"High-quality stocks bought at historically low-price-to-high-yield offer the best potential for downside protection and upside appreciation," says dividend specialist Kelley Wright.

The editor of IQ Trends explains, "Our 'Timely Ten' list is our reasoned expectation based on our methodology and experience for what we believe will perform best over the next five years.

"Our 'Timely Ten' list is our reasoned expectation based on our methodology and experience for what we believe will perform best over the next five years. Do we believe that all 10 will go up simultaneously or immediately? Of course not.

The Republicans took the House of Representatives, but not the Senate, in the mid-term elections. That is exactly what the polls indicated ahead of time and just about exactly what the markets were pricing in. Then came Bernanke and the FOMC with the announcement of what exactly the new $600 billion in quantitative easing would look like. That was also priced in. As noted, it was all baked into the cake at current prices. Outside of a decent mood being prevalent today by many, stocks had a hard time deciding whether they wanted to be in the red or in the black.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

DJIA
NASDAQ
S&P500

Top Analyst Calls
ETFs For Quantitative Easing

MillerCoors -- a joint venture between SABMiller and Molson Coors (TAP) -- last week announced that it has launched a new corporate division intended to focus on the company's craft and import beer business. This business (which is a rather solid performer) includes brews Blue Moon, Peroni Nastro Azurro, and Leinenkugel's.

The new unit is named Tenth and Blake Beer, after the streets where MillerCoors' breweries are located in Milwaukee and Denver. Tom Cardella, who was appointed president and chief executive officer of Tenth and Blake noted, "You are seeing a tremendous amount of consumers gravitating to craft beer.... Consumers are being more discerning about beer."

Perhaps it was because of the poor economy that so many investors have been turning to beer to alleviate their woes. The upside is that Molson Coors Brewing (TAP) had a strong second quarter.

The brewer announced that net income increased to $1.27 per share or $237.2 million during the most recent second quarter compared to $1.01 per share or $187.3 million during the same quarter a year ago. Adjusting the results for special charges, TAP earned $1.25 per share, compared to $1.11 per share last year.

As for net sales, TAP earned $883 million in the second quarter compared to $799 million last year. Not only were the results better than those from a year ago, but the brewery also topped the Street's expectations for earnings of $1.18 per share and revenue of $867 million. Although earnings were better, the brewer noted that worldwide beer sales were 0.7% lower. This drop in volume was attributed mainly to the economic issues in the U.S.

The 4th of July just wouldn't be the same without picnics and other celebrations with family and friends. We all love to get together, watch fireworks and eat a lot of good food.

In fact, Independence Day is one of the biggest days of the year for the beer, soft drink and snack food industries.

In the business world, there's rarely a thing as growing too big. But unfortunately for Sam Adams brewer Boston Beer (SAM), the price of success could be higher costs and the loss of its label as an "artisan" craft beer.

That's not to say a cold bottle of Sam Adams Summer Ale will taste any different to consumers. But according to the Brewers Association, "artisan" brewers include small outfits that put out less than two million barrels of suds a year. That means the brewer that almost single-handedly sparked interest in smaller batch brews with more flavor could be pushed into the same category as the big beer vendors like Anheuser Buch Inbev (BUD) and Molson Coors (TAP).

If you're a stock trader, then this post is not for you because these stock picks are long-term bets for people looking to beat the traders using the best time-tested strategies. We have been in a very volatile market as of late. It has knocked down many quality companies creating opportunities.

Today I ran a stock screen using six value metrics to find big companies with low stock prices. I found a few dozen, but selected the household names.

Tuesday's good economic news on consumer spending followed good news on housing prices, and a majority of earnings reports beat consensus estimates. Nevertheless, it was not enough to sustain world stock markets from racking up sizable losses as economic news about Greek debt being downgraded to junk statues made us all tremble in crises proportions as the possibility of default looms.

The Greek government has finally asked that the European Union help by releasing funds committed just recently in a $45 billion Euro package. The EU, sending shivers around the globe, is balking until they see evidence that Greece has passed meaningful debt reduction legislation. In the mean time, Greek bonds have surged to 24%. This does not surprise me having recently questioned why anyone would buy Greek bonds at market rates given so many better alternatives.

Though by some estimates, consumer spending has topped its 2008 peak (really!) there is no denying that many businesses are still offering rock-bottom prices to lure shoppers out of their shells. You can now add convenience store chain 7-Eleven to the list.

The company just announced that it will be offering a lower-priced private label beer in an effort to connect with Americans looking for a cold brew this summer. The label is called "Game Day," and will be produced by City Brewing of Wisconsin -- a facility that joined up with Boston Beer (SAM) in 2007 to craft its flagship Sam Adams lager.

Although many stocks are at or near 52-week highs and the bargains are getting harder to come by, they still can be found with only a modest amount of effort. One such opportunity may be Molson Coors Brewing Company (TAP).

The closing price for the stock on Tuesday April 6 was $42.89. The 52-week high of $51.33 was reached mid October 2009 -- six months ago. At a time when many stocks are at or near their 52-weeks highs, TAP is trading at a 20% discount.