By James K. Glassman
From Kiplinger’s Personal Finance
If you have a reasonably diversified stock portfolio, it likely lost roughly 20 percent of its value during the first six months of the year. Those losses anticipate a recession—or at least a very rough patch for businesses.
There is little shelter in the stock market from recessions, but at the same time, they offer remarkable opportunities.
If you are worried about a deep and prolonged recession, consider stocks such as Merck, the pharmaceutical giant. Merck shares are actually up this year, and analysts see profits holding steady through 2023.
Another strong health care company to consider is AbbVie, whose products include Botox and Humira, the autoimmune injectable that was the top-selling drug last year after Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine. Humira’s primary patent will soon expire, and analysts foresee a decline in profits for AbbVie next year. Shares are up so far in 2022….