"They don't get much more blue-chip than General Electric (NYSE: GE)," says Nilus Mattive. I his top-notch Dividend Superstars, he takes a look at the industrial gain which offers an indicated yield of 4.4%.

"GE is the only company that has remained in the Dow Jones Industrial Average from day one, the company was founded in 1890 by none other than Thomas Alva Edison to market his various inventions.

"GE's broad diversification is both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, it affords the firm plenty of protection from a major decline in any one business.

"On the other, it has led to a very complicated enterprise with inherently limited growth prospects. Yet despite the company's size, it has still managed to increase its revenues internally by about 9% a year.

"Despite negative analyst commentary, General Electric (NYSE: GE) is one of the biggest and best blue-chip stocks," says Karim Rahemtulla. The contributing editor to The Oxford Club looks at the "global juggernaut."

"It's now more crucial than ever that your portfolio holdings are well-diversified, and GE is arguably the most diversified company in the world, with exposure to a plethora of sectors.

"Its GE's media businesses are performing well and will receive a boost from the Olympic Games this summer. And with oil prices soaring, GE's alternative energy businesses (wind turbines) are showing excellent growth and will benefit from the shift to alternative fuels and power generation.

"GE's aviation division is enjoying a boom from global growth in travel. And its medical division continues to benefit from strong growth, as the sector breaks out innovative new technology for a variety of ailments.From consumer products, to alternative energy, to aircraft engines and medical technology.

"Our portfolio has been notably light on pharmaceuticals and consumer products; we're rectifying that by buying Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)," says Gregory Dorsey in Leeb's Income Performance Letter.

"Getting a handle on exactly what the 122 year-old company markets is no easy task, given the broad scope of its product line-up. And to say that J&J has been a resounding success on the corporate
stage would be an understatement.

"Through its more than 250 operating businesses, the parent company lays claim to being, among other things: the world's premier consumer health company, the largest medical devices and diagnostics company, the third-largest biologics company and the sixth-largest pharmaceuticals company.

"While acquisitions have played an important role in making the company what it is today, J&J has also achieved these milestones through internal growth. It boasts 75 consecutive years of rising sales.

Back in April, I announced that I bought some shares of General Electric (NYSE: GE) for a trade. How has my trade been going? Pretty lousy.

I was amazed when I read a recent article by Melly Alazraki. She discussed GE's recent accomplishment (if you can call it an accomplishment) of hitting a price level not seen since May 2004. That price was $30.39. Yesterday, the intra-day low was $30.21, which was also the new 52-week low. What was the price I paid when I began my trading position? $32.09. As can be seen, I'm losing money on paper at the moment. Of course, when I bought GE at that price, I was not necessarily looking to be out of the stock the next day. I realized that it might be a few months, maybe more, before it rebounded back to perhaps $37 or $38 per share. So, my definition of trading in this case might be a little different than that of the typical trader.

However, I have to admit that, in the back of my mind, I thought the stock would have been higher by at least a couple bucks at this point. Why? Well, the dividend yield seemed too attractive to me. I mean, even now, isn't it slightly crazy that GE is yielding over 4%? How long will Wall Street allow it to exist at this level?

For 25 years, Steven Halpern, editor of TheStockAdvisors.com, has surveyed the leading financial newsletter advisors asking for their favorite stocks for the coming year. This article is one of 100+ ideas in the Best Stocks for 2008 report.

"My favorite conservative idea for 2008 is Sigma-Aldrich (NASDAQ: SIAL), one of the world's largest providers of research chemicals, reagents, chromatography products, and related products," says Kelley Wright, editor of Investment Quality Trends.

"SIAL distributes more than 100,000 chemical products for use primarily in research and development, diagnosis of disease, and as specialty chemicals for manufacturing.

"The company believes it is the leader in the worldwide market for research chemicals, estimated at about $8.75 billion, with annual revenue growth of 3%-4%. The worldwide market for fine chemicals is estimated at $50 billion, with annual growth of 2%-3%. SIAL projects that it ranks among the top ten players in the fragmented fine chemical industry.

"The company's balance sheet is relatively strong, with a total debt-to-capital ratio of 26.6% as of September 30, 2007. This should allow SIAL to make additional acquisitions and further repurchases of its common stock. SIAL has acquired 83 million (adjusted) of its common shares since November 1999.

For 25 years, Steven Halpern, editor of TheStockAdvisors.com, has surveyed the leading financial newsletter advisors asking for their favorite stocks for the coming year. This article is one of 100+ ideas in the Best Stocks for 2008 report.

"What's not to like about PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP) these days?" asks John Reese, editor of Validea, who has chosen the stock as his top conservative idea for 2008.

At Validea -- his quantitative advisor service based on following the strategies of leading market gurus such as Peter Lynch and Warren Buffett -- Reese says, "The beverage and snack giant owns several star American brands (including its famed cola, Doritos, Tropicana, Gatorade, and Quaker Oats).

"The company has a foothold in a bunch of emerging markets with booming economies, and its environmentally conscious streak earned it the No.1 ranking on the Environmental Protection Agency's 2007 corporate 'Green Partners' list.

"As if all that's not enough, the firm's exceptional fundamentals garner approval from the 'Guru Strategy' computer models that I base on the approaches of two legendary investors -- Warren Buffett and Peter Lynch.

"The companies that will fare the best when the next credit crunch hits are those that have large amounts of cash," says turnaround expert George Putnam. "With that in mind," he adds, " we looked for companies with lots of cash, little debt and good businesses in some form of a turnaround."

Here, the editor of The Turnaround Letter looks at Corning (NYSE: GLW), Motorola (NYSE: MOT), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Pfizer (NYSE: PFE).

Putnam explains, "Corning has transformed itself from a marketer of housewares into a leading provider of optical fiber as well as precision glass used in liquid-crystal displays. It also has a presence in the environmental and life sciences industries.

"In volatile times, keep it simple," instructs Richard Moroney. "For us, simple is stocks with strong fundamentals and solid growth prospects that trade at attractive valuations."

In his Dow Theory Forecasts, the advisor profiles IBM (NYSE: IBM) and PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP), each of which is involved in large share buybacks.

Moroney explains, "IBM competes in mature industries but continues to drive double-digit profit growth, developing software products and targeting fast-growing niches in the services business." In addition, he adds, IBM is expanding in such emerging markets as Brazil, China, India, and Russia.

Moroney states, "Reflecting the strength of its software and services businesses, IBM recorded 16% growth in per-share earnings for the first nine months of 2007. Services contract signings, a key indicator of IBM's future growth, jumped to $11.8 billion in the September quarter, up 12% from year-ago levels.

"Cost-cutting efforts have boosted profitability in recent quarters, a trend likely to continue. Share repurchases are also boosting results. IBM completed a $12.5 billion accelerated share-repurchase agreement in May, reducing the share count by 8%.

3M Co. (NYSE: MMM) and Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON) today reported better-than-expected third quarter results and raised their earnings guidance. But Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) disappointed Wall Street and offered a gloomy outlook for the U.S. economy. That bad news pulled down 3M and Honeywell's shares, as well as pulling down the Dow Jones Industrial Average by triple digits.

"The third-quarter earnings that are coming out are the worst but we don't see a sharp bounce-back,'' Christina Bank & Trust's Scott Arminger told Bloomberg News. "Financial earnings will be pretty mediocre for a couple of quarters going forward.''

The maker of Post-It notes and countless other products reported net income of $960 million, or $1.32 per share, compared with $894 million, or $1.18 per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 5.5% to $6.2 billion. Excluding one-time earnings, profit was $1.29 compared with $1.17 a year earlier. Analysts expected profit of $1.28 and revenue of $6.29 billion, according to Thomson Financial. 3M raised its earnings forecast to $5.54 to $5.62 for this year, compared with previous guidance of $5.40 to $5.60. It expects full year sales growth excluding the divestiture of the branded pharmaceutical business of 7% to 8%.

Honeywell's profit rose 14% to $618 million, or 81 cents per share and revenue rose 10 percent to $8.74 billion, helped by strength in its commercial aviation, defense and space markets. The results beat Wall Street consensus expectations of 82 cents on revenue of $8.59 billion.

Using a proprietary quantitative system to review 5,000 stocks based on over 100 variables, Chuck Carlson has honed in on a few "standouts" -- citing Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT), PepsicCo (NYSE: PEP) and Chevron (NYSE: CVX) as top blue chip bets for the current market environment.

The editor of The DRIP Investor explains, "Financials have had some rough sledding in recent months as a result of problems in the sub-prime market and the overall tight credit environment. Within that group, however, Morgan Stanley offers an excellent opportunity."

He notes that earnings in the latest quarter were impacted by problems in the credit markets, and the slowdown in mergers and acquisitions could adversely impact investment banking business going forward.

Nevertheless, he contends, the stock is discounting a lot of the problems in the industry. He says, "I remain a fan of these shares and recommend that investors take advantage of the price pullback to initiate positions."

Carlson adds, "One sector with several quality picks is industrials. Among the top stocks in the group, I especially like Lockheed Martin. I expect defense spending to remain at high levels, which is good news for the company's defense-related operations."

"In the current volatile market, you can't go wrong by making your portfolio more defensive," says Glenn Rogers, who notes he has been "on the hunt for stocks that are fairly bulletproof."

One such stock, according to the analyst with Internet Wealth Builder, is Diageo PLC (NYSE: DEO). He says, ""London-based Diageo is the largest international manufacturer and distributor in the beverage alcohol industry, which is virtually recession-proof."

Many of its brands, he notes, will be immediately recognizable: Smirnoff, Guinness, Johnnie Walker, Captain Morgan, Jose Cuervo, Bushmills, J&B Scotch, and our own Crown Royal. In fact, he observes, 17 of the company's brands are among the top 100 premium spirit brands in the world.

Rogers explains, "Its strategy is to drive organic growth by taking leadership positions in every category in which it competes. The company also looks to exploit opportunities for growth in such key emerging markets as China, India, Russia, and Brazil."

"Altria Group (NYSE: MO) is a company in transition, catching its breath after spinning off giant Kraft Foods, restructuring North American production facilities, and preparing to sell Philip Morris International," notes Tom Slee.

The contributing analyst with Internet Wealth Builder has reaffirmed his buy rating, noting "Analysts expect an announcement in the next month or so about the divestiture, as well as plans for a major stock repurchase program."

He adds, "Not that Altria is resting on its laurels, however. The world's largest tobacco company is test marketing a smokeless tobacco in order to combat smoking bans."

The product, he points out, called Marlboro Snus, is a small pouch of dried tobacco that users place in the mouth. Unlike chewing tobacco, however, Snus do not require spitting.

He states, "Because of the health hazards and resulting litigation, tobacco remains a controversial industry. However, if you can put that aside, the fundamentals for leading producers such as Altria remain good.

Slee adds, "While Europeans and North Americans have been abandoning the habit, it's estimated that there are now more than 300 million male smokers in China, equal to about the entire U.S. population. Whether we like smoking or not, the fact is that Altria is extremely well positioned to benefit from what remains a growth industry."

Altria, like most stocks, has taken a beating, he observes. But, he adds, "The stock is now trading at 15.9 times this year's expected earnings of $4.25 and yielding 4.1% on a $2.76 dividend. This provides the stock with downside protection."

Each day, Steven Halpern's TheStockAdvisors.com features the latest investment ideas and market commentary from the financial newsletter community.

"Although Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) has had a tremendous run, I'm still a believer," says Glenn Rogers, contributing editor to Gordon Pape's Internet Wealth Builder.

He explains, "Given the crazy markets we are experiencing, I believe Boeing has some defensive qualities that should prove helpful while we wait to see whether we have a recession on the near-term horizon.

"For some time, the upstart European consortium that produces Airbus was kicking Boeing's behind and carving deeply into the U.S. company's market share. Things looked bleak for a number of years.

"Then, someone had the bright idea to launch the 787 Dreamliner, a sleek, fuel-efficient plane that seems perfectly designed for the global warming world of the 21st century.

"Airbus, on the other hand, decided that bigger was better and placed its bets on a Superjumbo jet, the A380. It's a double-deck behemoth that can cram as many as 853 passengers into an all-economy configuration.

"The big decline in stocks begs the question, is this the beginning of a bear market?" says Chuck Carlson, the editor of The DRIP Investor. His answer: "I don't think so."

For blue chip exposure, quality management, and diversification across many industries it's hard to beat General Electric (NYSE: GE). Unfortunately, despite the fundamental accolades earned by the company, its stock has been a rather lackluster performer in recent years.

Carlson explains, "Indeed, the issue has been extremely sluggish over the last six years and trades well below its 2000 high of more than $60. Decent earnings, a massive stock buyback, and the prospects for portfolio restructurings are driving these shares.

"With an above-market yield and reasonable valuation, these shares should outperform the broad market over the next 24 to 48 months. The stock represents a quality selection among Dow stocks.

Commenting on the market's volatility, Kelley Wright says, "Damn the torpedoes and full steam ahead." He explains, "These events are what create value and have provided us with opportunity over the years to acquire outstanding companies at excellent price/yield levels. I suspect this time will be no different. Hang in there; this too shall pass."

In his Investment Quality Trends, Kelley Wright select stocks based on quality and yield. In his latest update, he says, "Whenever liquidity, the lifeblood of any market, is compromised, things can get ugly right damn skippy."

However, he remains optimistic for the long-term. He notes, "Fundamental measures of value are fundamental for a reason; they don't change with the whims of the day. The markets are a self-regulating mechanism that restores order when excess exceeds a sustainable level."

Meanwhile, he notes that he continues to recommend several blue chip equity. He says, "We have been long Barrick Gold (NYSE: ABX) in our model portfolio since 2003, when the stock traded in the high teens. We buy more every time it falls into our undervalued category, such as now. With the U.S. dollar under pressure, it makes even more sense."

The advisor also likes Automatic Data Processing (NYSE: ADP). He notes, "ADP is undervalued by our proprietary measures, has an S&P earnings and dividend quality ranking of A-plus, has had at least 10% annual dividend growth for the past 12 years and has a 55% or better return on equity."

In addition, he sees value in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL). He explains, :The stock also has a quality ranking of A-plus. It has also shown 10% annual dividend growth over the past 12 years. If things turn ugly, this stock should hold up nicely."

Each day, Steven Halpern's TheStockAdvisors.com features the latest investment ideas and market commentary from the financial newsletter community.