Invest in Treasuries? These Stocks Laugh at the Idea: Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK) and More

General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

General Mills is the quieter GM. It just moves along, supplier something everyone on earth needs: food. Cereals, yogurt, baked goods and so forth. There are likely items in your home right now that are General Mills made and you don’t even know it. But did you know the firm also has a venture cap set up to get pieces of new food product firms? General Mills is savvier than most people think. The company’s shares took a dip when everyone did five years ago but began what appears to be an inexorable march to glory immediately afterward. It’s up more than 85% since early 2009 and it split 2:1 in 2010 AND it offers a dividend of 2.98%. I can’t say this often enough: have this in your portfolio. Have it as one of the pillars of your portfolio.

Dividend yield isn’t everything, of course. There are firms out there that offer a high yield as a means to entice investors into investing, knowing that the dividend can overcome significant risk objections. Those firms I’m always leery about. But the ones I listed here aren’t like those. These are good, solid stocks and just their dividends will beat the pants off treasuries. So do yourself a favor and avoid government bonds for the moment and move towards something with some real, long-term return.

Good luck!

Follow Nate on Twitter: @natewooley

More columns by Nate Wooley:

• Break Up the Banks? Not Likely to Hurt Your Portfolio
• Growing Consumer Spending and Retail Stocks
• The State of the Union and Infrastructure Stocks: Time to Make a Move

The article Invest in Treasuries? These Stocks Laugh at the Idea. originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Nate Wooley.

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