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Investors head for bunkers

interns Contributor
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It is the ultimate bunker portfolio.

Amid the market tumult, a handful of stocks have seen their share prices ratchet up to record highs in recent weeks. And many of them are connected by a curious, if disconcerting, thread: Between them, they provide an investor with essentials for any respectable fallout shelter—makers of bottled water, canned goods, dehydrated broth, gas masks and auxiliary generators.

Spam, check. Hard hat, check. Record highs for the makers of such fallout-shelter mainstays, check.

A portfolio of the 18 companies that reached their peaks in the past month would be up about 24% this year, compared with the broader market’s 4.5% decline, a sign some investors may be taking the prospects of financial Armageddon more seriously than one might think.

Hormel Foods Inc., the 120-year-old producer of that dugout staple, Spam, is up 12% this year, and hit an all-time high of $43.95 in recent weeks. The company’s stable of long-life provisions, from instant packets of dehydrated broth to wrapped sausages, are critical for weathering even the most prolonged storm.

Full story: Investors Head for Bunkers – WSJ.com

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