What stocks to buy during a recession?
**Defensive Stocks**: These are companies that provide essential products or services that people continue to use even in economic downturns. Examples include utilities, healthcare, and consumer staples (like food and household products). These stocks tend to be more stable during recessions.
Stock | Implied upside from Feb. 21 close |
---|---|
Walmart Inc. (ticker: WMT) | 4.8% |
Abbott Laboratories (ABT) | 6.9% |
Synopsys Inc. (SNPS) | 6.3% |
Accenture PLC (ACN) | 3.6% |
- Seek Out Core Sector Stocks. ...
- Focus on Reliable Dividend Stocks. ...
- Consider Buying Real Estate. ...
- Purchase Precious Metal Investments. ...
- “Invest” in Yourself.
During challenging financial times, cash and liquidity is king. Having easy access to cash during a recession can help you avoid going into serious debt.
Stock | Sector | Market capitalization |
---|---|---|
Dow Inc. (DOW) | Materials | $38 billion |
American Express Co. (AXP) | Financials | $154 billion |
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) | Health care | $377 billion |
W.W. Grainger Inc. (GWW) | Industrials | $48 billion |
Most stocks and high-yield bonds tend to lose value in a recession, while lower-risk assets—such as gold and U.S. Treasuries—tend to appreciate.
Healthy large cap stocks also tend to hold up relatively well during downturns. Investing in broad funds can help reduce recession risk through diversification. Bonds and dividend stocks can provide income to cushion investors against downturns.
Generally, the industries known to fare better during recessions are those that supply the population with essentials we cannot live without that. They include utilities, health care, consumer staples, and, in some pundits' opinions, maybe even technology.
- Invest as much as you can. The easiest way to get rich during a recession is to invest as much money into the stock market as you can. ...
- Protect your income. Stable income is a key part of personal finance success, including building wealth. ...
- Cut back on expenses.
Luckily, there are some stocks that are more resilient to the negative effects of a downturn. Three stocks that outperformed the S&P 500 during the 2007-09 Great Recession were Gilead Sciences (GILD 1.02%), McDonald's (MCD 0.55%), and Walmart (WMT 1.25%).
What are the 7 stocks to buy and hold forever?
Dubbed the Magnificent Seven stocks, Apple, Microsoft, Google parent Alphabet, Amazon, Nvidia, Meta Platforms and Tesla lived up to their name in 2023 with big gains. But the start of 2024 has shown a big divergence of returns.
- Amazon. Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) is a the ideal growth stock because it's a leader in two high-growth markets: e-commerce and cloud computing. ...
- Carnival. ...
- Apple.
Company (Ticker) | Forward P/E Ratio |
---|---|
Humana (HUM) | 13.9 |
Fidelity National Information Services (FIS) | 13.4 |
Citigroup (C) | 8.0 |
Lear (LEA) | 7.7 |
Because a decline in disposable income affects prices, the prices of essentials, such as food and utilities, often stay the same. In contrast, things considered to be wants instead of needs, such as travel and entertainment, may be more likely to get cheaper.
The best recession stocks include consumer staples, utilities and healthcare companies, all of which produce goods and services that consumers can't do without, no matter how bad the economy gets.
Halliburton shares dropped an average of more than 40% in the past five recessions. And it can be worse, still. Shares of Halliburton lost more than half their value in the 2020 Covid recession. And it's a similar story with Baker Hughes, also a supplier of equipment to energy firms.
Harrison notes that building savings has been a proven strategy for the ultra-wealthy to make it through past downturns. “Many high-net-worth individuals accumulated their wealth through running a business and they are often fairly aware of the economic and business cycles,” he said.
Where is your money safest during a recession? Many investors turn to conservative asset classes such as bonds during recessionary periods. Mutual funds may also be a useful area to consider, and so may established, large-cap companies with strong balance sheets and cash flow.
During a recession, you can expect stock prices to fall across the board. This happens for a number of reasons. For one, as we mentioned before, consumer confidence plummets during economic downturns. People are less likely to spend money – which means businesses make less profit.
Cash. Cash is an important asset when it comes to a recession. After all, if you do end up in a situation where you need to pull from your assets, it helps to have a dedicated emergency fund to fall back on, especially if you experience a layoff.
Is Walmart a good stock to buy?
Walmart has 45.59% upside potential, based on the analysts' average price target. Is WMT a Buy, Sell or Hold? Walmart has a conensus rating of Strong Buy which is based on 24 buy ratings, 3 hold ratings and 0 sell ratings. The average price target for Walmart is $85.55.
Furthermore, FY25 top and bottom-line projections would represent 38% and 55% growth over the last five years respectively. Costco's growth and its international expansion in particular is very intriguing with its stock landing a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at the moment.
While people with higher incomes have an easier path to becoming a recession millionaire, Kim says even investing a little money can go a long way, because younger investors have "more time" to see their returns grow over time.
- Invest in stocks. Every investor wants to buy low and sell high. A stock market downturn during a recession might be an opportune time for bargain hunters. ...
- Invest in real estate. Real estate offers another potentially lucrative opportunity during a recession.
- Groceries. ...
- Cleaning products and sanitation services. ...
- Discount Retailers. ...
- Freight and Logistics. ...
- Baby Products And Services. ...
- DIY and Repairs. ...
- Financial Advisors and Accountants. ...
- Debt Collection.