Quantitative strategy guru James O’Shaughnessy says that he’s finding value in consumer staples, and that history shows the sector is actually one of the best places to look in most economic climates. “When you think about it, [it] makes a lot of sense,” O’Shaughnessy tells CNBC. “During hard economic times, people still have to eat, they still have to drink … and these are companies that are basically very wide moat companies. You know, there are probably not three guys in a garage out in Palo Alto trying to think up a new formula to beat Coke. There’s all sorts of people out there trying to beat Google.” O’Shaughnessy, who has just released an updated version of his book What Works on Wall Street, adds that his research continues to show that stocks with certain fundamental characteristics do well over the long haul. “Marrying very, very good valuation factors with momentum — that’s a great way to look for great stocks on a both short- to intermediate-term basis,” he says.