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With the economy and the stock market not doing so well lately, it may seem riskier and more difficult to know exactly where to invest your money.  You want your money to work for you, but with falling stock prices, it’s likely you’ll see your money disappear rather than gain anything.  Search for the right advice, though, and you can learn the right places to invest.

As always, it’s smart to diversify your portfolio.  Doing so will mean that you’ll take less of a hit if one company or even an entire industry drops dramatically.  The other places you’ve invested that are gaining or remaining steady can balance out your loss.  If you want significant gains, you have to be willing to take on riskier stocks that have the potential for high returns on your investment.  Use safe, steady stocks to help maintain your money and cushion losses on the risky stocks.

Safe Investments

Every money and investment website may recommend different companies to invest in right now, but most share similar ideas of which industries to seek out.  For safer stocks, smartmoney.com recommends Duke Energy and Southern Co.  The reason?  People will always need electricity.  They may cut back, but most of us can only go so far (and in some places, prices keep rising anyway).  Microsoft is highly recommended, as they have the largest presence in the computer industry.  Chances are, you use Microsoft Office more than any other software for home and office needs.  Johnson & Johnson is another safe bet, a “family company” that produces many of the consumer goods people still need no matter what shape the economy is in.

You can also stay safe by investing in mutual funds, IRAs, a 401(k), and ETFs (exchange-traded funds).  You’ll have little to no risk of losing money, but you’ll still receive the current market rate or a guaranteed high interest rate.

Mid-Range Investments

If you’re looking to sit somewhere in the middle, the health care industry can be a good bet.  Medco Health Solutions comes recommended from smartmoney.com, as well as Dentsply, a large supplier of dental equipment.  The majority of people will only risk so much of their health to save money, so any slump the health care industry experiences can be expected to turn around and simply take off when the economy pulls out of the recession.

High Risk Investments

As for high risk/high return investments, smartmoney.com specifically recommends Lowe’s, GE, and Transocean (oil).  These are companies that may be going through a very rough patch but can be expected to jump high again soon, producing a nice profit for your investment.

Of course, you can invest your money wherever you’re comfortable.  If you’ve got enough to play with and can withstand a huge loss, you can go for all high-risk companies.  If you’re just starting out, you might try your hand with safer ones first.  At any rate, if the best advice for choosing a home is location, location, location, the best advice for choosing any stock is diversify, diversify, diversify.