Bill Spetrino, editor of the Newsmax newsletter "The Dividend Machine," offered a couple stock picks to Newsmax TV — Apple and tobacco goliath Philip Morris.

Apple has soared 8.9 percent over the past two days to $118.90. "I have a buying price up to $120," Spetrino told Newsmax TV's "MidPoint" show.

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As for Philip Morris, Spetrino, author of "The Great American Dividend Machine: How an Outsider Became the Undisputed Champ of Wall Street," likes its 4.92 percent dividend.

"There have been currency headwinds, but tobacco is something that is a great hedge against the dollar. Everybody wants to hedge the dollar with coal. Philip Morris will more than beat that," he said.

Multinational companies are suffering from the dollar's strength.

As for how to invest in stocks, "it's kind of like flying in a plane," Spetrino said. "You have to find the right person you can trust. You can feel comfortable with somebody that actually knows how to invest."

And saving is a key element of any investment strategy, he said. "My mentor taught me to save 10 percent of my income, and then I started doing 20 percent," Spetrino said.

"I sold my BMW and then bought a beater car and invested $9,000 in the stock market. My first check was $43, and my dad said 'What are you going to do, buy a happy meal with that?' I kept at it and it became $100, $200 and $500."

Once you buy a stock, there are no more expenses, Spetrino noted. "Whereas if you buy a property, you have the interest, you have the upkeep, and you have renters who don't pay you."

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