Fool.co.uk - Investments

There's a bit more good news around these days than there was a few months ago. The global economy is stabilising and the end of the recession is nigh. Still, I expect economic growth, when it inevitably does come, to be relatively modest. We won't recover from the Great Recession in just a couple of months or quarters.

Just take a look at the recent outlook statement from Marks & Spencer (LSE: MKS.L - news) (LSE: MKS (MKX.TO - news) )

"Whilst there is more visibility in the marketplace and consumers appear more confident, we continue to be cautious about the outlook. We expect 2010 to be a tough year and we will continue to run the business accordingly."

As if you need reminding, never before have we experienced a 'global financial crisis'. Never before have we come close to a truly global recession. There remains a huge amount of uncertainty around the economy -- some people think it will be all plain sailing from here, others think we're in for a double-dip recession.

What does all that mean for stock market investors?

Buy, Sell Or Hold Shares?

As usual, there are 3 options, buy, hold or sell.

It's clearly not rocket science. Yet many investors are trying to make the art of investing incredibly difficult and incredibly stressful. There is no doubting the month of October 2008 will go down in history as one of the most stressful investing months ever. The problem was, you never knew if the selling was ever going to end, and you never knew if your money was absolutely safe.

The early part of March 2009 wasn't much better either, with at one stage the FTSE 100 being down 22% in 2009, coming on top of 2008's awful 31% decline.

I'm Buying, And I'm Selling

Thankfully, it seems the very worst has passed, although investors should certainly not become complacent. So what should you do now?

Right now, I'm buying shares. I'm also selling. And I'm holding.

When buying, I'm increasingly looking for high-yielding, blue-chip shares. Many of these companies have not participated in the massive run-up that some of the lower-quality shares have enjoyed.

When selling, I'm taking some profits on some companies I consider to be fairly valued. With the proceeds, I'm either keeping them in cash, patiently waiting for more buying opportunities, or looking to reinvest in the aforementioned blue chips.

Buying Into The Teeth Of Recession

I'm making these investment decisions in the full knowledge that the UK is still in recession, and with the possibility it will likely be in recession for the whole of 2009 and at least the early part of 2010. Right now, the length and depth of the recession is impossible to predict for any economist, let alone a mere mortal such as myself.

The other option is to sell everything and go to cash -- at least my money would be safe there, and at least it couldn't go down in value. But compare the returns on cash versus the potential returns on stocks -- the base rate is at 0.5%, yet dividend yields on some solid FTSE 100 companies exceed 5%.

Buying Admiral Group Is A No-Brainer

Shares are risky. You can lose some of all of your investment. To compensate for that risk, you require a higher return, a fair trade-off.

How does this sound for a fair trade-off? With its share price at 1,036p, insurance company Admiral (LSE: ADM.L - news) (LSE: ADM) is one of the FTSE 100's highest yielding stocks. In fact, its prospective dividend yield is the 11th highest in the index of leading shares, ahead of such luminaries as BP (LSE: BP), British American Tobacco (LSE: BATS.L - news) (LSE: BATS) and Centrica (LSE: CNA.L - news) (LSE: CNA).

Admiral's forward dividend yield is 6%. You can keep your cash in the bank earning around 2%, or you can by shares in Admiral, earn a prospective dividend yield of 6%, and be also be exposed to the company's future growth.

Obviously there are risks. Because of its excellent record and strong future growth prospects, Admiral's forward P/E is a somewhat lofty 15. Insurance is an inherently risky and competitive industry. The dividend cover is low, and Admiral pays out almost all of its earnings in the form of dividends. Should profits fall, the dividend would come under threat.

There are always risks. In the case of Admiral, at this dividend yield, I'd suggest the risk is minimal. Remember, share-price volatility has nothing to do with risk. If the market tanked 10%, it wouldn't make Admiral a riskier investment, all things else being equal.

Hundreds Of Other Cheap Stocks

For every Admiral, there are many other cheap companies. I counted 18 companies in the FTSE 100 alone trading on forward P/E ratios of less than 10, the equivalent of a 10% earnings yield or better. Many of them also trade on dividend yields above 5%.

Not every company or every sector is a buy at the moment. For example, I'm steering clear of highly indebted companies and banks, having completely sold out of the latter sector.

The opportunity is clear. In some cases, like Admiral, the risk/reward ratio appears to be in your favour. The alternative is cash. You decide.

> Bruce Jackson does not have an interest in any of the companies mentioned in this article.