Bill Miller Likes Broadwing and Level 3

Bill Miller is betting on an economic rebound by stuffing his shareholders' money in downright nasty places, including a fizzled Enron partnership.

Late Monday afternoon Miller, the only fund manager to top the S&P 500 in each of the past 11 years, filed his shareholder report for the $1.7 billion (LMOPX Quote)Opportunity Trust fund -- a younger, more aggressive portfolio than his index-beating $11.8 billion (LMVTX Quote)Legg Mason Value Trust.

The upshot: He's expecting the economy and corporate profits to rebound this year, but he thinks already rich valuations will put a lid on returns of around 10% for the major stock averages. So, he's scarfing up the battered shares and bonds of companies that could ride the economy up like Level 3 Communications(LVLT Quote), Broadwing(BRW Quote) and AmeriCredit(ACF Quote) -- though many observers have put these companies on a death watch. ...