With Eircom shares falling and the banks under pressure, many investors will be a little confused about where to put their money.

ABN-Amro this week has added two second-line stocks to its list of buy recommendations. One is Viridian, which has suffered recently in line with the rest of the British electricity sector. "Fundamentals remain strong" the broker says, with demand growth of 4.4 per cent annually, the likelihood of a strong dividend yield and even the possibility of a share buy-back if price weakness continues. Now trading around €9.55 (£7.52) after touching €11.89 (£9.36) this year, the broker feels the stock is "oversold".

Its other tip is Ryanair, down from a high of €10.35 (£8.15) this year to around €9.12 (£7.18), where despite increasing competition and tight margins, ABN-Amro expects new route launches and increased capacity to drive profits growth.