, launched by Forester in 1999, has had a 12-month decline of 4 percent and a five-year annualized return of 3.6 percent. Both of those returns rank in the top 1 percent of large value funds. That "no-load" (no sales charge) fund requires a $2,500 minimum initial investment and has an annual expense ratio of 0.37 percent.

A time frame of three to five years should be your focus, Forester advises. The only serious problem he sees with discount stocks right now is some bankruptcy risk in the financial stocks.

"I think the worst is over, and it is a rarity to be able to buy stocks at 12-year lows, though in recent weeks a lot of the low-hanging fruit was taken," says Steven Goldman, chief market strategist with Weeden & Co., in Greenwich, Conn., who expects further upward movement the next three months. "For the next few months investors should be focused on buying during the 5 percent pullbacks that we'll be seeing in the market."

But remain cautious about brand names and look carefully into their allure, he says. If a company has had consumers paying a premium price for its products because of marketing, but the product is not really all that unique, it could continue to suffer, says Goldman.

"Investors need to look at companies that don't have high debt loads, which is the No. 1 constraint for companies going forward, and also at companies that have weathered the storm during other periods of declining economic growth," he says. "We're coming out of this, but some structural problems are not going to go away."

The safest value stocks are the consumer staples, says Cripps, who considers packaged-food firm General Mills Inc. (GIS) and consumer products company Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) the safest of them all.

Among tech giants, Intel Corp. (INTC) is favored by Cripps, while Forester likes Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) and Oracle Corp. (ORCL). In industrials, General Dynamics Corp. (GD), and Boeing Co. (BA) are recommended by Forester.

Finally, in health care, Abbott Laboratories (ABT) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) look good, says Cripps, with electric utility Exelon Corp. (EXC) another quality bargain.