Company executives are not sleeping through the tumult, but are figuring out practical steps to advance their businesses.

The shifty and shifting political drama of the last few weeks has sent stocks into a frenzy. Fueled by uncertainty, conjecture, and hyperbole, though, it hardly seems possible that the S&P SmallCap 600 is down a “mere” 7.3% in the last 52 weeks. It seems equally unlikely that the S&P 500 is up 5.7% in the same period. But this is the state of the markets as we head into May.

Amidst the market chaos, American business managers are going to work each day trying to navigate these uncertain times. It cannot be easy to figure out if and how much a business’s supply chain might be interrupted, or whether increases in the costs of goods will be able to be passed on to customers, or if export markets will even continue to exist for a company’s products.

And yet executives are finding pathways to success. I am frequently pleasantly surprised at the number of companies in our coverage list that deliver quarterly results better than Wall Street’s expectations.

The ability of some companies to perform well in any market or economic cycle is a key advantage of investing in individual stocks as opposed to investing in exchange traded funds or mutual funds. We buy stocks, not the market, and can take advantage of opportunities that passive investors can’t.

Many businesses will likely confront many more pain points over the next few months. However, we remain confident that the well-managed businesses of the type we favor in the newsletter will deliver above-average rates of return despite short-term challenges. Many companies with strong competitive positions, rock-solid balance sheets, and experienced management teams are now selling at attractive valuations.

Students of the market and economy know that the current uncertainty does not signal the end of capitalism, and that many American businesses will grow—and even thrive—despite the chaos. This market selloff is already bringing many of our covered stocks into focus after they have been oversold in the turmoil.

Many of our followed companies look strongly positioned to perform well no matter how trade and tariff policies work out. Others are priced for worst-case scenarios that leave plenty of room on the upside. As a result, there are a number of buy opportunities in this issue.

Our focus stock in this issue is another look at a company we have covered in the past, but that seems to be in a good place in advance of the recovery of its industry and broader markets in the coming months.

Stay the course!

• DOUG GERLACH

Subscribers can read Doug's complete commentary and the in-depth profile of our recommended small company stock in the current issue of the SmallCap Informer stock newsletter. Not a subscriber? Subscribe to the SmallCap Informer and get monthly small company stock recommendations and updated buy/sell prices for each of the 45 high-quality small company stocks currently covered in the newsletter.