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IF YOU ARE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO invest in the stock market this year--and who isn't?--you'd no doubt love some advice from America's seven smartest pros. Well, just keep reading. Some 200 professional money managers were recently asked by Rivel Research Group in Westport, Conn. to name the investor they admire most. Their No. 1 pick: Warren Buffett. MONEY then set about discovering what he and the six runners-up--all listed in the table below--like these days and what they don't.

Three (Warren Buffett, George Soros and Jeffrey Vinik) wouldn't talk to us. Buffett and Soros rarely give interviews, and Magellan fund manager Vinik has been muzzled by parent Fidelity Investments since coming under fire in December for praising Micron Technology publicly around the time he was unloading it. No matter; we gleaned their favorite picks and current investing philosophy by reviewing their recent published remarks and interviewing others who know them well.

The four superstars we interviewed are generally cautious about the U.S. stock market and expect prices to decline sometime in 1996--Vanguard's John Neff is looking for a 15% dip. But that's not necessarily bad news. As Fidelity Magellan's legendary Peter Lynch told MONEY: "If the market corrects, and it's just a matter of when, that makes for a better buying opportunity."

Here are the savvy seven, as ranked by the Rivel poll.

Warren Buffett: The 65-year-old oracle of Omaha has made shareholders in his midwestern holding company Berkshire Hathaway (ticker symbol: BRK; recently traded on New York Stock Exchange at $31,800; no dividend yield) rich--or at least richer. Since January 1991, the share price has risen 376% to become America's most expensive stock. His strategy: buying companies he feels possess excellent long-term value, such as Coca-Cola (KO; NYSE, $75.50; 1.2% yield), his biggest position (worth $7.5 billion), then holding on--usually for years.

If Berkshire's price is out of your ball park, consider a no-load fund that strives to mimic the master's value-investing style, the $14 million Oak Value Fund (up an annualized 16% since its inception in January 1993; $2,500 minimum; 800-680-4199). Oak Value manager David Carr especially likes two of Buffett's favorites, American Express (AXP; NYSE, $44.50; 2% yield) and Capital Cities/ABC (CCB; NYSE, $126.75; 0.2% yield).

Peter Lynch: Although Lynch, 52, hasn't run a mutual fund since departing Fidelity's Magellan six years ago, his legend lives on. Like Lynch, Fidelity portfolio managers track overlooked growth companies by keeping in touch with company executives, their suppliers and competitors, rather than simply relying on earnings reports. Though Fidelity policy now prohibits Lynch from recommending stocks, he says he still owns and likes several stocks he favored last year, including Sears (S; NYSE, $41.50; 2.2% yield), Allstate (ALL; NYSE, $43.75; 1.8% yield) and Ceridian (CEN; NYSE, $45.75; no yield).

John Templeton: Although Templeton, 83, hit the big time buying overseas stocks for his Templeton Growth Fund (up an annualized 16.7% for five years that ended Jan. 1; 5.75% load; $100 minimum; 800-342-5236), he currently thinks some of the best opportunities lie in plain old U.S. real estate investment trusts. His top pick: Fidelity Real Estate Investment Portfolio (16.2%; no load; $2,500 minimum investment; 800-544-8888), known for picking high-quality REITs. Overseas, Templeton--who turned over the reins to protege Mark Holowesko in 1992--likes funds that are taking advantage of economic comebacks in Mexico, Portugal and Eastern Europe, whose markets have fallen 40% to 70% since they peaked in the early 1990s.

John Neff: MONEY's newest columnist, Neff, 64, is a strict value investor who retired from running Vanguard Windsor Fund (18.4%; closed to new investors; 800-851-4999) in December. He is currently sniffing bargains in cyclical industries like steel, paper and aluminum. Companies in these sectors will "show very good earnings in three to four years," he said.

George Soros: The Hungarian-born Soros, 65, has achieved an average annual return of 35% for more than 25 years by making bold bets on changes in countries' interest rates and currency values through his highly leveraged $5.3 billion Quantum Fund (43.5%; closed to U.S. investors). This billionaire believes that a restructuring of Japanese industry and a weakening yen make Japanese equities the best place to be this year.

Jeffrey Vinik: How do you outperform the market when you're so big that you are the market? That's the dilemma Vinik, 36, faces every morning managing the world's largest mutual fund, $54 billion Fidelity Magellan (20.4%; 3% load; $2,500 minimum; 800-544-8888). Vinik's answer: making outlandish bets on hot sectors--like technology in 1995. Lately, he's loaded up on 30-year Treasury bonds in a reported $5 billion wager that long-term interest rates will fall this year.

Michael Price: This 44-year-old manager of the $14 billion Mutual Series fund family (no load; 800-553-3014) is known for buying major stakes in stodgy companies and then prodding them to improve, sometimes through mergers. An example: Last spring, Price bought a 6.1% stake in Chase Manhattan (CMB; NYSE, $68; 2.6% yield) and pressured the bank to join with Chemical Banking Corp. last fall. The deal earned his funds more than $300 million. "The market looks fully priced, but there are plenty of depressed areas with good value," he said. Besides beaten-down retail stocks, Price likes trucking companies. Doesn't sound glamorous, but more often than not, the Price is right.

Reporter associate: Karyn McCormack