Stocks That Thrive Without the Consumer By John Reese About this article: With the housing bust and bear market wiping out trillions of dollars of household wealth and Americans still going through a massive deleveraging, consumer spending has been at the heart of discussions about the U.S. economic recovery. Consumers account for about 70% of the nation's GDP, making them crucial to the growth of the country and to the growth of corporations. Most corporations, that is. Although consumers are a key driver of growth for retailers, manufacturers, and other types of companies that depend on everyday Americans buying their products or services, they have a much smaller impact on firms that get big chunks of their revenue in other ways -- say, for example, from the government. Last year, the federal government awarded more than half a trillion dollars worth of contracts to more than 180,000 contractors, according to data from www.usaspending.gov. It's a top-heavy list, with more... To read the rest of this article and sign up for a FREE trial click here...

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