3 Stocks to Buy if You’re Worried About a Stock Market Crash By StockNews

© Reuters. 3 Stocks to Buy if You’re Worried About a Stock Market Crash

The market has been trending downward for the past three weeks and saw big declines today. This has made many investors uneasy. While David Cohne doesn’t think a market crash will occur, he thinks investors may benefit from less risky stocks such as Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:), Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:), and W.W. Grainger, Inc. (GWW).With the market dropping for three consecutive weeks, it’s understandable that investors are starting to get nervous. Market indices dropped by over 2% at one point this afternoon due to the potential ripple effects of a default of a major Chinese real estate company. When you add in recent concerns over the passage of fiscal measures and the infrastructure bill, things certainly appear dicey.

While I don’t believe we are headed for a market crash, there’s no reason for investors to consider less risky stocks in their portfolios. I consider safe or defensive stocks to be less risky due to a number of features. The first is beta. According to Investopedia, beta is a measure of the volatility of a security or portfolio compared to the market as a whole.

So, if a stock has a beta of 1, it has the same volatility as the market. That’s why I only want to consider stocks with a beta below 1. In addition, I also want companies that have a consistent history of positive earnings growth and a Buy rating in our POWR Ratings system. Three stocks that fit the bill are Colgate-Palmolive Company (CL), Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (DGX), and W.W. Grainger, Inc. (GWW).

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