High market volatility, record correlation and slowing economic growth are just a few of the things that makes equity investing a more challenging endeavor.
Brian Peery, a portfolio manager at Hennessy Cornerstone Growth Fund, doesn't seem too concerned about the bears' doomsday predictions. "It's not about timing the market, it's about time in the market," he said in a recent interview.
"I've never been good at picking tops or bottoms. I'm going to invest for the long term, so I want to pick high-quality companies that are going to be around in five years and make sure I'm not paying too much for them."
His message: If you can separate the individual companies and their performance from the overall economy, there are plenty of good opportunities for long-term investors, regardless of the near-term market fluctuations.
But how can you find quality companies?
Luckily, Goldman Sachs' equity strategy team, led by David Kostin, has devised a "High Quality Stock Basket" which he recommends his clients buy into. He argues that the basket of 50 stocks ranks highly when it comes to balance sheets, sales growth stability, earnings growth reliability, and ROE. (Via Business Insider).
Furthermore, these names do not often experience high short-term sell-offs. They majority of the stocks also have "high dividend yields, significant foreign sales, and premium valuations."
Interested? Business Insider pulled the top off the list that scored the highest based on the team's screening. We took the top 10 and list them in detail below.
Without further ado, these are the highest quality stocks in the world, according to Goldman Sachs. (Click here to access free, interactive tools to analyze these ideas.)
1. Ecolab
2. Cognizant Technology Solutions
3. St. Jude Medical
4. Pepsico
5. The TJX Companies
6. Southern Company
7. CH Robinson Worldwide
8. Walgreen
9. Simon Property Group
10. Coach
Interactive Chart: Press Play to compare changes in analyst ratings over the last two years for the stocks mentioned above. Analyst ratings sourced from Zacks Investment Research.
Kapitall's Rebecca Lipman does not own any of the shares mentioned above.