Amid the gloom, Birinyi Associates' Cleve Rueckert found what he sees as a bright spot in the stock market. In a note, he says growth is the place to be based on performance of the S&P's Pure Growth Index versus the S&P Pure Value Index.

He found 15 stocks in the S&P 500 that fit three key growth criteria. First, they had to beat respective EPS estimates in the fourth quarter, and they are forecast to post gains in 2009 over 2008 earnings. They also are trading above their 50 day average and are seen to be in a short -term uptrend.