# Anyone have any stocks to list that held steady through 2008-2009 financial crisis?



## jacofan (Apr 17, 2013)

*.............*

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## HaroldCrump (Jun 10, 2009)

Depends on what your goal is.
Keep in mind that WMT may have held up better than some other sectors (esp. financials), but it has significantly under-performed since then.
So, while you may have avoided the volatility of 2008/9 by holding a "safe" stock like WMT, you would have underperformed the rest of the market significantly.


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## HaroldCrump (Jun 10, 2009)

Don't park your cash in the stock of a single company.
If this is cash that you will need in the near-future, it is best left in a HISA or a GIC.
There are some MM funds/ETFs available through various brokerages that you can use as an alternative.
Don't buy stocks to park cash.


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## Jacq (Feb 8, 2014)

I agree with Harold on the not using stocks to park cash.
Eric Parnell wrote a post on S.A. though that might be helpful:
http://seekingalpha.com/article/2272803-4-dark-horse-stocks-for-the-next-bear-market


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## doctrine (Sep 30, 2011)

So, a high yield bond etf is the only thing that yields 5%. Do you think that will do well in a recession/market crash scenario? High yield is otherwise known as junk bonds for a reason. High yield also won't do well if interest rates rise, nor will longer term bond funds with higher yields. Really, I have no good news on that front. If you have an idea of which bond fund you think might work, I'm sure you'll get lots of feedback on the risks. Quality government short term is 1-2%, and even investment corporate is 2-3%.


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## Kropew (Nov 24, 2013)

Cnr


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## Jacq (Feb 8, 2014)

doctrine said:


> So, a high yield bond etf is the only thing that yields 5%. Do you think that will do well in a recession/market crash scenario? High yield is otherwise known as junk bonds for a reason. High yield also won't do well if interest rates rise, nor will longer term bond funds with higher yields. Really, I have no good news on that front. If you have an idea of which bond fund you think might work, I'm sure you'll get lots of feedback on the risks. Quality government short term is 1-2%, and even investment corporate is 2-3%.


Are you sure about the bond returns you're quoting? I have a boat load of CLF and CBO (short term corporate and gov bonds) and they're paying about 3.5-4% Maybe you're referring to longer 10+ year term bonds? 

I'm with the OP and have exceeded my goal of 12% for the year by several percentage points so it's risk off IMHO. No interest in picking up yield/pennies in front of a steamroller if that's what comes down. Seen that, not done that in the last crash and the B&H longs got slaughtered while I was 100% cash and waiting for the dust to settle. I'll do a play for a quick 5% here or there with a small position but there's slim pickings on the value side these days.


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## doctrine (Sep 30, 2011)

CLF has a yield to maturity of 1.36%. CBO has a yield to maturity of 1.86%. This is your expected return. While your current yield is higher, the difference between YTM and current yield will be reflected in capital loss over time of the same amount until you end up with average yield to maturity - this is because the bond fund bought those bonds at a premium. 

So, for CLF with a current yield of 3.63% and a yield to maturity of 1.36%, you can expect a capital loss of (3.63%) - (1.36%) = 2.27% per year over the next 2.41 years, which is the average duration. Yield of 3.6% per year offset by a capital loss of 2.27% per year.


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## gibor365 (Apr 1, 2011)

Jacq, you have to look not at trailing yield for ETF like CBO, but on YTM. If you check CBO chart , you will see that distributions are going down from year to year and price also dropping....
Junk bonds ETF have much higher yield, but as doctrine mentioned, if market crashes - not sure if they will do well ... Junk bond ETFs have about 5.5-6% trailing yield and 4.5 -5% YTM. If you decide to buy it, I'd advise to buy US ETF like HYG or JNK that have a lot of holdings, but in any case not to put more than 5% of you portfolio there...
another posibility Emerging market government bonds like PCY , YTM (as well as Yield to Worst) is above 5%


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## gibor365 (Apr 1, 2011)

jacofan said:


> I was trying to find companies (ideally dividend payers) that held pretty stable through the 2008-09 fiasco. Sorta randomly typing in symbols and looking at charts. So far really only WMT came up for me.
> 
> Anyone know of some CDN and US companies off the top of their head that were steady through this time?
> 
> ...


MCD 

but for me more important to find companies tht continue increasing their dividends despite big recession...


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## Canadian (Sep 19, 2013)

It might be important to consider, too, that a lot of the hard-hit stocks in the last recession were close to the core of the meltdown. As of right now, I can't see the next recession being caused by the exact same reasons - and therefore, it is unlikely the same stocks will be hit or survive. If you are anticipating a recession then consider potential causes, evaluate what industries/companies are most vulnerable, and prepare accordingly.


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## Jacq (Feb 8, 2014)

Thanks for explaining guys, that makes sense on the bond yields. Back to plan A - hold a healthy amount of cash.


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