The Old, Reliable Safe Havens
In times like these, I find myself looking at the most boring companies I can find. And I mean that as a compliment. Think about it. Do people stop buying toothpaste or washing powder because of drama at the Fed? Of course not. Companies like Procter & Gamble or PepsiCo are the dependable workhorses of a portfolio. They sell things people need, day in and day out, generating predictable cash flow that isn't dependent on the economic fad of the month.
Then you have the utilities. Companies that supply electricity and gas are, by their very nature, defensive. People pay their electricity bill before they splash out on a new gadget. Their regulated, almost monopolistic, business models provide a level of earnings predictability that becomes incredibly attractive when everything else feels chaotic. The same logic applies to major healthcare firms. We all get sick, regardless of who is running the central bank.