Go Into Show Business With These Value Stocks

The market is not much fun lately, but certain stocks are. Even if we are headed into a recession (and there are signs we may be), businesses that entertain people tend to do all right. Walt Disney (symbol , $113), the largest such stock by market value, weathered a slight dip in sales and lower earnings in the fiscal year that ended in September 2009, as the Great Recession was coming to a close. For the two fiscal years that straddled the economic downturn, however, revenues increased overall, and earnings per share for the owner of TV networks, theme parks, movie studios and a cruise line went on to set a record in 2011. The company never reduced its annual dividend, which increased from 31 cents a share in 2007 to