by Worried about germs on the kitchen sink and counters? One swipe with Clorox, the Chorine cleaner beloved by housewives and cleaning crews alike, will wipe away those dirty, dangerous microbes, leaving a sterile environment for cooking in safety. Are you also worried about retaining value in your investments? Clorox might just be the answer to this very different concern as well.Clorox may not be sexy or suave but it has shown it has staying power. This year the Oakland-based company has risen in its trading value by 9.3% in the stock market, surpassing by a large margin the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index, which rose by only 0.9% in the same time period. Its new-found popularity is based on its best characteristic, stability in a time when people crave predictability.Investors, burnt by the economic crisis and worried about the future financial climate have turned to the stock market’s most predictable offerings, and Clorox happens to top the list. Showing the least volatility of any other stock, its price varies little from day-to-day. The volatility rating of the company that makes the famous bleach and its sister products is 12.5 according to data provided by Bloomberg, the on-line business magazine. This is lower than any other stock on either the S&P 500 or the broader Russell 3000 index.In comparison, if you average the volatility rating of all the stocks on the S&P 500, the measure you get is 32.2. Now compare Clorox with the market’s most volatile stock, Eastman Kodak, whose rating comes in at 76.5, and you see how safe you can really feel with Clorox, not just as a way to sterilize your kitchen, but as a way to keep your money safe, too.
