The S&P 500 has advanced for the past three calendar years and continues to march higher in 2026, even reaching record levels. But this isn't without interruption, particularly in recent months. Investors have worried about the ongoing turmoil in Iran, higher oil prices, rising inflation in the U.S., and growing levels of spending in the artificial intelligence (AI) space. These concerns have weighed on the S&P 500 from time to time -- and could even potentially lead to longer-lasting declines.
So, what's an investor to do in such a situation? It's the perfect time to load up on dividend stocks, or companies that pay shareholders just for owning the stock. A dividend stock will offer you recurrent income regardless of the market's performance. This is great during any market environment, but it can be a real portfolio-saver during times of trouble. That's because these payments may at least partially compensate for weakness in some of your other investments. Even better, certain dividend players operate in areas -- such as healthcare -- that generate steady revenue even when times are tough.
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Which dividend stocks to choose? The perfect place to start is with the list of Dividend Kings, companies that have lifted their dividend payments for at least the past 50 consecutive years. They are committed to dividend growth and have demonstrated that they have the resources to keep these payments going. With this in mind, let's check out two dividend stocks built to hold up when markets don't.
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) is a name you might know well, particularly for certain consumer health products. The company actually exited that business a couple of years ago and shifted the focus to its pharmaceutical and medtech units. This move, putting all resources into the highest-potential areas, proved to be a wise one as we can see through recent earnings reports.