It's not easy to gain on the worst day for stocks in years when 98% of S&P 500 stocks fell. But a few did.
S&P 500 investors piled into just five stocks in the S&P 500, including discount retailer TJX, and financials like Assurant and Progressive, pointing to an emerging playbook by investors. And that's on a day the S&P 500 dropped 164.17 points, or 4%, to 3,923.68. That's the S&P 500's largest one day point and percentage drop since June 11, 2020, says Dow Jones. All 30 Dow Jones Industrial Average stocks fell on the day.
Investors lost more than $1.7 trillion in just one day, says Wilshire Associates. They haven't lost that much, that fast in 23 months. For the year, investors are down more than $10 trillion.
If recession gets more likely, as some think, defensive stocks with more stable businesses may prove to be more resilient. The S&P 500 is now down 18.2% from its high, getting closer to a 20% bear market.
And that's important now to more investors. Wells Fargo on Wednesday declared a recession is now its probable assumption. "Based on economic data trends we have been tracking, we believe the economy is now beginning to cross over a probability level that makes a mild recession our base case for the end of 2022 and early 2023," said a Wells Fargo report. "And we are continuing to shift our equity sector guidance and allocations to more defensive positioning."
S&P 500 Winners
It's clear investors think shoppers might be looking to save some money amid inflation. TJX, the purveyor of off-price goods, shot up 7.1% on Wednesday to 60.19. Analysts are bullish on the stock, thinking it'll be worth 75.10 a share in 12 months. And the company is expected to put up more than 11% earnings growth this year.
Also winning today are financial firms like stable cashflow. Take Assurant for instance. The company provides many types of insurance for consumer purchases like mobile electronics. Shares jumped more than 1.3%, which is a downright rally when everything else is falling. The company is expected to make $12.77 a share in 2022, up more than 35% from the previous year.
And then there's rock-solid Progressive. Shares of the home and auto insurer finished up 0.6% to 111.90 a share. Its profit is seen jumping more than 26% this year.
Looks like stable is a good thing now.
Only S&P 500 Stocks Up During May 18's Sell-Off
| Company Name | Symbol | Day % stock ch. | Sector |
|---|---|---|---|
| TJX | 7.1% | Consumer Discretionary | |
| Assurant | 1.3% | Financials | |
| Progressive | 0.6% | Financials | |
| Electronic Arts | 0.4% | Communication Services | |
| EPAM Systems | 0.1% | Information Technology |
Sources: IBD, S&P Global Market Intelligence
