This Strategy Outperforms In Bear Markets

When the market throws a delightful little soiree for the bears and headlines scream of doom, gloom and capital destruction, it often feels like it’s the end of it all.

But odds are the world is not going to end.

It was the same in previous bear markets.

During the 1998 Russian crisis and the collapse of Long Term Capital Management, closed-door meetings at the New York offices of the Federal Reserve were held, in which participants discussed who would pony up enough cash to save the financial system.

Warren Buffett passed. Instead, a bunch of Wall Street and a few French banks stepped up with the necessary cash.

During the Great Financial Crisis, it felt like the financial system’s implosion was always just seconds away.

In the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, the end of the world was the lead story for weeks on end.

In every case, the world survived and stocks recovered.

In each case, this was the winning investment strategy during the bear market.

If the end does come, I suspect none of us will be concerned about our stock portfolio.

I do not recall Charlton Heston asking Cornelius or Zira about the price of IBM IBM or General Motors GM in Planet of the Apes.

Rick Grimes of The Walking Dead never takes a break from killing zombies to call his broker.

If the world survives the tariff war of 2025, we might want to make some of the moves that paid off in the aftermath of prior almost-end-of-the-world events.

One of the best strategies is buying dividends and dividend growth.

Investors who bought stocks like Pfizer PFE, Altria MO and CapitalOne COF in early 2009 not only locked in high levels of income, their gains over the next decade were spectacular.

Buying high-yield stocks like Unum UNM, Tanger Outlets SKT and Marathon Petroleum MPC in the spring of 2020 has also worked out extraordinarily well for investors who allowed rational thinking to overcome fear.

Unless the world ends, this time should offer the same opportunities to lock in high yields from companies that also offer the potential for outsized long-term gains.

Shares of Pfizer have once again fallen to levels that make the stock a high-yielding opportunity for patient investors.

Pfizer has a diverse drug portfolio and is in a strong position in the vaccine markets. Going forward, they are shedding the off-patent drug business to focus on innovation and newer products.

Pfizer generates massive amounts of free cash flow, which is used to pay down debt, buy back stock and pay dividends.

The company plans to pay out 50% of cash flow as dividends so the payout should continue to grow over time.

Ford Motor F is one of the best-positioned auto companies in the current environment and should do very well as the trade war progresses towards a conclusion.

Ford continues to dominate the pickup truck market and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.

Ford intends to have a presence in the EV market but will not abandon the traditional market anytime soon. The Mustang Mach-E and Lightning F-150 electric vehicles are both selling well and attracting customers who have never considered Ford products before.

Ford has focused on reducing debt and strengthening its balance sheet over the past few years, and this strategy is working.

The company currently has over $25 billion in cash and securities on the books.

The stock is currently yielding over 7% and has excellent long-term appreciation potential from current levels.

UPS UPS shares have also fallen to the level where the dividend is attractive. At the current price, the yield is over 7%.

UPS seems like a solid bet, even with some bumps in the road ahead. They’re the big dog in package delivery, handling way more daily packages than FedEx in the US.

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Editorial content from our Expert contributors is intended to be information for the general public and not individualized investment advice. Editors/contributors are presenting their individual opinions and strategies which are neither expressly or impliedly approved or endorsed by Benzinga.

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