Ok, I admit it. Owning PFE is about as exciting as watching paint dry, and as insightful as Paris Hilton's views on world peace. Nonetheless, a 5.5% dividend and a forward p/e around 10 on the world's largest pharma company does provide a fair amount of comfort when trying to sleep at night while having as much exposure to financials as I do.

I'm also partial to the argument that large cap value plays are due for their day in the sun. I would not be surprised to see international (Asian and Middle Eastern) investors start looking at high dividend companies likes PFE as a reasonable alternative to holding US treasuries. True, they could simply drop out of anything US $-denominated, as many argue, but I personally think that over the long run there's still an international appetite for US-$ assets.

As for PFE's operational future, I concede that patent expirations are an issue, but I'm willing to bet they continue to build a pipeline (both organically and through acquisition) that leverages their massive development and distribution capabilities.

No short term double here, but I do think PFE can provide 12% annual returns (including the dividend) over the next 3 to 5 years. Other positions in my portfolio will serve as larger alpha-seekers, while PFE provides the ballast.