7 Stocks That Can Buck This Recession

Jan 21, 2009, 6:57 am EST | By Richard Young, Editor, Intelligence Report

Stock #7: Coca-Cola (KO)

Dividend-paying big blue-chip exporters, like Coca-Cola (KO), are also one of my favorite groups right now. Nearly 30% of U.S. corporate profits come from abroad today, and as foreign contributions continue to expand, you can bet that Coca-Cola will be one of the primary beneficiaries.

The company has businesses in 200 countries, where almost 90% of their beverages are produced by local people and resources. Coca-Cola, like PepsiCo, has a vast portfolio of products — it offers more than 2,600 beverages, including juices and juice drinks, sports drinks, energy drinks, teas, coffees and water. Its familiar brands include: Sprite, Canada Dry, DASANI, Dannon, Dr. Pepper, Fanta, POWERade and Minute Maid.

Coke is an outstanding business, with one of the most valuable brands in the world. If you include dividends on Coke and on the S&P 500, Coke has kept pace with the market since year-end 1999. And in 2007, Coke was up 30% with dividends versus a return of only 5.5% on the S&P 500.

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