In this market and economy it pays (literally) to have a few moderate-risk stocks in your portfolio that also have an chance for a decent upside.

The Travelers Companies (TRV), is one, and that's why I'm reiterating my by buy rating for the company, first recommended on April 24, 2009, at a price of $39.50. If you bought TRV in April, you're up about 34%.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says that as long as we're trapped in a commoditized stock market, use the futures to go bargain-hunting.

What if individual stocks want to go up, but the market wants to go down? Don't laugh. In 1982, when The Kansas City Board of Trade started trading Value Line futures (before there were S&P futures), we used to kick around in securities classes what would happen if eventually stocks became so commoditized that individual companies couldn't be removed from the gravitational pull.

For example, we know today looks like a terrible day, with Europe down horribly and our futures real soggy. But then we look and see that J. Crew (NYSE: JCG) (Cramer's Take), one of the best retailers, is not just saying that the fall season is good; it is saying it is blowout beyond imagination. The big Dow stock 3M (NYSE: MMM) (Cramer's Take) is not just saying that things are getting better; it is showing that business is very strong. The monster insurer and fellow Dow stock Travelers (NYSE: TRV) (Cramer's Take) is boosting the dividend and showing you how a responsible financial can behave.

Last week, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) reported stellar quarterly results. Lots more third quarter reports from the big banks are due this week.

However, analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters anticipate year-over-year earnings declines from Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE: BK), BB&T Corp. (NYSE: BBT), M&T Bank Corp. (NYSE: MTB), Northern Trust Corp. (NASDAQ: NTRS), PNC Financial Services Group Inc. (NYSE: PNC), State Street Corp. (NYSE: STT), US Bancorp (NYSE: USB), and Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC).

I'm reiterating my Buy rating for The Travelers Companies (NYSE: TRV), first recommended on April 24, 2009 at a price of $39.50. If you purchased TRV at that time, you're up a decent 20%.

Simply, look for The Travelers to continue to improve underwriting results and to capitalize on the flight-to-quality in property-casualty insurance market. Further, TRV's P/E of 9 gives those who didn't purchase shares in April an opportunity to do so now at an attractive price.

After weeks of speculation - Apple! Amazon! Nike! Toyota! -- all became clear today when General Motors Corporation's (NYSE: GM) exodus from the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) made room for... Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO). While perhaps not as sexy a name as, say, Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), it does add one more tech name to the venerable 30-stock average.

Wall Street Journal Managing Editor Robert Thomson released a statement noting that CSCO made the cut "because its communications and computer-networking products are vital to an economy and culture still adapting to the Information Age -- just as automobiles were essential to America in the 20th Century." So there's the connection!

Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is recently up 67 cents to $19.88 in pre-open trading. CSCO will replace General Motors (GM) in the Dow Jones Industrial Averages -- DJIA. CSCO June option implied volatility of 36 is below its 26-week average of 47, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

Travelers (NYSE: TRV) is recently trading at $41.87 in pre-open trading, above its close of $40.66. TRV will replace Citigroup (NYSE: C) in the DJIA. TRV June and July option implied volatility of 37 is below its 26-week average of 54, according to Track Data, indicating decreasing price movement.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

Wall Street's optimism in last week's preview about the earnings of tech stocks wasn't misplaced, as there were many more positive surprises than negative ones among the stocks we looked at. This week will bring plenty more data for investors in and watchers of the sector to mull over. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T), and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT), for example, are expected by analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial to post modest earnings gains from a year ago, to $1.11 per share (on $8.1 billion in sales), $0.72 per share (on $31.3 billion in sales), and $0.47 per share (on $14.8 billion in sales) respectively. All three of these companies ended the week closer to their 52-week lows than highs, and analysts on average consider them each a buy.

Here's a look at some of the week's biggest expected earnings gainers and decliners in the sector:

• Baidu.com Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU): $1.25 per share (+44.0%) on revenues of $134.7 million (+103.2%)
• Broadcom Corp. (NASDAQ: BRCM): $0.44 per share (+38.6%) on revenues of $1.3 billion (+33.8%)
• QLogic Corp. (NASDAQ: QLGC): $0.31 per share (+29.0%) on revenues of $170.0 million (+21.2%)
• FLIR Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: FLIR): $0.32 per share (+28.1%) on revenues of $275.2 million (+44.0%)
• Juniper Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: JNPR): $0.30 per share (+26.7%) on revenues of $927.4 million (+26.2%)
• Waters Corp. (NYSE: WAT): $0.75 per share (+17.3%) on revenues of $391.6 million (+11.1%)
• Flextronics International Ltd. (NASDAQ: FLEX): $0.29 per share (+17.2%) on revenues of $8.7 billion (+57.3%)
• EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC): $0.19 per share (+10.5%) on revenues of $3.7 billion (+12.9%)

Hartford Financial (NYSE: HIG) closed at $62.06 Thursday. HIG October option implied volatility of 52 is above its 26-week average of 40 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

Travelers (NYSE: TRV), a leading property casualty insurer, closed at $44.61 Thursday. TRV October option implied volatility of 37 is above its 26-week average of 32 according to Track Data, indicating larger price movement.

Genworth Financial (NYSE: GNW) closed at $15.02 Thursday. GNW October option implied volatility of 71 is above its 26-week average of 52 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

XL Capital (NYSE: XL), provider of global reinsurance coverage, closed at $18.63 Thursday. XL October option implied volatility of 78 is above its 26-week average of 73 according to Track Data, suggesting larger movement.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com