Investing advice publications just love to make stock predictions every December for the upcoming year. Since I don’t have the time or know-how to dig deep into company financials to bring you my own best stocks for 2009, I thought I’d round up some of the many “best stocks for 2009” picks from around the Web. Put your broker on speed dial; it’s time to invest in some winners while the markets are still down.
Topping the list are a few stock picks that made their way onto multiple “best stocks of 2009″ lists. These include Altria Group, Inc. (MO), the parent of Phillip Morris, USA, which was picked by The Street.com’s Jim Cramer , and Fortune Magazine. Altria owns about half of the fairly recession safe US cigarette market and stand to benefit from legislation that, if passed, would make it virtually impossible for newcomers to enter the US tobacco market and prohibit the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from ever banning cigarettes.
Another stock on both Fortune’s list and in InvestorPlace Media’s picks is the construction firm Fluor (FLR), which stands to benefit from President-Elect Obama’s pledges to create jobs and aide state and local governments with construction projects.
Making The Motley Fool’s best stocks of 2009 list are three blue chip consumer products firms PepsiCo (PEP), YUM! Brands (YUM), and Coca-Cola (KO), all good bets for modest but reliable yields of about 3%. The Fool also recommends taking a look at ExxonMobil (XOM). With energy prices where they are now, it seems reasonable to expect a healthy increase in the next year.
Last but not least are two picks AOL Money identify as cheap stocks for 2009: Goldman Sachs (GS) and Hudson City Bancorp (HCBK). Goldman Sachs earned Warren Buffet’s confidence earlier this year, and Hudson City stood out as one of only a few banks nationwide virtually untouched by the sub prime mortgage crisis. Their strategy is, and has always been, not to make risky loans.
Do you have any stock favorites for 2009? What are they, and why do you like them?
I'm David Weliver. At 26, I had NO savings and NO financial plan. I was maxed out, stressed out, and fed up. Then, I changed. I repaid $80k of debt, tripled my income, and bought a home. I'll show you how to get similar results. 
There have been rumblings for years that blue chips would make a big run that has held them back. Given the current economy (drink) this could be the year for the S&P.
I won’t ever say one stock is the right pick, but I am long financials and energy for 2009.
I decided to explore the world of investing yesterday and finally buy my first couple shares of stock. I opened a roth IRA with tradeking a few months back, and have been putting little bits of money in. I only used a small amount of money try out the stock market, now I just sit back and see what happens. I picked up 1 share of PepsiCo(PEP) before learning it was a top pick. It’s reassuring to know that it is The fool recommends it. I also got a couple of shares of Ford Motor Co. (F) because they are cheap, only $2.11 a share. I figure that Ford is a big company and has a good chance of survivng the Economic crisis. Just my 2 cents.
-Dan Malone-
If you are planning on playing the stock market in 2009 I think the best thing you can do is to Short stocks. Everyone, that was shorting in 2008 made a fortune….Those that were long lost thier shirts…….And I think the economy will most likely get worse before it gets better.