by Nancy Mehegan
There is something Darwinian about businesses that thrive in a recession (survival of the fittest). Some businesses earn more during a Recession, read on:
Low-Cost Retailers
Designers and producers of lower-end products see an upswing as more people jump from brand names to make their paychecks go further. People may not like discount retailers, but in a recession most people end up shopping there.
Look at this Table of stocks that have performed well:
Year
|
Walmart |
Hormel |
McDonalds |
Domino's
Pizza
|
|
| 2010: |
50 |
18 |
52 |
8 |
Aug
2012: |
72 |
28 |
72 |
35 |
Hormel is the manufacturer of the meat product called "Spam". Spam is at more dinner tables in these tough days.
Swimming harder to “stay-in-place” In a recession, simply carrying on with business as usual can be an achievement. Pharmaceuticals, healthcare companies, tax service companies, gravediggers, waste disposal companies and many others are in a category that, while not jumping ahead during a recession, can plod along while other companies suffer.
Sometimes the most boring businesses offer the most consistent and, in context, exciting return.
The Benefits Of Recession: Lean & Mean
The biggest benefit of hard times is that companies get hurt for inefficiencies that they laughed off in better times. A recession means general fat trimming for companies, from which they should emerge stronger, and that's good news for investors. One of the best signs is a company in a hard-hit industry that is expanding anyway. For example, McDonald's (NYSE:MCD) continued to grow in the 1970s downturn even though restaurants generally suffered as people cooked rather than going out to eat.
Similarly, Toyota (NYSE:TM) was opening new American plants in the 1990s downturn when the Big Three were closing theirs due to falling sales for new cars. A recession can be a blessing for investors, as it is much easier to spot a strong company without the white noise of a strong economy.
Domino’s Pizza is doing great as a company and their stock reflects that. So is Wal-Mart. the pizza overhauled its recipe, proving that change is good for business. Under the new campaign and new recipe, profit more than doubled in the fourth quarter of 2009, increasing sales for that quarter by $23.6 million.
Source: http://www.investopedia.com
Some of the unemployed outsource their job hunts to online companies like JobSerf. These companies send hundreds (or thousands) of applications for the job hunter.
