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I still think it's risky to jump in. There are a ton of unknowns still and we are just figuring out how deep this thing really ran. The Fed has done a massive bailout, lowered interest rates, flooded the markets with liquidity and a slew of other things. None of it has stopped this downward trend. They will eventually run out of bullets.
But if you get in, I'd stick with consumer staples that aren't likely to get whacked in the market. I think Wal-Mart is going to have a huge Christmas as people will go from the big department stores to them to save a few bucks. Grab a big Pharm stock like Pfizer or Abbot that provides a nice yield. Kraft, Coca-Cola, Proctor and Gamble, Johnson and Johnson, Altria are solid picks with good yields too. They have clean balance sheets and deal in industries that likely won't be hurt by the recession.
I still am not sold on GOOG and RIMM at the moment. Advertising budgets are always first to get hit during recessions and that will hurt Google's growth. RIMM has some major competition now and their R&D spending is simply too high.
As someone else mentioned, just do it yourself. Unless someone is giving you phenomenal advice, it's not worth it. A Scottrade account is free and costs $7 for trades. Do some research, pick some stocks you are comfortable with and that will ride out this storm. As you get more accustomed to things, you can get a little riskier with your picks. Just my $0.02.
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