Times are certainly tough. David Dreman, a leading money manager who oversees about $15 billion, said, "Between inflation and the liquidity crisis, this is one of the toughest markets I've seen."

If it's the worst he has ever seen -- considering Dreman made his name in 1980 when he said to buy stocks in the waning months of a 17-year bear market -- the markets have to be pretty bad. The pain hasn't been across the board, as you can see in the chart above. In the first half of the year, two sectors have managed to stay in positive territory.

Utilities and banks have been the traditional "widow and orphan" stocks. In the case of utilities, they are regulated, their profits are practically set by local governments, and they pay dividends. Banks, which earned top honors as the worst-performing sector in 2008, are no longer the safe havens they once were.

With utilities standing alone as the safest stocks, I'd expect to see even more money flow into the sector over the coming months. You're not going to double or triple your money in this sector overnight with utilities. But, you know you'll still have your money when you wake up.

In some cases, you'll be able to collect a big, safe and reliable dividend. In a way, utilities will pay you to wait for the markets to recover. Continue here for a list of top-yielding utility stocks.

Good investing,

Andrew Mickey
Editor, BreakAway Investor


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