Consumer defensive companies such as Walmart, Proctor & Gamble, and Nestle provide basic goods that consumers need even during a recession. It is therefore not surprising that these companies have relatively stable revenue and profit histories and can maintain their dividends during tough economic times.


In addition, the consumer defensive group also consistently holds up well during bear markets—a feat that is only matched by a few other segments such as healthcare and utilities.


Sector performance during tough times


When investor panic sets in, stocks go down leaving few places to hide....

This month we highlight an ETF that aims to profit from the popularity of a single company—Nvidia—and a second that wants to jump aboard the artificial intelligence bandwagon.


NVIDIA YIELD SHARES PURPOSE ETF $30.82 (Neo Exchange symbol YNVD) invests in the common stock of Nvidia Corp....

Switzerland is one of the most competitive countries in the world according to the most recent annual survey published by the IMD World Competitiveness Center.


The ranking system considers 336 different data points.


Those data points are grouped into four broad overall categories: economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency, and infrastructure.


The overall objective of the ratings is to establish a country’s ability to maintain a competitive environment when measured against other countries.


Over the past five years, Switzerland’s rankings varied between the top ranking in 2021 and fourth place in 2019.


In the most recent survey, Denmark was ranked in the top position followed by Ireland....

Switzerland has a stable, export-oriented economy, which regularly ranks among the world’s most competitive. In addition, it is home to some of the top performing and best-known global companies. The Swiss economy continues to outperform the overall Euro area, aided by comparatively low inflation and interest rates, as well as by its large chemical and pharmaceutical industries, which are relatively insensitive to global business cycles.


Here is one ETF that provides exposure to leading Swiss publicly traded companies.


ISHARES MSCI SWITZERLAND ETF $47.38 (New York symbol EWL; TSI Network ETF Rating: Conservative; Market cap: $1.2 billion) tracks the performance of the largest publicly listed Swiss companies.


Healthcare companies account for 33% of the assets, while Consumer Defensive (21%), Financial Services (18%), Basic Materials (9%), and Industrials (9%) are other key segments.


The ETF holds a portfolio of 41 stocks; the top 10 holdings make up a sizeable 67% of its assets....

As their name implies, value stocks trade lower than their fundamentals would suggest. Investors perceive them as undervalued with the potential to rise. Even so, it’s best for you to zero in on the shares of quality companies with a consistent history of sales and earnings (or the ETFs that hold them)....

GLOBAL X SUPERDIVIDEND ETF $21.23 (New York symbol SDIV) invests in 100 of the highest-yielding stocks worldwide.


Stocks in the fund’s portfolio are equally weighted to reduce the risk associated with a high exposure to individual companies....

Traditionally, the price of most stocks, and the ETFs that hold them, drop in market declines. However, certain segments generally perform better than the overall market. Below, we highlight three ETFs focused on firms that produce and sell consumer staples. They should, as in past downturns, bounce back faster than most segments if the market drops.


Meanwhile, the supplement starting on page 39 provides more information on the performance of various sectors during market declines.


VANGUARD CONSUMER STAPLES ETF $200.24 (New York symbol VDC; TSINetwork ETF Rating: Aggressive; Market cap: $7.7 billion) tracks the MSCI U.S....

A: Integer Holdings Corp., $112.64, symbol ITGR on New York (Shares outstanding: 33.4 million; Market cap: $3.6 billion; Manufacturing & Industry sector; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.integer.net), is one of the world’s largest medical-device-outsource (“MDO”) manufacturers....

We first recommended Alphabet (then called Google) as a buy for aggressive investors in our August 2011 issue of Wall Street Stock Forecaster at $607 (or $15.175 adjusted for splits). Since then, the stock has gained a whopping 767.8% for our subscribers.

That success is largely due to the early effectiveness of its Internet search algorithms, which delivered more useful results to its users than competing search engines....

GARMIN LTD., $137.43, is a buy. The company (symbol GRMN on Nasdaq) makes GPS devices and software for five different markets: fitness, outdoors, auto, aviation, and marine.

In the three months ended December 30, 2023, Garmin’s overall revenue rose 13.5%, to $1.48 billion from $1.31 billion a year earlier.

Sales in the marine segment rose 14%....