Inflation Defenders: 3 Stocks to Protect Your Purchasing Power
Consumer prices continue to rise, creating a strain on investors. Consider these three stocks to protect your hard-earned cash.
Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A/BRK.B): The company is highly diversified and has a huge cash pile on hand.
Procter & Gamble (PG): This corporation sells products that consumers deem to be necessary in their lives.
Walmart (WMT): The retailer that consumers turn to for low prices.
Inflation is proving to be stubborn. While the inflation rate in the U.S. has come down from a peak of 9.1% in 2022 to 3.2% today, it is getting difficult to push inflation back down to the U.S. Federal Reserve’s 2% annualized target. We’ll get the official inflation reading for March when the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is released on April 10. Hopefully, the newest data will show some improvement. But that might not be the case, especially with energy prices elevated and crude oil trading above $85 a barrel.
Commodity prices have also been marching higher, with gold testing new all-time highs. And prices for shelter, i.e. rents and mortgages, remain strong too. This is all to say that the inflation fight is not over yet, which Fed officials have been telegraphing for the past few weeks. The current situation has cast doubt on the timing and number of interest rate cuts we might get this year. Currently, markets are pricing in a 52% chance that the first rate cut happens in June. A few weeks ago, the betting was that there was a 75% chance of a June rate cut.
With high consumer prices remaining an issue, we offer inflation defenders: three stocks to protect your purchasing power. Berkshire Hathaway, Procter & Gamble, and Walmart are companies largely immune to the impacts of high consumer prices, making them strong options for investors looking to safeguard their investments.
