With current tough times, and maybe getting tougher with deflation as a real possibility, investors who think more defensively may see better returns with more conservative stocks, ones with dividends and solid balance sheets. Now isn't the time to be too aggressive. With that in mind, here are five stocks that made our column dedicated to conservative investors.

Avista Corp. (AVA): an energy company, engaged in the generation, transmission, and distribution of energy and energy-related businesses in the United States and Canada. The company operates through two segments, Avista Utilities and Advantage IQ.

I'm not an analyst on Wall Street, but I want to give my own personal little upgrade to The Coca-Cola Company (KO). I own the stock, so call me biased. Still, I would find it hard for investors not to see some quantity of merit in my observation.

Well, I can't really say it's my observation, because you've heard this before. In fact, you'll probably groan when I bring up the ubiquitously mentioned "great dividend yield" argument. I know, I know, and I apologize at the outset. Nevertheless, you still may want to consider Coke.

Here's a weird one. You would think, considering all the scary volatility going on in the markets right now, that a stock like Hormel Foods (HRL) would be trading higher today. Investors would theoretically want to get defensive and hedge themselves against all the bearish sentiment with an equity based on something everyone needs to do: eat!

But it's not working that way this afternoon. Hormel is down $1.19, or nearly 2.9%, to $40.59 on decent volume. Traders apparently were not impressed with the second-quarter earnings report.

Coca-Cola (KO - option chain) shares are in the green today while most other stocks are seeing red for the second consecutive session. Traders could be moving into defensive-minded stocks due to concerns that the overall market might finally have an extended slump. The thought is that companies like Coca-Cola, whose products are less cyclical, will be steady safe havens if the markets correct. Plus, the sizable dividend will provide returns even if the stock merely stalls flat.

If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months as investors scurry to defensive stocks, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on KO.

In Gordon Pape's Internet Wealth Builder, contributing analyst Tom Slee looks at "recession-resistant" global stocks. Here, he reviews Philip Morris International (NYSE: PM) and PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP).

Slee explains, "Philip Morris continues to benefit from rising tobacco consumption and 'uptrading' as people in the emerging countries switch to more expensive products.

"Almost recession proof, the international tobacco industry is prospering thanks mainly to new markets, strong cash flows, and reduced litigation.

Del Monte Foods (NYSE: DLM), a supermarket brand whose colleagues include ConAgra (NYSE: CAG) and Kraft (NYSE: KFT), was way up in afternoon trading. When a stock like Del Monte gains 9% on great volume, you know something big must have happened. Well, it was the company's fiscal Q1 results that made investors want to buy today. After checking over the news, I can honestly say that I see the market's point.

Sales increased 12% during the quarter, and earnings from continuing operations calculated out to 30 cents per share, a huge improvement over the loss observed in the comparable period. According to Earnings.com, Wall Street was only looking for a measly four pennies for the bottom line.

In a difficult economic environment, it is often wise for investors to consider stocks in more defensive and relatively recession-resistant sectors. And one such area is food and beverage stocks.

As the long-standing market maxim goes, consumers can pull back on spending for vacations, remodeling, and new cars, but they still need to eat and drink.

In that light, I turned to nine leading newsletter advisors who serve up their current favorite ideas in the food and beverage sector:

Regular readers know that my investment bias here is toward large-cap companies with demonstrated business models and a competitive advantage in established markets, preferably with a favorable, global trend as a support. And when you can combine these traits with defensive stock qualities, you're two steps ahead, which is why cereal giant Kellogg (NYSE: K) is worth a review.

The market sell-off and tumult of 2008 spared almost no stocks, and Kellogg took a beating as well, with investors driving shares down to the $35-range from $60.

It goes without saying that you'd call this a selective market: select the wrong stock, and there's a 30-40% haircut up ahead; select the correct stock, and you're positioned for the recovery with modest downside exposure. And with the aforementioned in mind, Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE: CL) is worth a review.

Just put Colgate in the category of a 'defensive stock plus.' A restructuring has left CL lean and ready to increase market share in faster-growing markets, which should drive impressive 7-10% earnings growth in F2009 and F2010, and beyond. The First Call FY 2009/FY 2010 EPS estimates for CL are $4.24 to $4.71.

Regular readers know that the investment bias here is toward large-cap companies with demonstrated business models and a competitive advantage in established markets, preferably with a favorable, global trend as a support. And with this in mind, General Mills (NYSE: GIS) is worth a review.

In general, analysts see 2009 revenue increasing 7-10%, which, under these economic conditions, is enough to warrant throwing a party. Some negative headwinds created by a relatively stronger dollar should be offset by institutional investors stocking up on defensive shares. (Those same institutional investors are gradually adding cyclical and riskier shares, hence they have to balance it out somewhat, to GIS's benefit.)

Nary a good word can be said about this market in the first week of March 2009. The U.S. economy seems set to register at least an 18-month recession, and probably a longer one. U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner went to Capitol Hill Tuesday to essentially tell the U.S. Congress more money will be needed for the banking bailout, and Fed Chair Ben Bernanke did the same to brace elected officials for more, essential help for American International Group (NYSE: AIG). As 'The Great One,' Jackie Gleason would chime, "Oh, wonderful!"

Translation: rough sledding, at best, for equities, and a defensive posture is the rule. Still, so long as one expects the U.S. economy to return to some semblance of normalcy -- and that's the view here -- there are bargains to be had for those investors who can tolerate moderate risk. And with the above in mind utility, FPL Group (NYSE: FPL) is worth a review.

Blogger Paul Kedrosky posted a fascinating Bloomberg chart showing that alcohol consumption in the U.S. has started to decline. He opines people feel so poor that they have cut back on booze -- which casts aspersions on the defensive status of booze stocks. Piqqem Sentiment on Molson (NYSE: TAP), considered the best of the brewery companies, is modestly positive with rising sentiment.

Yes, you could call this a selective market: select the wrong stock, and there's a 30-40% haircut up ahead; select the correct stock, and you're positioned for the U.S. recovery with modest downside exposure.

Hence, the premium is on defensive plays, and Walgreen (NYSE: WAG) qualifies.

Consider Walgreen 'the defensive's defensive' because not only is it in a conservative sector (drug stores), Walgreen has resisted the urge to grow by acquisition. Instead, WAG has focused on the old-fashioned method of growth by opening new stores, and other methods (large penetrations into new markets, relocating stores, expanding 24-hour service to more stores). The tactic really hasn't hurt WAG's store count, with the chain operating about 6,500 stores in the U.S. as of October 2008.

As drug store chains go, there are few better than CVS Caremark, with the chain taking the CVS name. Further, with the U.S. recession in its 15th month and shares doing their best to form a bottom, now is the time to scoop up CVS's shares, for several reasons.

First, CVS (NYSE: CVS) is a classic defensive stock. During recessions, and especially during this recession, consumers cut back spending, but they do their best to maintain essential purchases, and prescriptions are one such purchase. That bodes well for what analysts call "back store revenue" (the pharmacy).

This post is part of a special annual report -- Top Stock Picks '09 -- in which TheStockAdvisors.com asked 75 leading newsletter advisors to select their favorite investment for the new year.

"To paraphrase its marketing slogan: 'Nobody shouldn't like Sara Lee (NYSE: SLE),'" says Steve Ralston, consumer products sector expert at Zacks Investment Research.

"From the sales of staple products, consumer non-durable companies generate solid cash flow, with which management can enhance shareholder value through share repurchases and dividend increases.

"Recently restructured consumer non-durable companies are especially attractive, particularly if they are well-managed, trade at a single-digit P/E, and yield more than 4%.

"My favorite stock for 2009 is Sara Lee. Sara Lee announced a 5-year restructuring plan (the Transformation Plan) 3-1/2 years ago. The company has been right-sized, having divested unprofitable and low margin businesses.