defensive stock
Definition
A stock that tends to remain stable under difficult economic conditions. Defensive stocks include food, tobacco, oil, and utilities. These stocks hold up in hard times because demand does not decrease as dramatically as it may in other sectors. Defensive stocks tend to lag behind the rest of the market during economic expansion because demand does not increase as dramatically in an upswing.
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Related Terms
defensive investment strategy, cyclical stock
'defensive stock
' appears in the definitions of these terms on BusinessDictionary.com
defensive securities
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