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Defensives

Demand that does not care about the cycle: staples, household products, tobacco, regulated utilities, waste, telecom, and needs-based healthcare. The basket to watch when breadth narrows and the tape gets defensive.

30 stocks · FW 3000 universeEqual-weighted · monthly rebalance2026-10-16 · close
1 day+1.2%basket return
20 days+3.9%basket return
20 days vs FW 3000+4.4%relative return
Year to date+7.9%basket return

Performance

Follow the theme against the wider market.

Period
-7.7%-4.1%-0.6%+3.0%+6.6%2026-07-232026-10-16
DefensivesFW 3000

Series before each basket's creation date are a backtest of the membership as of creation; live tracking starts at creation.

Return1 day5 days20 days60 daysMTDYTD1 year
Basket+1.2%+4.7%+3.9%+0.5%+7.0%+7.9%+4.6%
vs FW 3000+2.5%+7.1%+4.4%-2.2%+7.2%-3.4%-8.1%

Risk statistics

Period · 1y

1y · 2025-10-16 – 2026-10-16 · 252 / 252 sessions

Sharpe ratio0.41Annualized · 0% risk-free rate
Sortino ratio0.62Annualized · 0% downside target
Historical volatility13.1%Annualized · daily log returns

Basket total returns · Annualized using 252 trading sessions · 0% risk-free rate and downside target. As of 2026-10-16 · close.

How these statistics are calculated

Risk methodology

Sharpe: average daily simple return divided by its sample standard deviation, multiplied by √252. The risk-free rate is assumed to be 0%; this is not a cash-adjusted ratio.

Sortino: average daily simple return divided by downside deviation, multiplied by √252. Downside deviation is the square root of the average squared shortfall below 0%, counting all sessions, including zeros for gains.

Historical volatility: √(252 × average squared daily log return), matching the Vol page’s realized-volatility convention. This differs from the sample standard deviation used in Sharpe.

Each period requires complete history and at least 5 sessions. MTD and YTD follow the calendar; 1y is 252 sessions. Missing data or an undefined ratio displays — with a reason. Short periods can produce unstable ratios; intraday snapshots include a partial session. History before this basket’s creation is backtested. If a new basket has no stored daily return series yet, estimates from its rounded published chart levels are marked ≈.

Full basket risk methodology →

Inside the basket · 30 stocks

Current members and the reasoning behind each inclusion. Returns are for individual holdings.

Why it’s includedAdded
CHDChurch & Dwight Co., Inc.Household staples compounder+1.4%+6.5%+10.3%+25.8%2026-06-11
PMPhilip Morris International Inc.Tobacco/nicotine pouches — pricing-power annuity+2.7%+2.0%+9.7%+31.3%2026-06-11
PGThe Procter & Gamble CompanyHousehold staples pricing power+1.4%+5.4%+8.9%+13.7%2026-06-11
BKHBlack Hills CorporationRegulated Plains utility (Black Hills)+1.0%+0.7%+8.8%+13.6%2026-06-11
MOAltria Group, Inc.Domestic tobacco — yield anchor+1.7%+4.8%+8.0%+36.6%2026-06-11
KMBKimberly-Clark CorporationTissue/personal care non-discretionary+1.4%+8.2%+7.9%+8.7%2026-06-11
CLColgate-Palmolive CompanyOral/home care staples+1.6%+6.6%+7.6%+21.3%2026-06-11
WMWaste Management, Inc.Waste collection: contractual, inflation-linked+1.2%+8.6%+7.5%+4.6%2026-06-11
SOSouthern CompanyRegulated southeast utility+2.2%+5.8%+6.6%+7.1%2026-06-11
RSGRepublic Services, Inc.Waste collection annuity+0.8%+6.8%+6.5%+10.6%2026-06-11
EDConsolidated Edison, Inc.The classic bond-proxy utility+2.2%+5.8%+6.5%+15.8%2026-06-11
KOThe Coca-Cola CompanyBeverage annuity, global distribution+2.1%+6.6%+6.4%+36.9%2026-06-11
AEPAmerican Electric Power Company, Inc.Regulated transmission utility+2.3%+3.5%+5.9%+12.8%2026-06-11
XELXcel Energy Inc.Regulated multi-state utility+1.6%+3.4%+5.5%+5.7%2026-06-11
OGEOGE Energy Corp.Regulated Oklahoma utility+1.0%+2.2%+5.4%+15.5%2026-06-11
WECWEC Energy Group, Inc.Regulated Midwest utility+2.5%+4.8%+5.4%+5.8%2026-06-11
CLXThe Clorox CompanyHousehold products+1.0%+3.9%+4.8%-10.5%2026-06-11
SYYSysco CorporationFood distribution scale+0.1%+5.2%+4.7%+14.8%2026-06-11
SCIService Corporation InternationalFuneral services (Service Corp)+0.7%+5.8%+4.6%+5.8%2026-06-11
DUKDuke Energy CorporationRegulated utility scale+2.2%+4.1%+3.4%+6.3%2026-06-11
FLOFlowers Foods, Inc.Packaged bread (Flowers Foods)-0.2%+5.2%+2.9%-40.2%2026-06-11
ABTAbbott LaboratoriesMed devices + nutrition, needs-based+0.2%+6.0%+2.8%-14.2%2026-06-11
CHEChemed CorporationHospice and plumbing services (Chemed)-0.6%+2.5%+1.6%+20.2%2026-06-11
PEPPepsiCo, Inc.Snacks + beverages diversification+2.4%+4.4%+1.3%-5.6%2026-06-11
CWSTCasella Waste Systems, Inc.Northeast waste (Casella)+1.7%+5.0%-1.2%-10.1%2026-06-11
MCDMcDonald's CorporationFranchise royalty stream; value menu in downturns+0.2%+3.3%-2.1%-18.9%2026-06-11
JNJJohnson & JohnsonDiversified healthcare, fortress rating+0.9%-2.3%-5.3%+25.5%2026-06-11
VZVerizon Communications Inc.Telecom bond proxy — dividend anchor+0.9%+7.5%-5.4%+17.3%2026-06-11
TAT&T Inc.Telecom bond proxy — subscription cash flows-0.3%+5.7%-6.7%-1.1%2026-06-11
GISGeneral Mills, Inc.Packaged food shelf staple+0.8%+4.6%-7.0%-23.8%2026-06-11

How this basket is built

Equal-weighted; monthly rebalance, buy-and-hold between rebalances; dated membership changes reset the target weights.

Tracked since 2026-06-11. Membership decisions are documented below.

Read the methodology →

Reading the returns

Basket returns include dividends. “vs FW 3000” compares the basket’s compounded growth with the benchmark’s. Green means positive; red means negative.

Cross-checked against 50/50 XLP+XLU. Daily return correlation: 0.95 across 1707 sessions. the healthcare, waste, and telecom sleeves sit outside the blend

Membership history & changes

Membership history

  • expand

    FW 3000 pass: added FLO, SCI, CWST, CHE, OGE, BKH — names outside the S&P 500 but inside our broad universe; they count only in the FW 3000 version of this basket. Effective-dated to creation so the broad backtest covers the full set. The S&P 500 basket is unchanged.

  • expand

    Widening pass: added tobacco (PM, MO), more household products (CHD, CLX), food distribution (SYY), waste (RSG), three more regulated utilities (AEP, XEL, WEC), and the telecom bond proxies (T, VZ). Reference pinned to a 50/50 XLP+XLU blend. New members are effective-dated to basket creation so the backtest and the reference correlation cover the widened set (the basket was one day old, with no meaningful live history to restate).

  • create

    Initial composition: 13 names across staples, utilities, healthcare, waste.

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