Oil prices jump after Iran says critical Strait of Hormuz to remain shut
- US indices retreat despite Fed rate cut
- Will there be a Christmas rally this year?
- What are the best defensive stocks to watch if the mood turns bearish?
- For a limited time, get an InvestingPro subscription at the lowest price of the year with our extended Cyber Monday discount.
The Fed cut interest rates by 0.25% yesterday, helping US stocks rise. The FOMC also announced a Treasury bond-buying program, but Fed Chair Powell suggested it will take a lot to cut rates again, lowering the chances of another rate cut in 2026.
Investor mood took a hit after Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) reported weak Q2 results and issued cautious guidance, sending its stock down nearly 12% in after-hours trading. The lack of a rally despite the Fed’s rate cut raises doubts about year-end gains and whether a Christmas rally will happen.
In search of "Financial Fortresses" to inject security into portfolios
In this environment, adding caution to portfolios makes sense. One way to do this is by focusing on companies with the strongest financials.
Investing.com Screener offers a preconfigured search called ’Financial Fortresses’, which highlights defensive stocks with a high Piotroski F-Score, low risk, and strong cash flow.
Note that this preconfigured search is offered alongside more than 20 other thematic searches. However, some preconfigured searches, including ’Financial Fortresses’, are available only for InvestingPro subscribers with a Pro+ plan.
Specifically, the preconfigured search uses these criteria:
Currently, more than 300 US stocks meet these criteria, so we refined the search by adding two more filters:
- upside potential of over 35% according to InvestingPro Fair Value, which combines multiple valuation models.
- Potential upside of over 35% according to analysts’ average target.
With the added filters, the search now identifies just 9 opportunities:
- Are you an InvestingPro subscriber with a Pro+ plan? Click here to access this screener search
- You have a Pro plan and would like to switch to Pro+? Click here
- Not a Pro member yet? Subscribe to InvestingPro NOW!
In detail, we note that these stocks are undervalued by 35.5% to 56.5% according to InvestingPro Fair Value, while analysts assign them a bullish potential of +37.3% to +185.2%.
However, other pre-configured "Defensive" searches on the Investing.com screener may be better suited to help you cope with turbulent market conditions, such as "Defensive Value Pearls", "Regular Dividends", or "Recession-resistant Equities":
Please note that some searches are reserved for InvestingPro subscribers with a PRO+ plan.
Please keep in mind that some of these pre-configured searches are available only to InvestingPro and Pro+ subscribers.
If you’re not yet an InvestingPro subscriber and want to explore the opportunities mentioned in this article, along with access to InvestingPro tools, you can now take advantage of the 55% off Cyber Monday discount by clicking the button below.
Finally, please note that the features mentioned in this article are far from being the only InvestingPro tools useful for market success. In fact, InvestingPro offers a wide range of tools that enable investors to always know how to react in the stock market, regardless of market conditions. These include:
- AI-managed stock market strategies that are re-evaluated monthly.
- 10 years of historical financial data for thousands of global stocks.
- A database of investor, billionaire, and hedge fund positions.
- And many other tools that help tens of thousands of investors outperform the market every day!
Tens of thousands of investors are already using InvestingPro to outperform the market. Why shouldn’t you?
Disclaimer: This article is written for informational purposes only. It is not intended to encourage the purchase of assets in any way, nor does it constitute a solicitation, offer, recommendation or suggestion to invest. I would like to remind you that all assets are evaluated from multiple perspectives and are highly risky, so any investment decision and the associated risk belongs to the investor. We also do not provide any investment advisory services.