Does Diversifying Still Protect Your Portfolio?

In the following video, Fool contributor Dan Caplinger discusses how many investors have started to question whether diversification still works as a way to protect your portfolio from downturns. Increasingly, the Dow Jones Industrials and other markets both in the U.S. and around the world have traded in lockstep, with highly correlated returns threatening the protection that diversification used to provide.

Dan notes that even though returns on various stocks have gotten a lot more highly correlated lately, some stocks move more dramatically than others in response to changing market conditions. By tapping the relative stability of lower-volatility stocks, you can get the benefits of diversification while still having exposure to potential profits from rising markets. Dan gives some good examples of such low-volatility stocks within the Dow for investors to take a look at.

Coca-Cola's wide moat has helped provide its shareholders with superior gains in the past, but does it have the price stability that conservative investors want from a stock? The soft-drink company also faces some new threats to its continued market dominance. To help you figure out how to handle Coca-Cola as an investment, The Motley Fool recently compiled a premium research report containing everything you need to know about Coca-Cola. If you own or are considering owning shares in the company, you'll want to click here now and get started!

The article Does Diversifying Still Protect Your Portfolio? originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Dan Caplinger has no position in any stocks mentioned. You can follow him on Twitter: @DanCaplinger. The Motley Fool recommends Coca-Cola, Johnson & Johnson, and Procter & Gamble and owns shares of Johnson & Johnson. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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