Post-dot-com bubble playbook suggests these two sectors could thrive during a market downturn

Trump tariffs, an escalating trade war, and the related concerns of a recession before the end of this year have hurt US stocks rather significantly since the start of 2025.

At writing, the benchmark S&P 500 index is down some 17% versus its year-to-date high.

However, famed investor Jim Cramer continues to expect some sectors to hold up well amidst the current market downturn.

He recommends following the post dot-com bubble playbook, which suggests the following two sectors could help investors remain in the green despite ongoing headwinds.

Healthcare

Jim Cramer recommends sticking with reliable healthcare stocks, particularly those focused on drug distribution and insurance, amidst the current market downturn.

While the new tariff environment is expected to hurt the US pharmaceutical stocks, he continues to see some names within pharma as well-positioned to navigate the macro challenges.

Cramer’s bullish view on health-related stocks is driven from the post dot-com bubble playbook.

He’s positive as companies in this sector have a history of offering “slow and steady” growth during challenging times.

Some of the stocks within this space that he’s particularly constructive on amid the broader market weakness include UnitedHealth, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Cardinal Health.

UNH, BMY, CAH – all three of Cramer’s picks from the healthcare industry have done relatively well this year despite fears of a tariffs-driven recession in the back half of 2025.

Wall Street seems to agree with the Mad Money host on all three names as well.

The analysts’ average price target on all three currently indicates a potential upside of more than 10% from here.

Additionally, Cramer’s top healthcare stocks, UNH, BMY, and CAH, pay a dividend yield of between 1.5% and 4.5% at writing, which makes them all the more exciting to own at current levels.

Utilities

Another sector that Jim Cramer expects will do well moving forward, based on his analysis of the post dot-com bubble playbook, is “utilities”.

According to the former hedge fund manager, investors should ignore the tech sector and focus on “stocks of domestic companies with pricing and with no slackening in demand or credit risk” amid the current market downturn.

And utilities stocks are fully in line with this criteria, he argued recently on “Mad Money”.

Some of the names that he particularly likes within this sector include American Electric Power and Duke Energy.

Both of these stocks are the rate bright spots in the broader market weakness in 2025.

Both AEP and DUK are currently up well over 10% versus their respective year-to-date lows.

The famed investor also recommends buying American Electric Power and Duke Energy because they offer a healthy dividend yield of more than 3.0% at the time of writing.

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