The Dow lost another 207 points again today, the Nasdaq lost 43, and the S&P 500 lost 26. The S&P 500 is now just about flat for the year. Wal-Mart was no help to this market today, and with credit concerns continuing investors needed no other reasons to sell. The bears are clearly in control of this market at the time being. Sure there will be some nice up days just because we hardly ever go straight down and there are still buyers in this market, but the short-term trend is clear. Having said all that, what can you do to protect yourself?
I believe that now is a good time to be invested in dividend stocks that are also 
companies showing solid growth. I always prefer a stock with a decent dividend and is growing at 10-12% a year over a stock with a very good dividend yield and no growth. PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE: PEP) is a stock with these traits. Pepsi has a good dividend yield of 2.23%, and has a very strong growth picture ahead of it. Johnson and Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) is another stock that has continually raised its dividend each year, now yielding 2.72%, that is trading at historically low levels.
Why do these type of stocks work better in this uncertain environment? It's simple actually, because investors know they can trust their earnings growth to stay the same. Consumers will not stop purchasing Pepsi snack products or Pepsi-Cola, and consumers will certainly not stop buying band-aids and Tylenol. These companies make money in any type of economic environment.
The stock market is looking very weak, and quality stocks are being thrown out the window all over. Now is a good time to start doing that research and putting together a list of stocks you may want to buy soon when the selling slows. For a list of top websites to use to research stocks click here.
The bottom line is that for the short-term the solid growers who are not effected by economic uncertainty are the best plays. Don't go and add a bunch of companies who aren't growing, but pay large dividends. Buy some stocks of companies with constantly growing dividends and constantly growing profits, regardless of the market situation.
*disclaimer* There is no certainty these stocks will perform well, you must conduct your own research and see if these stocks are suitable to your investment portfolio
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