Credit Suisse (CS) spooked Wall Street on Wednesday after the Swiss bank’s largest backer said it wouldn’t provide more financial support, with the Dow falling more than 700 points at its low. The sell-off, however, made many of the Club’s holdings look more attractive, as investors got defensive and sprinted to the perceived safety of U.S. government bonds and utilities, the second best-performing S & P 500 sector Wednesday. On market days like this, one of Jim Cramer’s oft-repeated investment approaches come to mind: What do Credit Suisse’s problems — in this case, its largest backer saying it’s unable to provide any more funding — have to do with the outlook for TJX Companies (TJX)? Does it make sense for shares of the off-price retailer to fall more than 1% Wednesday? We don’t think it does, motivating us to add to our position early in Wednesday’s session . While U.S. retail sales fell month over month in February after a strong January, the year-over-year data in categories important to TJX looked solid. The parent company of T.J. Maxx and Marshalls should continue to appeal to inflation-weary shoppers looking for bargains and gain market share from full-price retail stores. Another Club stock with defensive characteristics is Procter & Gamble (PG). The consumer products giant falls into the category of “bond equivalents with upside,” according to Jim. It offers investors a relatively safe place to hide out and collect dividend payments, with the potential for its stock price to appreciate. Lower input costs as key commodities ease should help P & G’s earnings, too. PG 1Y mountain Procter & Gamble (PG) stock performance over the past year. Indeed, P & G was one of the Club’s best-performing stocks holding up in Wednesday’s ugly tape — up 1.4%, to nearly $142 per share. Health care also fits the bill. Credit Suisse’s struggles have little do with the earnings outlook for Club holdings Eli Lilly (LLY), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and Humana (HUM). The three companies have very little economic sensitivity, and our overarching reasons for owning them haven’t changed: Eli Lilly for its innovative drug pipeline, J & J for its sterling balance sheet and upcoming breakup and Humana for the growth fueled by its retooled Medicare Advantage offering. Plus, their stocks have largely been out of favor in 2023, especially the drugmakers in Eli Lilly and J & J; shares of both companies are down more than 10% year to date. All three of our health-care stocks were in the green Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks (PANW) is another investment opportunity we like here. Cybersecurity spending has proven resilient — after all, enterprises’ need to protect against bad actors doesn’t vanish because economic uncertainty is elevated. The Club boosted its position in Palo Alto on Monday, and will continue to opportunistically do so on future weakness. The stock, added to our portfolio in February, fell 0.3% on Wednesday, to under $184 per share. META 1Y mountain Meta Platforms (META) stock performance over the past 12 months. Elsewhere in tech, the belt-tightening story at Meta Platforms (META) is proceeding nicely after the social media firm announced another round of layoffs Tuesday. The company’s expense-saving actions should help its bottom line, even if the advertising environment remains tepid. Meta shares rallied into the close, climbing 1.9%, to nearly $198 apiece. Wynn Resorts (WYNN), Estee Lauder (EL) and Starbucks (SBUX) are three Club holdings whose significant China exposure have made them compelling ways to play the reopening of the world’s second-largest economy. That continues to be the case Wednesday, although the stocks of Wynn, Estee Lauder and Starbucks declined. Another story that’s unchanged Wednesday is the U.S. government’s infrastructure spending initiatives and the benefit those will provide to construction equipment maker Caterpillar (CAT). With questions about the economy circling, investors are running from cyclical sectors such as the industrials. However, the infrastructure spending in the coming years should provide support for Caterpillar’s business. That’s why we took advantage of CAT shares being down 5% at one point and bought more stock Wednesday afternoon. The Club also purchased Caterpillar stock Tuesday morning . (See here for a full list of the stocks in Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.
Bottles of Tide detergent, a Procter & Gamble product, are displayed for sale in a pharmacy on July 30, 2020 in Los Angeles, California.
Mario Tama | Getty Images
