Stocks Investors Can Cling To In a Troubled Market

An International Approach

“I think rather than just focusing in on U.S. equities, your larger opportunity set is at the global level. So if you look at global equities, we’re actually somewhat underweight in terms of where we would be in the U.S., overweight Europe, a little more neutral on Japan. Emerging market equities, which as you know have held up surprisingly well, and we think they’ll probably come under near-term pressure, but emerging market equities we think ought to turn out to be a fairly good place to be.

Jeffrey Applegate, Citi Global Wealth Mgmt. Chief Investment Officer

The Case for Altria Group

“I like Phillip Morris, Altria Group . It’s no surprise to you in this economy I think you have to go with something that really stands the test of time, and you have the spin-off that’s coming, the PMI, the Phillip Morris International, that’s slated for the next couple of months. I think either way you go, you’re going to see some nice profits factored in.”

Steve Grass, Stuart Frankel

Of course, there are different takes on any investing situation. And some are warning against small cap plays.

Going into a recession, I recommend being long the big-caps, says Karen Finerman. They’re a much more defensive place to hide than the small-caps. Here’s why - in a recession liquidity dries up - liquidity in the stock and in the financing markets, she says. It’s probably going to get a lot harder for small companies to get cash. (Read the rest of Finerman's take here).