What Holds Up in a Down Market

How Vaccines Protect Against Omicron | The Best and Worst Presidents (According to the Stock Market)The Best and Worst Presidents (According to the Stock Market) | Created for {EMAIL} | [Web Version]( May 16, 2022 CONNECT WITH KIPLINGER  [LinkedIn]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram ]( [Youtube]( [SIGN UP]( ⋅ [WEBSITE]( [] What's in the Works [] The S&P 500 isn’t quite in bear-market territory, but it got awfully close last week – at May 12th’s close, the index was down 18.1% from its Jan. 3 high. [Deep correction]( or [bear market](, though, both are painful for investors, and in many cases, what holds up best in one typically holds up well in the other. Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist for independent research firm CFRA, this morning explored sector and sub-industry performance during the seven market selloffs of 18% or more since 1998 to see what “worked” and what didn’t. The bad news? Every sector and 99% of sub-industries were in the red on average during these periods. The good news is, some areas of the market have done a lot better than others at minimizing the pain during these sharp downturns. “The ‘defensive’ [consumer staples](, [healthcare]( and [utilities]( sectors fell the least, while the ‘cyclical’ [financials](, [industrials]( and [technology]( stocks fell the furthest,” he says. “From a sub-industry perspective, the old adage ‘when the going gets tough, the tough go eating, smoking and drinking’ comes to mind as brewers, packaged foods and tobacco groups were among the best performers. ‘Best’ is obviously a relative term, since most defensive groups didn’t rise in price, they simply fell less during market declines. This time around, the groups with static demand during good times and bad are again holding up the best. And, in case you’re curious: Stovall does list some of the best returners during these 18%-plus declines, too. Among them? Philip Morris International ([PM](), Boston Beer ([SAM](), American Water Works ([AWK](), Royal Gold ([RGLD](), Patterson Cos. ([PDCO](), Lamb Weston ([LW](), Procter & Gamble ([PG]() and Ingredion ([INGR](). Sick of Biased News Stories? Check out 1440 - the fastest way to an impartial point of view. Their team scours 100+ news sources to catch you up in a single 5 minute email. Join for free! [READ MORE]( ADVERTISEMENT [] Latest [] A new study suggests that people who have recovered from omicron-variant infections of COVID-19 received an extra boost to their immune system, but only if they had been previously vaccinated. Those who were unvaccinated and caught an omicron infection did not receive the same boost, suggesting a much shorter period of immunity to further infection. Vaccination likely enables the immune system to recognize new infections faster, helping a breakthrough infection to become like an extra dose of vaccine. 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