Bahl & Gaynor's largest and oldest position is a hometown stock, household-goods giant P&G. Consensus sees P&G increasing earnings about 12% for the fiscal year ending June 2010, and sports a 3% dividend yield. Procter & Gamble has raised its payout every year for the past 52 years, McCormick notes. It will face margin pressures and tougher competition this year, but people use diapers, detergents and other P&G products every day. P&G also will be able to expand its brands, he says, noting that "the management team is superior, and they have weathered the storm well."

Nor does B&G care for mergers. "Managing a company is tough, but integrating another one is increasingly difficult. We would rather sit it out and come back after the kinks are worked out," McCormick says. The firm held shares of Rohm & Haas (ROH), for instance, when Dow Chemical (DOW) bid for it, but sold before the deal ran into trouble.

Nor does B&G care for mergers. "Managing a company is tough, but integrating another one is increasingly difficult. We would rather sit it out and come back after the kinks are worked out," McCormick says. The firm held shares of Rohm & Haas (ROH), for instance, when Dow Chemical (DOW) bid for it, but sold before the deal ran into trouble.

A more recent pick, with the latest purchases made in October 2008, is McDonald's (MCD), the world's biggest fast-food restaurant chain. It has improved its product offerings while many competitors stood still, and could gain in a recession as people trade down in their restaurant choices. Maybe a steak costs too much now, he says, but a burger and Happy Meal for the kids is a nice break. With McDonald's stock yielding 3.5% and 10-year Treasury bonds around 2.9%, "over a 10-year period, I'm willing to bet that McDonald's is going to be a superior investment," McCormick says.

The second-largest holding is Johnson & Johnson, which looks much like a health-care mutual fund without riskier biotechs and health-maintenance organizations in its portfolio, McCormick says. It isn't just a place to hide, but with the U.S.'s aging demographics and product-patent issues at companies such as Merck (MRK) and Pfizer (PFE), which Bahl & Gaynor doesn't own, J&J is a stock that will keep getting better, he predicts. A 3.2% yield doesn't hurt, either

The second-largest holding is Johnson & Johnson, which looks much like a health-care mutual fund without riskier biotechs and health-maintenance organizations in its portfolio, McCormick says. It isn't just a place to hide, but with the U.S.'s aging demographics and product-patent issues at companies such as Merck (MRK) and Pfizer (PFE), which Bahl & Gaynor doesn't own, J&J is a stock that will keep getting better, he predicts. A 3.2% yield doesn't hurt, either

The second-largest holding is Johnson & Johnson, which looks much like a health-care mutual fund without riskier biotechs and health-maintenance organizations in its portfolio, McCormick says. It isn't just a place to hide, but with the U.S.'s aging demographics and product-patent issues at companies such as Merck (MRK) and Pfizer (PFE), which Bahl & Gaynor doesn't own, J&J is a stock that will keep getting better, he predicts. A 3.2% yield doesn't hurt, either

Another health-care pick is Becton, Dickinson (BDX), which makes basic medical supplies like drug-delivery systems, syringes, and diagnostic-screening products, "the bricks-and-mortar area of the health-care industry." As such, it isn't in the cross-hairs of politicians. The stock, up 12% since Christmas -- a feat few names have managed, as markets have been dragged downward on the bad recent economic news -- has a yield of 2%.