Summary
As the Trump administration executes its plan to impose tariffs on certain countries and specific industries and goods, financial markets have responded with volatility. Among the uncertainty, and with other factors also impacting stock indices, the S&P 500 is down 4% year to date. The longer-term impact on corporate America, consumers, and the overall economy is not yet clear. Markets have proven over time that they don’t like uncertainty. Companies reporting at the end of the current earnings cycle have had more time to assess the potential impact of tariffs, and some have added line items to account for possible related pressure on profits. As we see it, one investing strategy is to avoid the whole headwind by turning to industries that we think are relatively immune to trade-talk risk. These include groups that are more focused on domestic markets, such as certain utilities, regional banks, restaurants, retailers, and stock exchanges (which should benefit from increased trading activity). Up on the sector level, we believe that Healthcare companies are well shielded. For this week’s list, we highlight Healthcare companies that should feel little or no impact from tariffs and likely are safe havens from the potential imposition of tariffs on imports. These businesses focus primarily on the U.S. market and have solid growth profiles a
