There are plenty of excellent reasons to invest in dividend stocks, including the fact that only rock-solid companies can afford to sustain payout increases for a long time. When you put your money into corporations that have been paying dividends for a while, you may be investing in relatively safe and robust companies.

However, even though dividend stocks can be great to buy, they're even better when you can get them at a discount. And there's no better time to do that than when the market takes a dive. Let's look at two attractive dividend stocks that would become even more so in a bear market: Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) and Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: GILD).

Medical device specialist Abbott Laboratories is an exceptional dividend stock. The healthcare giant has raised its payouts for 52 consecutive years, a rare feat that makes it part of the exclusive Dividend Kings. Abbott's forward yield, currently 2.1%, isn't that high -- but it's still better than the S 500's current average of 1.3%.

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Source Fool.com