No one knows what the near-term future holds for stocks. What we do know is that stocks almost always hit rock bottom long before a recession lifts. For now, it makes sense to invest for hard times — which means holding a lot of cash and cash equivalents, government bonds and recession-resistant stocks like food and beverage companies, pharmaceutical and health-care firms and businesses that make consumer staples like soap and paper towels. To the extent you do any tax selling, use the proceeds to adjust your holdings. While you're at it, rebalance your portfolio to a target mix of stocks, bonds and cash (60%, 30%, 10% is an all-weather guide). By mid or late next year, though, you should be thinking about buying recovery stocks like banks, homebuilders, construction firms and heavy equipment makers — all of which stand to benefit from the incoming administration's stimulus effort, which is likely to include a large infrastructure bill.