The Best 5 PowerRatings Stocks in the S&P 500 Right Now

Stocks with high Long Term PowerRatings have been both more reliable and better performers compared to the average stock. Here are five stocks from the S&P 500 that have earned the highest Long Term PowerRatings as of today.

All the stocks in today's report have Long Term PowerRatings of 9 on a scale of 1 to 10. Our research, involving thousands and thousands of simulated stock trades between 1995 and 2007, indicated that stocks with Long Term PowerRatings of 9 were higher one year later more than 79% of the time. Compare this to the average stock, which was higher one year later less than 68% of the time.

This is the high reliability factor that we like in stocks that have high Long Term PowerRatings. It is a form of "portfolio safety net" that lets us know that whatever specific performance we get out of our high Long Term PowerRatings stocks, that performance is more likely than the average stock to result in positive returns.

In addition to reliability, though, investors want stocks that bring in above-average returns. After all, if it were not possible to beat the average stock, then active investors and long term traders would likely turn exclusively to index-tracking exchange-traded funds.

Fortunately, in addition to being more reliable for investors, our high Long Term PowerRatings stocks have tended to outperform the average stock in our historical testing. We found, for example, that stocks with Long Term PowerRatings of 9 tended to gain, on average, in excess of 18% in a year's time. The average stock, by contrast, gained 12-13% on average after one year.

These are the reasons why we encourage investors and long term traders to use our Long Term PowerRatings as they consider stocks for longer term holds. Whatever method you may have as your way of choosing stocks to invest in, our Long Term PowerRatings can help you find potentially great investments from among those that are merely potentially good.

The next time you are looking at stocks that you might invest in, try finding out their Long Term PowerRatings first and then consider only investing in those stocks on your list that have high Long Term PowerRatings, ideally ratings of 9 or 10.

And if you find out that you do not have any 9s or 10s in the stocks on your investment watch list, then consider these five stocks--all members of the S&P 500--as potential candidates for your investment portfolio. With their high Long Term PowerRatings of 9--and the fact that all five belong to industries that also have high Long Term PowerRatings--we believe any of these stocks could be the kind of investments that active investor and position traders a year from now will be glad they made.

Note also three of the five stocks below have been featured as part of our Weekly Stock Spotlight published every Wednesday. The Spotlight article for those stocks is available as a link next to the name and symbol of the stock.

Consolidated Edison (ED@ED | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating)

General Mills (GIS@GIS | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) Spotlight

Kimberly Clark (KMB@KMB | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) Spotlight

Pepsico (PEP@PEP | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) Spotlight

Procter & Gamble (PG@PG | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating)

Looking for more long-term solutions to your investing problems? Don't let the volatility of this market lead you to miss out on stocks you'll be glad to have bought a year from now. Click here to get a copy of our special, Free Report on the "5 Secrets to Successful Stock Investing," and learn what you need to know as an active investor looking to invest in companies with a history of financial strength and a track record for growth. Call us at 888-484-8220 to get your copy of the "5 Secrets to Successful Stock Investing" today.

David Penn is Senior Editor at PowerRatings.net.