Best Dividend Stocks for Bear Markets

The stock market is looking wobbly. Thanks to worries about lackluster corporate earnings, plunging oil prices and weakness in Europe, among other things, the Dow Jones industrial average has plunged nearly 470 points in the last two days of trading. We're nowhere near bear market territory--or even the 10% drop that signifies a correction. But this is an ideal time to focus on dividend-paying stocks, which often come out ahead during a market sell-off. In 2008, when Standard & Poor's 500-stock index nosedived 37%, the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats, an index of large companies that have raised their dividends every year for the past 25 years, surrendered a more tolerable 22%.

These companies have products or services that consumers will pay for, even in a tough economy. Seven out of the nine stocks boast yields higher than the S&P 500's 1.9% payout. And eight of the nine companies derive the bulk of their sales in the U.S., leaving them relatively insulated from the negative effects of a powerful dollar (when the greenback strengthens, overseas profits translate into fewer dollars): Abbott Labs (ABT), Clorox (CLX), Consolidated Edison (ED), General Mills (GIS), Hormel Foods (HRL), McCormick (MKC), Ross (ROST), Southern (SO) and Wal-Mart's (WMT).

Source: Jewish World Review

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