Almost everywhere they looked during the week, investors saw red ink flowing. But CNBC guests worked hard to find bright spots in the murk.

To help investors prepare their portfolios for next week, CNBC asked the market experts for their best stock picks now.

New York's attorney general and securities regulators in several U.S. states are probing auction-rate securities and the role Wall Street firms had in enticing investors into the troubled $330 billion market.