Q: Let's talk about a few stock picks. A: One of these is MasterCard (MA). Even though consumer spending has declined, the percentage of transactions completed with plastic continues to rise. For every one of these transactions, whether it involves MasterCard, Visa or American Express, they collect a toll to complete the transaction. While American Express takes on credit risk, MasterCard and Visa have no credit exposure. So even if banks restrict credit-card issuance, consumers will still use debit cards, where MasterCard and Visa are large players. We find MasterCard more attractive than Visa because of its valuation, which is about 16 times this year's profit estimate. The growth of credit- and debit-card transactions versus cash is a secular shift.

Q: What else looks attractive? A: Walters: Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) is a weak-dollar play. If the dollar weakens, agricultural commodities will do well. Since bottoming in October, the stock has been in a steady uptrend without skipping a beat.

Another of our picks is Altria [MO], which yields about 7%. Tobacco is recession-resistant, and while there is always litigation and regulatory risk surrounding tobacco stocks, we believe this only helps keep the leaders entrenched in their positions, and no one is stronger than Altria. Also, while politicians like to portray tobacco companies as public enemy No. 1 behind the banks, federal and state governments generate an average of nearly $2.50 of taxes per pack of cigarettes, so politicians would be foolish to kill the goose that lays the golden egg.

Q: One more pick, please. A: Walters: Chip maker Intel (INTC). While it barely made a bear-market low at the end of February, and therefore doesn't quite pass our basic test, the stock yields 3.55%. With cash making up 15% of its market cap, that is probably one of the safer dividends in the Standard & Poor's 500.