Safety is a relative concept on the stock market. Markets can and do drop quickly and without warning, and individual stocks will often fall even harder than the average during broad market slumps.

That's one reason why many investors like to have dividend stocks in their portfolios. Not only do these stocks tend to be more stable than their non-dividend-paying peers in periods of market volatility, but their steady payouts provide a buffer for your returns. You can take your dividends in cash or have them automatically reinvested so that you're picking up more shares when stock prices are down and fewer when prices are high. It's a win-win.

But which stocks should you pick when you're prioritizing low-risk investments? I'd start by considering two excellent options: Walmart (NYSE: WMT) and (NASDAQ: MSFT).

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Source Fool.com