5 Impressive Stocks in This Difficult Market

Now that more than half the year is behind us, I thought it would be interesting to look at my top 5 performers through July 31, 2008. As dismal as the stock market has been this year, there are still some bright spots. My top five performers have all achieved double-digit positive total returns since I owned them and positive returns in 2008. Here they are with comments:

#5 - McDonald's (MCD) + 4.4% Total 2008 Return
Last November, I bought this burger maker for $57 in spite of only paying one dividend per year. I was rewarded by MCD moving to quarterly dividends and a 2008 total return of 4.4% and 13.8% since my Oct/2007 initial purchase.

#4 - Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) + 6.4% Total 2008 Return
I waited on a good entry point for JNJ for a long time. In early February of this year, a door opened and I snatched up some shares at $63. It has been well worth the wait with JNJ earning 6.4% this year and an annualized yield of 16.6% since my July/2007 purchase.