I can understand why many UK share investors are suffering a crisis of confidence after the 2020 stock market crash.
On the one hand, Covid-19 cases have spiked and the economic costs of the pandemic remain difficult to pin down. Investors are right to exercise caution in such a landscape. But, on the other hand, the 2020 crash means many UK shares appear much too cheap to miss.
I haven’t stopped buying UK shares. There are plenty of stocks out there that should thrive, even in the event of a painful global economic slowdown. And a great many of these have been grossly oversold by panicked buyers. This means you and I can pick them up at dirt-cheap prices and likely make a killing once market confidence improves and they rise in price.
3 top UK shares for worried investors
I’d like to talk you through several defensive UK shares that even the most nervous of investors should think about buying right now:
- Utilities companies are some of the safest places to park your cash in times like these. Their profits remain broadly stable during economic upturns and downturns. One UK share I think’s a great buy today is FTSE 100 royalty National Grid. It has a rock-solid balance sheet that should allow it to keep raising its generous annual dividends, whatever happens to the global economy. And it remains committed to building its asset base in Britain and the US to bolster future earnings.
- Buying shares in Sylvania Platinum is a great way to hedge your bets over the timing of the economic recovery. Continued tension over the macroeconomic landscape will keep safe-haven demand for platinum group metals (PGMs) on the boil. And Sylvania can expect profits to rise during the recovery too as industrial demand for the metals improves. On top of this, precious metals prices should receive support from ultra-low interest rates. In this environment, demand for hard currencies should remain strong as inflationary fears erode confidence in paper currencies.
- Stock Spirits is another great recession-proof UK share for nervous investors to buy today. It’s not just because alcohol sales have a habit of rising, not falling, when economic downturns unfortunately occur. It’s that demand for premium spirits is ripping higher in Europe and now account for around half of the total market. And growth is particularly strong in Czechia and Poland, two of Stock Spirits’ biggest markets.
Want to make some serious cash?
So what are you waiting for? These UK shares show that there are still plenty of stocks out there that could make you lots of cash, regardless of the state of the global economy. And The Motley Fool, with its epic library of free special reports, can help you discover even more.