What's the safest investment considering we're in a recession?

Question

I thought about putting money in CD or mutual fund of some type. I'm looking for low risk and not necessarily a quick return.

Answer 1

I believe we ARE in a recession.

CD's, t-bills, utilities. These are some safe bets.

Answer 2

We most def are in a recession

I say you invest in gold,silver,copper, wheat ect. as the value of the dollar keeps going down these prices will continue to go up

Answer 3

He are not in a recession, unless you believe the Liberal media.

You can invest in CDs if you feel safe

There are many people just like you that are, or were looking to invest and those that did bought Mutual Funds and/or Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).  One purpose of mutual funds is to help investors like you, who are either just entering the investment world or who have no investing experience.  Once you feel you at least have an understanding of investments you should look into ETFs which are similar to mutual funds but are traded on the exchanges.

Mutual Fund companies as well as ETFs have an entire array of products many will fit your needs. You can go to the MSN.Money website

http://moneycentral.msn.com/home.asp  it has an entire section on mutual funds and Exchange Traded Funds.  Read about the various products and in doing so you will be getting investment ideas and at the same time educating yourself about investing.

You could also contact the funds companies for more information.  I have found that Vanguard & Fidelity can meet your needs for mutual funds.  The service and information they provide is all free and you will find it helpful.

Answer 4

we are not in a recession

A recession is 2 or more straight quarters withnegative growth.  We have not even had one.  First quarter 2008 had a positive growth of GNP.

CD is safe, but less than inflation return.

Now is a good time to buy stocks as ther prices as depressed.

Answer 5

Well Government issued T-bills and Treasury bonds are virtually risk free, there are also funds that offer the benefits of fixed income securities with diversification and a higher rate of return than government securities. Investing is for the long term, what type of investor are you? If your young it shouldn't be a problem whether the market is in a recession or not, over time your investment will grow. You just have to realize when the best time is to put your money into a fund not maximize returns. Right now the market is at 12,000 .... mabye there is an opportunity, if i were you wait until the end of this year to enter a growth fund. As of now invest into a value fund or fixed income fund.

Answer 6

It's hard to say, but it seems we are in an economic slowdown, or recession, depending on who you listen to and what data you track.

This can give us some clues historically about what the market is likely to do in the coming months and where to put your money.

The market historically goes thru bull and bear market cyles. The typical bear market(downturn), is half as long as a bull, or even shorter, typically lasting about 6 months. So, perhaps by the end of the year by historical standards.

Also, its worth noting, that the stock market and economy do not respond equally at the same time. The stock market tends to lead economic activity. In other words, it looks forward. If you look back historically at market behavior, you'll find that most bull market rallies occur in the middle or toward the last 1/3 of a recession. So when its gloom and doom and everyone thinks the market will never recover because of CURRENT circumstances in the economy, is typically when the market is looking forward a few months and starts to rally anticipation of an economic recovery.

Overall, in 3 months, I would say a new low for the year in the market is likely, but historically, I would expect a recovery in the market by years end, but the economy may still be in tough times.

Stocks that tend to do early in the beginning phases of a market recovery, or during the last 1/3 rd of a recession:

Transports, like Fed Ex and the truckers

Financial, like Goldman Sachs

Answer 7

European stocks.