Investors are either looking at what is going to happen with the economic stimulus package or they are still looking for solid investments, just not ones with much risk attached to them. Some investors are looking at overseas energy companies in Chile and Brazil for example as they worry about the effect that a windfall profits tax would have on domestic energy producers here in the United States. Of course many traders may want to jump on the alternative energy movement in this country and look at companies like Emerson or Constellation Energy for example.

Retail sales are lagging in comparison to previous years, but some of the numbers involved have been better then expected except for car sales. Stalwarts like Wal-Mart and Target would be sound investments right now with Target even expanding their number of stories in some areas of the country. It is the stores that sell luxury items like Bed, Bath and Beyond who have been taking such a large hit in the market. People will always need necessities, so food processing companies along with utility companies are a couple of areas that many investors are exploring in a very interesting mostly bear market. If you can’t settle on which food or utility company to buy into, maybe you should consider investing in some of these private equity and venture capital firms that invest in many food and utility companies.

If you are going to invest however, possibly a mutual fund with a well respected firm would be your best option at this point. Mutual funds help make sure your portfolio is diversified enough that in case one sector of the stock market lags that you can be saved by another that begins to grow. Mutual funds may be hard to select from as well as some people don’t really know enough about investments to say whether they would prefer an S&P Power Index Fund over a Franklin Income Fund for example.

In these cases the stock market may be too risky for you and you may just want to put your money into a guaranteed CD or into a Money Market account where it can continue to gain interest without being harmed by the ups and downs of the stock market.

The entertainment industry is taking a hit right now with investors like Carl Icahn publicly expressing how frustrated he is with the board of Lionsgate Entertainment. Consumers are still willing to shell out money to go see an inspiring film like “Slumdog Millionaire” for example so investors should not stay sour on the film industry for too long. Stocks like Viacom who own popular shows like the Daily Show with Jon Stewart should be able to say on solid ground as well.

The health care industry also has some questions that need to be answered about its future mainly dealing with new plans and regulations coming out of Washington D.C. before we will see a lot comfortable buyers of shares in those companies. With our aging population and thus the number of consumers needing health care a company like Cardinal Health Care or Kindred Healthcare may indeed be a sound investment. I would recommend to all investors though that being cautious right now is the smart thing to do.