Will Corning's Momentum Keep Pace in a Recession?

Apologies for the lack of updates recently; the market, seems to be at a tipping point and until the direction becomes clear, I’m not comfortable making researched analysis on the fundamentals for investments at a time when the fundamentals may not matter. If it’s true that the Fed’s way way way behind the curve, as I believe they are, that we cannot avoid a recession, there may be a lot of multiple contractions to come. If it’s true that there are no triple bottoms, the indicies look right to break to the downside.

Be that as it may, I still hold Corning (GLW) for its fairly cheap valuations and what looks like a secular growth trend in the LCD panel business. More than half of Corning’s business is outside of the U.S. and if the U.S. only grazes a recession, I believe growth areas in Brazil, Russia, and China have accumulated enough wealth as of late for internal consumer activity to sustain growth, particularly on consumer goods for a rising middle class such as big screen TV’s and electronics (both driving the demand for LCDs). As of late, this demand momentum in LCD panels still has umph, so says my favorite source- Purchasing.com:

“The global large-sized liquid crystal display panel market will reach a milestone in 2008 when 100 million panels ships for the first time ever. Large size panels measure 10 inches or more diagonally.

Global LCD-TV panel shipments are expected to reach 181.1 million units by 2011, rising at an annual rate of 27.7%, up from 53.2 million units in 2006, according to researcher iSuppli. In terms of revenue, LCD-TV panels will grow to $52.9 billion by 2011, increasing 19% per year from $22.2 billion in 2006. ” ~ LCD demand keeps growing, by Jim Carbone, Purchasing.com, 1/3/2008

Full Article:  LCD demand keeps growing at Purchasing.com

Disclosure: I own shares of GLW as of this post.