While terms like “investment opportunity of a lifetime” are recklessly thrown around far too often, sometimes, the description is actually appropriate. Take 2009 for instance… investors really are looking at a once in a lifetime opportunity - at least for a few stocks. (Other stocks are more than deserving of their selloffs.)

We’ll look at five of these unique investment opportunities below, but first we need to set the stage correctly.

Yes, the economy is still wandering listlessly in a recession, and yes, it’s difficult to say how long this weakness could linger, and yes, many individual companies are still fighting an uphill battle. So what’s supposed to be encouraging? Your opportunity doesn’t necessarily lie in the arms of gangbuster performance right now. Rather, your opportunity lies in realizing what the rest of the market doesn’t quite ‘get‘… that you own stocks not for their present value, but for their future value.

If you can come to terms with that, then you’ve got an unfair advantage on the rest of the investing crowd.

With that in mind, here are five publicly-traded companies you should consider wading into now, not because of where they’ll be five days from now, but five months from now, and five years from now… and even further out than that. Here’s the best part of all - all these stocks are priced under $5.00 (penny stocks, technically), yet they’re all also names you’re likely to be familiar with. (Click on the thumbnail image to view a full-size chart.)

SIRIUS XM Radio Inc. (SIRI) - At $2.00, or even $1.00, SIRIUS  was too much of a mess (thanks to some scary financing and capitalization numbers) to get involved with. Around 50 cents though, we have to think the bulk of the downside has been factored in. The business is viable; it’s just that the market for satellite radio was never as big as the company’s market cap originally implied it was. Now standing at about 1/100th of its peak value though - and after Liberty Media got involved - SIRI is a much more interesting idea.

American International Group Inc. (AIG) - As outrageous (and lengthy) as AIG’s back-story is, the market is giving them practically no credit whatsoever despite the fact that there’s still a viable business enterprise in place. Once all the feathers are unruffled, and once all the catastrophic losses are booked, and once the government has done all it can do to salvage this train wreck, then the market may start to realize AIG is worth at least a little more than $1.43 per share. It’s not an idea for the faint of heart, or the short-termer.

Ford Motor Co. (F) - With all eyes focused on whether or not General Motors Inc. (GM) will or should declare bankruptcy, investors have largely forgotten about Ford. While Ford isn’t sporting a not-guilty verdict either, the collapse of GM - in one form or another - could reduce Ford’s domestic competition. And, even if GM doesn’t file Chapter 11, Ford’s leadership seems to have a clearer understanding of how to navigate a recovery effort.

Citigroup Inc. (C) - All the concerns about failing the government ‘bank stress test’ are well deserved, as are the concerns of arbitrarily assigning values to bad debt now that the ‘mark to market’ rules have changed. However, they’re also already priced into the stock’s value. With the market braced for the worst, there’s likely to be a lot more upside than downside for this $3.00 stock.

Qwest Communications International Inc. (Q) - Don’t let the name fool you… Qwest is a lot more than just a local and long-distance telecom service provider. The company has interests in data, Internet, video, as well as voice services. The company markets those services on a wholesale basis in addition to offering technical/IT services to a wide variety of industries. This internal diversity has allowed the company to remain profitable throughout the recession. As such, Qwest is well-positioned to get the best jump out of the gate when the economy starts to improve.