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Stock picks and pans for troubled times: Buy Johnson & Johnson, Monsanto, JPMorgan and closed-end funds

Another volatile week had passed over Wall Street, but by the end of it investors started breathing a sigh of relief in anticipation of the bailout plan. Those hopes were shattered Thursday night. Many believe that if the bailout plan doesn't get approved soon, the landscape on Wall Street will be very different, changing even more than it already has. The consequences of a financial meltdown would reverberate throughout the economy, here and globally.

Once again, BloggingStocks bloggers have looked at different stocks, trying to find the ones you may want to consider during these troubled times should you find yourself with some extra cash. Nerves of steel are a requirement for any investor these days.

Here are some picks from the past week:

Johnson and Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) - not only do Ron Rowland and Brandon Clay remind us that Johnson and Johnson was rated the world's most respected company, Cramer says that JNJ "is a super stock. Well managed, great earnings, good pipeline ..."

Monsanto (NYSE: MON) - as the undisputed leader in the genetically modified (GM) seed industry, Yiannis Mostrous and Roger Conrad think long-term-oriented investors will be rewarded handsomely with Monsanto.

Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) and JP Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) - Joe Lazzaro thinks these banks' sizes may be what would save them as the they are simply too big to fail. Cramer agrees both banks stand to gain much and will do very well if the bailout is approved. With the recent acquisition of Washington Mutual Inc. (NYSE: WM), Jon Berr thinks John Pierpont Morgan would have been proud of Jamie Dimon.


Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) - among all financials, it seems Wells Fargo is not only surviving the chaos on Wall Street, but it just may be thriving too.

McAfee (NYSE: MFE) - the No. 2 player in the security software market wants to be No. 1 and it shows all intentions of staying independent and being one of the survivors as the enterprise security market consolidates.

Petroleo Brasileiro SA (NYSE: PBR) - this Brazilian firm is now the world's 8th-largest oil company and it isn't done growing. Dennis Slothower says PBR "has an enormous future and looks poised to become one of the world's largest oil producers."

Closed end funds
- Neil George says: "Bond funds are the foundation that steadies your portfolio." Some core funds include Alliance Bernstein Global High Income Fund (NYSE: AWF), Blackrock Income Opportunity (NYSE: BNA), Pimco Strategic Global Government (NYSE: RCS), Templeton Emerging Markets (NYSE: TEI) and the Western Asset Emerging Markets Fund (NYSE: EFL).

S&P Biotech ETF (ASE: XBI) - as biotechnology seems to have re-entered a bull trend, you can "capitalize on this traditionally highly volatile and boom bust burdened sector" with a biotech ETF.

PowerShares Aerospace & Defense ETF (ASE: PPA) - another ETF to play the defense sector, which Jim Powell says "never looked more attractive" than it does now.

FPL Energy (NYSE: FPL) - "is one of our favorite alternative energy holdings," says Genia Turanova who also calls the stock "a legitimate full-fledged income play."

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) - shares may have been attacked by short sellers, but Brian White thinks Apple would maintain its current sales growth.

Here are this week's alarm bells:

General Motors (NYSE: GM) - not only did Doug McIntyre warned GM was falling deeper into the hole even before the $25 billion bailout to the auto industry and Zac Bissonnette said automakers are struggling with tight credit, Cramer then said flat out GM could go bankrupt should it fail to use the bailout money wisely. McIntyre wonders if even that would help.

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts (NYSE: KKD) - the company announced plans to add ice cream to its offerings. Steven Mallas doesn't have much confidence in the plan.

Circuit City (NYSE: CC) - the CEO of Circuit City finally resigned this week to the sigh of relief from investors. But both Doug McIntyre and Peter Cohan warn the change in the top job won't matter much.

Boeing (NYSE: BA) - Doug McIntyre is certain Boeing now regrets the strike. Cramer adds that "It's one of the most vulnerable stocks in the Dow because of its clients' stress and voracious need for hard-to-get capital."

General Electric (NYSE: GE) - don't say we didn't warn about GE. This week GE cut its earnings forecast and announced it would stop its stock buyback program.
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Last updated: November 27, 2009: 12:29 AM

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