In Search of Almost-Safe Stocks

We can make educated guesses about which stocks are likely to provide relatively smooth sailing and limited anxiety. Dreamstime/TCABy James K. Glassman From Kiplinger’s Personal FinanceIs there really such a thing as a safe stock? When you buy a share, you own a tiny piece of a business, and any business can develop problems no one suspects. Consider Enron, a consistent money-maker in energy trading, which went from $90 a share to 26 cents in a little over a year. Or Sears, once a solid retail giant and now reduced to just a handful of stores. Eastman Kodak, Polaroid, and Blockbuster were all solid citizens that went bankrupt.