Intel, for instance, has consistently had a 90-day production cycle for its chips, which power most PCs.

CNN: ASIANOW - TIME Asia

Because when asked, central bankers will repeatedly cite the diversifying power of gold as a major reason to own it. (See this French central banker speaking in 2000, for instance.) Unlike other metals and commodities, gold is not tied to the economic cycle, nor the stock market.

FORBES: Be Like The Bundesbank, Own Some Gold

Pearson and Vivendi, for instance, have each pushed hard into educational publishing, a business far less vulnerable to the economic cycle.

ECONOMIST: Media companies: Sucked into quicksand | The