Stocks that tend to do well when most of the
market is performing poorly and that do poorly when the market is performing well. A key to finding contramarket stocks, in addition to regular
due diligence like surveying past performance, is finding companies that might
profit when people either do not have
money or think that they do not. For example,
budget retailers and fast food restaurants tend to be stable and even experience some
earnings growth. Likewise they may not do as well during economic expansion because more consumers seek
luxury products.