Profit from our 5 sectors

Article Excerpt

One of our key rules for successful investing is to diversify — spread your money out across most, if not all, of the five main economic sectors: Manufacturing & Industry; Resources & Commodities; Consumer; Finance; and Utilities. If you follow this rule, you improve your chances of making money over long periods, no matter what happens in the market. For example, manufacturing stocks may suffer if raw-material prices rise, but in that case your Resources stocks will gain. Rising wages can put pressure on manufacturers, but your Consumer stocks should do better as workers spend more. If borrowers can’t pay back their loans, your Finance stocks will suffer. But high default rates usually lead to lower interest rates, which push up the value of your Utilities stocks. The Resources sector is still the most cyclical of the five sectors, and the most risky. Many resource stocks have recovered from their 2009 lows, but are still well below the peaks of a few years earlier…