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The market (^GSPC, ^IXIC, ^DJI) outlook is uncertain, with a potentially rough earnings season ahead due to factors like tariffs, slower consumer spending, and business uncertainty.
Chris Versace, Tematica Research chief investment officer, joins Catalysts host Madison Mills to share his insights on defensive stocks to buy amid market uncertainty.
To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Catalysts here.
Talk to me about your view on the broader market now. Obviously, we're seeing a little bit of selling heading into today's trade. What are you anticipating?
You know, I don't think the next couple weeks are going to be all that good for investors. I I I hate to say that, but you know, yes, today, maybe at 4:00 p.m. we get some clarity, but then we have to wait for the response from those companies that are slapped with tariffs. I don't think we'll really start to see that picture for several days. And then companies, as they continue to, you know, roll up their books during the quiet period, they're going to have to factor all of this into their guidance for the June quarter. And expectations for the June quarter compared to the March quarter up 9% for the S&P 500 basket, pretty aggressive given, you know, slower consumer spending, high degree of business uncertainty, and tariffs. So, I I I think the March quarter earning season is going to be a little rough.
So, where can investors find safety? Can give me a couple of recession-proof stocks investors can look into.
So, one of the things that we've been doing is trying to figure out, okay, where is spending going to continue? And and you're asking really, in my view, is what are the inelastic goods and services that people are going to buy no matter what? So, when we think about that, you know, you can have certain utilities, right? Electric utilities are a great example, or they may not be exactly a utility, but think of our mobile service, right? So, an AT&T of Verizon. So, you know, you kind of put those together, you know, you could buy the XLU ETF, right, for utilities? You could talk about maybe Dominion Power, Con Ed. Those are other good plays. And again, companies like a T-Mobile, a Verizon, or an AT&T.
Should investors be staying in US stocks still?
Wow, that is a big question. You know, I I think you always kind of have to have a diversified portfolio. I I tend to prefer US listed stocks largely because of the amount of information that we can get, you know, filings with the with the SEC and the like. Sometimes you got to be a little more careful, but maybe ADRs are a good way to go or ETFs for certain country exposure.
