WKOW 27: Madison, WI Breaking News, Weather and SportsGrab a beer? Bad economy or not, many still say yes.

Grab a beer? Bad economy or not, many still say yes.

MIDDLETON (WKOW) -- Stock charts list nothing but doom and gloom these days, right?

Well, maybe. 

One financial website lists major U.S. industry group performance over the past several years.

Nearly every industry is down.  Most industries are down in the double digits.

Consumer goods companies are down 29% in the past three years.

Health care companies are down 30%.

Financial firms are down 74%.

However, wedged in there among all the red, are three lines of green: aerospace and defense, electricity, and brewing companies.

Many beer-makers are doing well.  Some companies are down, but some are up.  The industry as a whole is up 11% since 2007, according to the market data statistics from the Wall Street Journal.

"I make it as an assessment those industries and the products they sell are going to be OK," said UW Business School finance professor David Brown.

At the Capital Brewery in Middleton, the president says they have an optimistic attitude going forward in 2009.

"What better thing to do than come home at the end of the day and enjoy a beer?" asked Carl Nolen.

That's not to say the industry isn't facing some challenges.  Grain and other raw material prices are up significantly in the past year.  That's cutting into the bottom line.

Some brewery stocks are down on the year, including SABMiller.

But as a whole, the industry gets a green number, when almost everyone else gets a red one.

Experts say it's common for investors to retreat to company stocks that sell staple products, like food and electricity -- thing everyone will need.

Apparently, it seems alcohol now makes the list as well.

Email Dan Cassuto at dcassuto@wkowtv.com