The U.S. stock market has gotten off to an unsteady start this year. Outside a handful of defensive pockets, such as consumer staples and energy, most investors have felt the pressure. Elevated volatility, sharp rotations, and growing uncertainty have begun to crack overall market confidence, and that’s often when portfolio positioning starts to matter most.
Periods like this naturally force investors to ask an important question: How vulnerable am I if the market pulls back further? Whether the current environment turns into a standard correction or something more prolonged, history shows that certain sectors, ETFs, and stocks tend to hold up far better than the broader market when sentiment weakens.
