Dow Chemical execs assured banks at a recent investor's day that a new recession would hurt them less than the old recession.
Here's the main argument via Barclays, which offers a neutral rating on the stock:
Dow has seen demand growth slow over the last couple of months; however, it is not nearly as severe as the slowdown in 2008/'09. Dow believes lower inventory levels and struggling markets would mean a normally viewed recession would not cause the level of demand decline seen in '09. Dow's demand "heat map" shows deteriorating demand levels across markets in the last 3 months. Not surprisingly, construction and transportation have seen the strongest slowdown among industries. While all regions are reporting some slowdown, one region appearing to hold up well is China. Dow attributes this to continuing middle class growth and urbanization.
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