Ted Allrich is the founder of The Online Investor and author of the just released book: Comfort Zone Investing: Build Wealth And Sleep Well At Night. In this weekly column, he'll offer advice to investors who are just getting started.

By definition, no. Stocks carry risk. If you don't want risk, put your money in treasury bills or under the mattress. But don't expect much of a return, if any. Having said that, certain stocks do have attributes that make them relatively, and I emphasize this word, relatively, safer investments than others.

First and foremost, they have solid earnings. The best ones increase earnings every year for several years, no matter what the economy does. Examples: Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO), Johnson and Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG), Colgate-Palmolive Co. (NYSE: CL). If you've watched these stocks during the last 6 months, they've gone down but nowhere near the depths of most others. They have solid earnings investors can count on. Investors pay for that.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Anchor Bancorp, TomoTherapy and Skillsoft Corp were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Keefe Bruyette initiated Anchor Bancorp (NASDAQ: ABCW) with a Market Perform rating and $18 target, as they prefer to wait for credit and capital concerns to subside.
  
• Jefferies believes TomoTherapy (NASDAQ: TOMO) should trade higher based on the company's strong new order growth and would be buyers at current levels. The firm started shares with a Buy rating and $17 target.
  
• Skillsoft (NASDAQ: SKIL) was assumed with an Outperform rating at William Blair, as they believe the NETg acquisition will drive significant operating margin improvement in the coming years.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Lehman reinstated MarkWest Energy (NYSE: MWE) with an Overweight rating.
  
• Friedman Billings initiated C.R. Bard (NYSE: BCR) with a Market Perform rating and $102 target.
  
• Wachovia initiated Cooper Industries (NYSE: CBE) and Thomas & Betts (NYSE: TNB) with Market Perform ratings.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Almost Family, Cooper Industries and Ciber were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Jefferies believes Almost Family (NASDAQ: AFAM) will likely take advantage of the significant consolidation opportunity in home nursing. The firm started shares with a Buy rating and $26 target.
  
• Kevin Dann initiated Cooper Industries (NYSE: CBE) with a Sell rating and $35 target and believes the upcoming growth deceleration in North America, Europe and Asia's developed regions could weigh on sales growth and further margin expansion.
  
• Ciber (NYSE: CBR) was assumed with a Buy rating and $9 target at Roth Capital, as they view the company as a compelling investment opportunity for value investors. The firm recommends building positions.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• BMO Capital initiated Bionovo (NASDAQ: BNVI) with a Market Perform rating.
  
• Goldman reinstated Live Nation (NYSE: LYV) with a Buy rating and $15 target.
  
• Canaccord Adams started Amalyin Pharma (NASDAQ: AMLN) with a Sell rating and $23 target.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Greenfield Online, Simpson Manufacturing and Cooper Industries were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Merriman assumed coverage of Greenfield Online (NASDAQ:SRVY) with a Buy rating. The firm's sum-of-parts valuation implies 50% upside to the stock and they believe the current valuation does not reflect the fast growing, high margin Comparison Shopping segment.
  
• CIBC initiated Simpson Manufacturing (NYSE:SSD) with a Sector Performer rating and sees near-term earnings risk given the company's exposure to the U.S. housing market.
  
• Cooper Industries (NYSE:CBE) was initiated at UBS with a Buy rating and $58 target. The firm expects Cooper to benefit from positive secular trends in energy efficiency and infrastructure investment.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Baird initiated Large/Mid-Cap Banks with an Evenweight view, starting Comerica (NYSE:CMA) and PNC Financial (NYSE:PNC) with Outperform ratings and a $50 target and $75 target, respectively.
  
• Wachovia started Henry Jack & Associates (NASDAQ:JKHY) with a Market Perform rating.