Bloomberg notes that discount retail behemoth Wal-mart had been the only stock to remain in positive grounds among the the S & P 500 index constituents throughout the recession period.
From Bloomberg, ``Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is the only Standard & Poor’s 500 Index company that has rallied during the entire 22-month recession.
``The CHART OF THE DAY shows that shares of Walmart, the world’s biggest retailer, were up at the end of each week while the S&P 500 posted losses throughout most of the worst contraction since the 1930s. Walmart closed at $45.72 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading on Jan. 4, 2008, and has finished above that level every week since.
``Walmart is a great example of a recession-proof company,” said MarK Bronzo, a money manager at Security Global Investors, which oversees $21 billion in Irvington, New York. “People believe that when you go there you’re getting consumer staples or necessities, like food, at the best price available. So, in an environment where people were very conscious of what they were spending, Walmart was able to deliver.”
``Walmart, based in Bentonville, Arkansas, peaked at $62.41 on Sept. 12, 2008, three days before Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. filed for the world’s largest bankruptcy and triggered the worst stock market rout since the Great Depression."
I'd say that this is an exceptional feat, considering that 499 issues from the S & P 500 suffered losses during the crisis/recession.
Walmart's lone outperformance appear to also validate the Edwin Lefevre (Jesse Livermore) aphorism ``In a bear market all stocks go down and in a bull market they go up..I speak in a general sense. But the average man doesn't wish to be told that it is a bull or a bear market. What he desires is to be told specifically which particular stock to buy or sell."
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