BusinessWeek has S&P's latest stock screen that finds 10 companies with low risk scores and strong buy recommendations from its analysts. This screen shows some very good companies with solid financials and strong dividend history.

Know Thyself

Savvy investors determine their risk tolerance before they start to invest, and then build their portfolios accordingly.

Opportunity Knocks?

By contrast, some investors may see recent market action as suggesting it's time to put new money to work. It's a risky strategy, but some investors are willing to take that risk and will not lose sleep over it.

"While painful to experience, such downturns provide better entry points for long-term investors," says Biggar. "A strategy of periodic investments at various entry points allows one to take advantage of such market disruptions."

But Biggar advises such investors to try to control the risk. He advises gravitating toward top-ranked, high-quality stocks with a "low" risk score in S&P Equity Research's Qualitative Risk Assessment (QRA).

"By definition, the low-risk QRA is only given to companies that have characteristics such as low debt-servicing profiles, minimal or no need for external financing to fund their operations, stable and diversified business lines, and strong cash flow," he says.

For this week's screen, we looked for companies ranked 5 STARS (strong buy) by S&P equity analysts, suggesting the potential for significant outperformance over the next 12 months. The also had to have a "low" Qualitative Risk Assessment score. Finally, each had to have an S&P Quality Ranking of A- or better, suggesting above-average stability of earnings and dividends over the past 10 years.

Company Ticker
Chevron CVX
Coca-Cola KO
Colgate-Palmolive CL
Cullen Frost Bankers CFR
ExxonMobil XOM
General Mills GIS
J.M. Smucker SJM
Johnson & Johnson JNJ
Procter & Gamble PG
Wal-Mart WMT

Disclosure: The Div Guy owns shares of XOM, JNJ and PG at the time of this post.