Only The Strong Will Survive This Meltdown
Summary
- Here are 25 stocks that have held up during the crash.
- It's a mixed bag but there are themes to notice.
- All these stocks are on my personal watchlist.
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The table below lists the stocks on my watchlist that have bucked the recent downtrend and shown a YTD gain. (No easy feat.)
The table is sorted in order of highest to lowest YTD gain. There are other stocks that have bigger gains but they're not on my watchlist. I'll make a few observations about this list and follow with charts of 5 stocks that interest me.
Top of the list is Ball Corp. (BLL), a consumer discretionary stock that makes containers and packaging. You've probably seen or maybe even purchased Ball jars at Target (TGT), Walmart (WMT), Kohl's (KSS) or other general retail merchandisers. Why this stock is leading the pack is a little puzzling to me, and to the analyst community who seem to hate it. Maybe someone can weigh in with a comment on this?
There are other consumer stocks on the list, like Clorox (CLX), Colgate (CL), Coke (KO) and Kimberly-Clark (KMB). This makes sense because these are defensive names and they offer at least a modicum of shelter from the storm.
Big, legacy tech is well represented by names like Adobe (ADBE), Nvidia (NVDA), Intuit (INTU), Motorola (MSI), Microsoft (MSFT), and even the long-suffering HP Inc. (HPQ). Perhaps the FAANG crowd decided to switch to legacy tech names to reduce volatility while maintaining exposure to the sector?
Healthcare is represented with names like Regeneron (REGN), Gilead (GILD), and West Pharma (WST).
Financial Services are represented by names like T. Rowe Price (TROW), S&P Global (SPGI) and Moody's (MCO).
Even energy is represented with names like NextEra Energy (NEE), Eversource Energy (ES) and CMS Energy (CMS).
It's a motley crew of names, some of which make intuitive sense and others make me scratch my head. But they all share one important feature - they are up in price this year while the market is getting pounded. I think it's fertile ground for hunting.
Here are 5 sets of charts, with the top ones comparing each stock with the S&P 500 YTD, and the bottom ones showing the relative performance as a price ratio versus the S&P 500.
You can create these charts for any stock or ETF at StockRover.com
Chart 1. Ball Corp 
Chart 2. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals
Chart 3. Microsoft
Chart 4. S&P Global
Chart 5. T. Rowe Price
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This article was written by
Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it. I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.
Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.
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Comments (16)
"I like almost all of the stocks mentioned in this article as long as they are not overpriced when purchased."Thanks for the sage advice, BH, which loosely translates to:"Don't gamble; take all your savings and buy some good stock and hold it till it goes up, then sell it. If it don't go up, don't buy it."Not that you would ever sell, of course.
