Today was another brutal day in the markets. Bear Stearns (BSC) got sold out at a fire-sale price and effectively the common shareholders were screwed royally. An astonishing but sad story in the history of the financial markets. Now folks are trying to rat out other such companies that are in deep trouble. They killed a regional bank called National City (NCC) by over 40% today.
It seems like everywhere we look there is doom and gloom.The Feds’ actions seem useless and people are starting to talk about words like “Bank Runs”, “Depression” etc. Around the world in many countries such as India, Japan, etc. the markets crashed bigtime.
So in the midst of all this mayhem, the following question may come to mind:
Is there any place to hide in this brutal market ?
Yes. There are places to hide and take refuge until this market stabilizes.
Consumer staples stocks like food stocks tend to perform ok during such hard times since people gotta eat no matter what. I have also added a couple stocks from personal goods sector and the automobile components sector to add some diversity to the “Take-Refuge” stocks list.
The following are some stocks worth looking into. Many of them are world class companies with powerful brand names:
Note: Most of them are traded in the OTC market (Pink Sheets). So they may have thin volumes and hence liquity may become an issue in adverse market conditions.
1. Tesco – TSCDY
Country : UK
Industry: Food Retail Chain
Tesco is the Wal-Mart of UK. The stock is down over 20% YTD. Yield is about 1.66% and the company has an annual revenue of over $90B. Tesco is expanding into other countries in Europe, China, Japan and I believe coming soon in the US.
2. Koninklijke Ahold – AHONY
Country : Holland
Industry: Supermarket & Food Retail Chain
The stock is almost flat YTD. The company has over 3,400 stores in the US and Europe. One of the famous brand is the “Stop & Shop” stores.The stock has a dividend yield of 3%+.
3. Groupe Danone – GDNNY
Country : France
Industry: Food Producer
An innovative company from France. Recently BusinessWeek had an article on how they convert bacteria into $ by inventing new uses for bacteria in dairy products like yogurt. Their famous brand is the the Danone Activia yogurt. Highly popular with women.
Other stocks:
4. Adidas – ADDNY
Country : Germany
Industry: Personal Goods
Famous for shoes.
5. Puma – PMMAY
Country : Germany
Industry: Personal Goods
Famous for shoes & sport related items
6. Valeo – VLEEY
Country : France
Industry: Auto Parts supplier
The Teachers Retirement System of Texas has an investment in this company.
7. Continental – CTTAY
Country : Germany
Industry: Tires
