Stocks for Those Seeking Safety

Stocks remain reasonably priced relative to earnings, and the alternatives look lousy. A 10-year, inflation-protected Treasury bond yields slightly less than zero. Better to swap risky shares for safe ones than to commit more money to sure losses with bonds. The stocks below have low "betas," which means they have tended to swing less wildly than the broad market in recent years.

They have modest prices relative to their earnings, which makes them better suited than pricey stocks to a broad slowing of earnings growth. And they pay healthy dividends, which will be a welcome source of returns if market gains prove smaller in coming years. Lastly, they sell goods and services that tend to find stable demand in good and lean years. 1. Abbott Laboratories (ABT), 2. Exxon Mobil (XOM) and 3. Wal-Mart (WMT)

Source: SmartMoney

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