Global Warming and Your Stock Market Strategy

How do you turn off bad news? The stern days of the bear make March 2008 stock investment tough as it is. Reports of inclement weather only add to the gloom. The winter has been severe, from China all the way to the United Kingdom. This Ground Hogg Day was not very encouraging either. Australia is yet to cool down after a torrid summer. Who knows what the monsoon clouds have in store for Asia?

Linkages between unusual weather and global warming are controversial. Experts cannot agree on the matter. What should the stock market do? The extremes of panic and inaction seem equally inappropriate. Why not hedge? Back stocks that gain no matter how quickly the ozone layer disappears or is conserved. How can that be possible?

PepsiCo Incorporated (NYSE: PEP) shows a way. The head of the business in India has said that the company will eventually save more water than it uses. It aims to hit this ambitious target by 2009. It is a staggering challenge for a company that sells so much of processed water. Investors will gain global warming or not.

There are loads of other stocks that can stand independent of global warming forecasts. These positions can be built around sheer management competence, or may be because of inherent strengths of a sector. The head of Unilever, on the same day as the PepsiCo declaration about water balance, has said that the present economic imbroglio does not concern him, because none of us can do without the brands this company sells. Buy ULVR if you believe that statement.