Wall Street says a recession is coming. One investment pro names her favorite stocks to tough it out

Published Thu, Dec 8 20227:41 PM EST

Warning signs are flashing that the global economy is headed for a recession. On Tuesday, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon said he expects the economy to fall into a recession in the coming months, while JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon warned that stubbornly high inflation could trigger a recession next year as consumer spending dries up. Other market veterans, such as Nancy Tengler, are taking a similar view. "The economy will slow into 2023. Whether we actually get a recession or not — the yield curve says yes — we are slowing," Tengler, who is CEO and chief investment officer of Laffer Tengler Investments, told CNBC " Street Signs Asia " on Tuesday. Tengler, who's been a proponent of dividend growth strategies for more than three decades, named four stocks she owns. All pay dividends and are committed to growing payouts. Her firm uses what's known as a relative dividend yield strategy to judge the value of a stock. A high relative dividend yield is a buy signal if the dividend level is expected to be sustained and increased over time. Stocks she owns Investment bank Goldman Sachs is her "favorite financial [stock] going into a slowdown." "This is a company that has a lower level of interest rate, exposure and sensitivity than the regional [banks] and other large banks. And they have got a lot of levers to pull in trading and in M & A," Tengler said. She added that Goldman has a track record of growing dividend payouts, with five-year annualized growth of nearly 25%. The bank pays a current yield of 2.6%. Goldman also fits into one of Tengler's top investment themes: old economy stocks that are embracing digital transformation. She noted that Goldman recently formed a new division — Platform Solutions — to consolidate its fintech initiatives into a single cloud-based platform. Platform Solutions will house Goldman's nascent digital corporate cash management business. The division recently acquired fintech GreenSky , and card partnerships with Apple and General Motors , according to the Wall Street Journal , which first reported the reorganization. Read more 'A gift to investors': BlackRock says it's time to rethink bonds Bank of America says 2 global chip stocks could rise by 75% on EV car sales Is Apple a stock to buy or avoid? Two asset managers face off Another old economy stock that Tengler likes is California-based self-storage firm Public Storage . The company has $900 million in cash on its balance sheet, according to Tengler, and has operating margins of above 80%. The company also raised its fourth quarter guidance on its recent third quarter earnings call, she added. Public Storage has a history of paying special dividends, Tengler noted, contributing to the stock's five-year annualized dividend growth of 21.5%. It pays a current yield of 2.7%. Within the tech space, Tengler's top picks are Microsoft and Palo Alto Networks . "Microsoft at these levels with a growing dividend is one of the many companies driving the digital revolution. Though the quarter was widely panned as demonstrative of a breakdown in cloud growth, let's take a closer look. The company beat on earnings and revenues and delivered a record third quarter driven by the continued strength of the Cloud ($23 billion in revenue up 32%) year-on-year," she said. Tengler pointed to Palo Alto's "robust" showing for the third quarter, in which it grew revenue, earnings per share and billings. She previously told CNBC that cybersecurity is a "sustainable narrative," given increasing demand in the sector.