(FORTUNE Magazine) – It isn't easy to be a stockholder these days. For a while it seemed the Dow Jones industrial average was recovering from its 10% fall earlier this year, advancing from a low of 3593 in early April to 3814 in mid-June. But in a week that witnessed a fast fade on the dollar, whipping up new fears of another interest rate rise, those gains were largely wiped out. Nothing seems secure in this slippery market: not cyclical stocks, which depend on a strong economy for further earnings increases; nor technology stocks, where product delays can crimp sales. What's an investor to do? While the idea of running to a cave may sound appealing, the best advice is to invest in stocks that offer good value and steady earnings for the longer haul. If you need money between now and the end of the year, or simply find it difficult to sleep, stick with cash (see next item). But if you can wait out the turmoil, here's the strategy: Buy companies that can generate excellent earnings increases no matter what happens to the economy, inflation, or interest rates. Do not pay dearly for this assured growth because the market punishes those that promise much but fail to deliver. Can this tall order be filled? Yes. Many of America's best blue-chip stocks, companies like Wal-Mart Stores or Coca-Cola, are now bargains. These stocks fell from grace for two reasons. First, they were ignored in favor of industrial companies that would benefit most from economic recovery. Second, profit growth has been slowing as consumers resist price hikes. But at present levels, it looks as though America's favorite stocks are already discounted for that reality. Statistical research from the Leuthold Group in Minneapolis shows that the P/E multiples on high-quality stocks are surprisingly low. Leuthold takes the 90 most widely held institutional stocks, ranks them by their P/E multiples, and then divides these ''royal blues'' into three tiers. The 30 stocks with the highest P/E multiples are now trading at a median multiple of 19.2 times earnings, compared with 11.3 for the bottom group. That difference is to be expected: The stocks with high P/Es are generally those with the most robust, reliable pattern of earnings increases, hence the premium. But the difference ought to be much greater. The multiple for the top tier of best growers is 9% below the historical group average, since 1958, of 21. The P/E multiple for the low tier, on the other hand, is 38% above its historical mean. One of the best-known companies among the premier list of 30 is Coca-Cola. The stock, recently $41 a share, has gone nowhere for over two years, despite back-to-back annual earnings increases exceeding 17% in 1992 and 1993. Consequently, the P/E ratio on the stock has fallen from 32 to 23 times trailing earnings. Says Richard Cheswick of Cheswick Investment in Greenwich, Connecticut: "The stock is a significant value. I'm going with ((fellow investor)) Warren Buffett on this one." Cheswick is looking for the stock to fetch $60 in the next two years. Coke's rival PepsiCo also looks refreshingly cheap, offering better earnings potential than the market at a below-market multiple. The stock was hammered recently, falling 25%, because the company announced sluggish sales from its restaurant chains division, which includes KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut. At $31 a share, or 16 times trailing earnings, it is a bargain, says James Gipson, manager of the Clipper fund. The restaurants are the smallest third of Pepsi's business, along with soft drinks and the snack-food division. The latter, Frito-Lay, has a commanding 45% of the U.S. market in salty snacks and is expanding worldwide. Gipson thinks earnings can increase 12% per year and estimates that the value of the total company is $50 per share. Stanley Nabi, chief strategist of Bessemer Trust in New York City, likes Wal-Mart Stores. Nabi expects Wal-Mart's earnings growth rate to decline 1% per year for the next three years in light of the company's already huge size and presence in 43 states. Nonetheless, actual earnings gains from new stores in places like Mexico will still be impressive, estimated at 20% in 1994. At a recent price of $25 per share, that matches the 20 P/E multiple on 1994 earnings. Just a little over a year ago, Wal-Mart's stock was selling for $34 a share at a P/E multiple of 33. Do-it-yourselfer Home Depot could be a little Wal-Mart. Earnings growth is slowing from a steamy 40% per year to 30%. That's still a mighty pace for growth, but nonetheless the expected slowdown sent the stock tumbling from a high of $51 a share at the end of 1992 to $43 presently. "It is still a marvelous vehicle for growth and very reliable," says Cheswick, who notes that Home Depot has penetrated only 8% of the home-supplies market, which itself is growing over 10% per year. It too is selling near its growth rate on 1994 earnings estimates. Other kinds of companies fill out the reliable-growth-at-a-reasonable-price field, including Campbell Soup. Campbell has been expanding earnings 16% per year for the past five, under strong management and a reorganization plan. That rate is expected to slow to 12%, says George Jacobsen of Trevor Stewart Burton & Jacobsen in New York City, a rate he still considers impressive. Says he: "Food companies are getting a bad rap. The company generates 30% of sales overseas, and that business is growing fast."

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