Bloodbath Monday!!!

I've never claimed to be any kind of expert on the stock market, but even a blind Buddhist monk living in a mountain cave in Tibet, 100 miles from the nearest city, let alone the nearest television, could tell you that today is going to be a bloodbath in the financial markets!

With Lehman Brothers filing for bankruptcy, the "fire sale" of Merril Lynch, and insurance giant (and DJIA component) AIG, the DJIA futures market is down nearly 350 points as I write this, and I thought the worst was over.

Last year, I lost about $6,000 in the market. I was not alone in my loss, and ever since I've been fighting my way back, $1 by $1.

Well, just over a month ago, my boss and I were talking about "The Market", and he asked my what 10 stocks would I buy right now, and what 10 I would not buy. I thought you might like to know as well, so her are "Wesley's Top Ten";

1. Unilever (UN) - current dividend 4.9%
2. Pepsico (PEP) - current dividend 2.3%
3. McDonald's (MCD) - current dividend 2.3%
4. AT&T (T) - current dividend 5.1 %
5. Bristol-Meyers (BMY) - current dividend 5.6%
6. Consolidated Edison (ED) - current dividend 5.4%
7. Dominion Resources (D) - current dividend 3.7%
8. Dow Chemical (DOW) - current dividend 4.6%
9. Toronto Dominion Bank (TD) - current dividend 4.0%
10. Heinz (HNZ) - current dividend 3.2%

All together, these ten stocks, with an average dividend yield of 4.11% should insulate you from the worst of today's disaster. The rest of my portfolio is in either cash or short term (IE 1 month) T-Bills. Some people say "WWJD?", I say "WWHGD?", and the answer is "Conservative investments with a substantial cash reserve to back up movement and get the stocks of quality companies at a bargain.

Still and all, today it's going to be an ugly bloodbath. Ugly hell! It's going to be a "Fugly bloodbath!"