Profit from the hidden value of brands

Article Excerpt

One part of our three-pronged investing program is to spread your money out across the five main sectors of the economy: Manufacturing & Industry; Resources; Consumer; Finance; and Utilities. (The other two parts are to hold mostly high-quality, dividend paying stocks, and downplay stocks in the broker/public-relations limelight.) The proper proportions depend on your circumstances and risk tolerance. In general, stocks in the Resources and Manufacturing & Industry sectors expose you to above-average volatility, and stocks in the Utilities and Finance sectors entail below-average volatility. Consumer stocks usually fall in the middle. That’s because consumer firms benefit from continuous and often habitual use of their products and services, so they have much more stability in their sales and earnings, no matter what the overall economy is doing. Of course, this depends on an individual company’s situation and other factors. To further cut your risk, we focus on consumer stocks with well-established brands, such as the four food companies we analyze in this issue. The…