Market Correction in 2018? Hedge Funds Say You Should Own These 5 Stocks

Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB)

Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) has lost 10% of its value in February, opening up a buying opportunity for those who aren’t worried about the effect that the Jim Carrey boycott will have on the company and its stock (said entirely tongue-in-cheek, but then again, stranger things have happened). Carrey recently called on everyone to delete their Facebook accounts and sell off their stock, as he has, stating that the company profited from Russian interference during the 2016 Presidential elections and hasn’t done enough since to prevent it from happening again.

That niggling issue aside, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) is another stock that should do well regardless of the broader market conditions, so long as the social media giant continues to churn out impressive financial results. Investors will be closely monitoring the company’s next financial report to see what impact Facebook’s changes to its news feed have had on its user engagement. Facebook is the current darling of the hedge fund industry, with 156 funds owning the stock at the end of September, nearly 20 more than any other stock.

Barrick Gold Corp (USA) (NYSE:ABX)

When things go bad on the stock market, the opposite tends to be the case for gold, which is often turned to as the safest place to store one’s capital. That in turn also makes gold stocks a safer place to store one’s capital during times of turmoil in the world, when fire and brimstone rain down or some tweet makes everyone lose their collective shit.

Analysis by CNBC at the end of January showed that even short-term volatility like the 5-day period we just experienced resulted in notable immediate gains for safe-haven investments like gold and bonds. With cryptocurrencies like bitcoin currently going through some fire and brimstone of their own, gold may benefit doubly from volatility in other investments. Barrick Gold Corp (USA) (NYSE:ABX) is the gold stock that is the most trusted among the investors in our database, 34 of which own $709 million worth of shares of the company as of September 30.

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

No matter the state of the stock market or economy, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) is going to continue to rack up hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue. During the 2008 financial crisis, Walmart improved its revenue and earnings throughout that year and its stock gained close to 20% while the S&P 500 lost 37%. Walmart continues to make a hard push into Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)’s online turf, with a recent report stating that the company is moving to purchase a minority stake in Flipkart that would value the Indian e-commerce company at $20 billion.

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT)  is owned by 52 hedge funds in our database, which includes billionaire Ken Fisher’s $860 million stake in the company. Fisher has previously lauded Walmart for being “highly efficient and productive despite the fact that it is the globe’s largest non-governmental employer.”

Disclosure: None