Anyone can choose good stocks when the market is booming, but you have to be more careful when the economy seems to be cooling. Some stocks, even ones associated with strong companies, fall precipitously along with the rest of the market when recessions hit because people have less buying power.

There is one tried-and-true way of investing in hard times: Find companies that thrive in recessions, ones that people turn to when money is tight, such as Dollar General (NYSE: DG) and Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ: COST). Both are solid defensive choices for investors in a downturn.

Dollar General chief operating officer Jeffrey Owen was promoted to be the company's CEO last month when Todd Vasos stepped down after seven years. Dollar General's expansion has gone on unbridled by COVID-19, inflation, supply issues, and labor shortages that have baffled other companies.

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Source Fool.com