5 Stocks You Can Trust… And 20 You Can’t

Survival of the Fittest
On Wall Street

There are lots of ways to describe the current economic environment, but the one that seems best to me is to say we are in an "ice
age" on Wall Street.

Just as slow-moving glaciers wear down hardened rock, once mighty companies have been worn down and threaten to break up completely.
Payrolls have been slashed, profits have thinned and the old ways of doing business have been washed away.

We are seeing Darwinism at work in the market right now as weak companies fall away and the strongest prosper. This “survival
of the fittest” is behind a recent spate of mergers and restructuring plans. This is why we’re seeing firms enter new ventures
to squeeze out weakened rivals or put a forgotten brand back on top of the heap.

It is a harsh environment, to be sure. But it’s certainly not the end of the world. In fact, there is a small, elite group of
companies that are showing that they not only can survive in this environment but use it as an opportunity to achieve dominance
in their industry.

Here are five stocks you can trust in 2009 no matter what the market throws your way… and 20 you can’t…

NEXT: Stock #1: Autozone (AZO)