For many investors, the word that most appropriately describes 2026 is "uncertain." Variables include war in the Middle East and Ukraine, government trade policies, inflation and interest rates, stock market sentiment, and just about everything else.
In such an environment, many investors look for low-risk, low-volatility stocks. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to measuring a company's risk factors, but one helpful metric is "beta" – a calculation of historic volatility compared to the broad market.
