Risk factors: ISA stock picks for the experienced investor

Rio Tinto  The commodities sector is a challenging place at the moment, but we believe mining giant Rio Tinto is fairly well placed to ride out the current downturn. Compared to its peers it has some of the lowest costs of production due to economies of scale. In February Rio Tinto reported an annual loss of $866m, from a profit of $6.5bn the previous year. It also announced that it would abandon its progressive dividend policy, which had seen it maintaining or increasing the dividend in recent years - it will take a more flexible approach. However, investors should acknowledg...