Regular readers of my blog know I place a premium on cash yields on my portfolio. But this emphasis on dividends has gotten me into trouble in the past. Yes, I'll say it: "My name is Davy Bui and I am a recovering yield pig."

My past experiences with stocks like American Capital (ACAS) and Penn West Energy Trust (PWE) have led me to focus more keenly on the sustainability of a dividend and not let the high yield blind me to problem areas. Also, following up on my last post on the market's prospects going forward, prudent, long-term investors may want to consider building a portfolio of reliable dividend plays to generate return if we suffer through a prolonged down or sideways market. As such, my latest screen honed on these stocks using the following criteria:

President-elect Obama takes office in less than a week’s time. While many will be watching closely to see how he handles the ongoing financial crisis, I’ll be equally interested to see how he handles a far more ominous one: our ongoing energy and infrastructure crisis.

Regular readers know I believe energy and infrastructure are inextricably combined. We need cheap energy to fuel sustained economic growth. And we need infrastructure in place to move and dispense the energy from its source to its destination. Today I’m going to give you a perfect example of how the two are intertwined, and how one can play off the other to create a positive benefit for all.

1. Obama should hold a press conference and declare the government’s commitment to saving financial institutions.
2. To prevent another AIG-style situation, the government should ensure the stability of insurance and annuities.
3. The government should issue tax credits for those buying homes and reform TARP so banks are not penalized for taking aid.
4. Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae’s bonds should be insured so the companies can function
5. Collateralized debt obligations or CDOs should be bought up to stabilize the market
6. The government should finance auto companies that file for bankruptcy.
7. China and Europe should be persuaded to cut interest rates 2%
8. Reforms should take place now, and there should not be a delay until Obama is sworn in.

Clean Energy Fuels has fallen along with the price of oil and on the fact the politicians do not seem to be jumping on the natural gas bandwagon. However, Andrew Littlefair says there is still a reason to be optimistic for the long term. Littlefair thinks the main reason Proposition 10 (which would have encouraged the further development of natural gas) was rejected in California was economic; that voters looked at their empty pocketbooks and simply felt they couldn’t afford it, not that they disliked the idea. While Cramer notes everything is down in this environment, he still thinks Clean Energy Fuels is a winner.

With the extreme market volatility that has been taking place lately, investors are looking toward high yield stocks, so they have income coming in while waiting for their stocks to appreciate. In addition, investors prefer companies with no debt for additional safety.

Combine those two features together, and look for the stocks with low P/E ratios and low PEG ratios and you get the following list: