Way back in my college years, I was taught the theory that "consumer goods" companies do well in an economic slowdown. The logic is that people still need to buy food and personal hygiene items. The problem is that the market doesn't seem to be playing along. I just looked over the list of NYSE stocks making a new annual low and found a number of consumer-oriented stocks including The Procter & Gamble Company (PG), The Coca-Cola Company (KO), The Home Depot, Inc. (HD), and Kraft Foods Inc. (KFT). To try to get a feel for what is going on, I pulled the weekly charts for these stocks...

Chart Courtesy of Thomson Financial

Chart Courtesy of Thomson Financial

Chart Courtesy of Thomson Financial

Chart Courtesy of Thomson Financial

Of these four charts, I would have to say that HD is weakest in terms of trend. The stock struggled in the second half of last year and is now on the verge of resuming that downtrend. The other three charts aren't "pretty" but haven't yet deteriorated to the HD level. I would rate KO and PG as the "strongest" in terms of trend. KO is pulling back from its highs but seems to have support around the 50 level. Ditto for PG with support sitting near 60. While choppy, I would say that KFT has been more or less range bound.