Investors have ploughed billions of dollars into the quest to send earthlings into the stars. Astronomers’ discovery that a faraway planet teems with molecules usually produced by living organisms suggests it’s time to apply a non-zero probability to an alternative scenario: one where extraterrestrials come to us. The most important question, naturally, is how to position a stock portfolio accordingly.
First: plan for uncertainty. Initial contact will inevitably cause a rush for safe haven assets. As far as gold is concerned, an extraterrestrial arrival in the near future would be inconveniently timed, since the yellow metal has already risen 25 per cent this year. Treasury bonds, a traditional refuge, lately work less well than they used to. Makers of toilet paper — Procter & Gamble and Kimberly-Clark, say — are worth considering.