Winning stocks in a losing decade

Yes, the major market indexes are at their lowest levels in a dozen years. But many stocks have bucked the bearish trend.
By Paul R. La Monica, CNNMoney.com editor at large
Last Updated: March 3, 2009: 3:22 PM ET

http://money.cnn.com/2009/03/03/markets/thebuzz/index.htm?postversion=2009030315

Yes, if you had the misfortune of investing in an index fund, more than a decade's worth of investments have been wiped out. But the myopic focus on just how market indexes have done does some a disservice.

That's because even in a brutal bear market such as this, some investors have been able to make money by buying strong companies -- firms that have not made stupid mistakes and now expect a government handout to make them all go away.

In fact, shares of more than 200 companies in the S&P 500 are up during the past 10 years through Monday's close -- a time when the overall S&P 500 has plummeted more than 40%.