Campbell's Soup: Lone Survivor of the S&P Sell-off

Market got you down? In times like these, you can't go wrong with a warm bowl of soup. And in this economy, it doesn't hurt that soup is cheap.

Perhaps that's why Campbell Soup Co. was the only member of the S&P 500 that escaped the sell-off Monday. "The one thing you can afford to eat when you're destitute is soup," says Tom Sowanick, chief investment strategist of Clearbrook Financial in Princeton, N.J. "Silly as that may sound, if you have no confidence in your banking system and no confidence in the financial markets, the only thing you can have confidence in is the ability to build a bunker."

Campbell's shares (symbol CPB) rose 0.3 percent, or 12 cents, on Monday, to close at $37.75. By no means is this stock shooting out the lights, but it's up 23 percent since mid-January and has been on a steady climb since July. The company—which is also responsible for Pepperidge Farm, Pace salsas, and V8—announced last week that it's increasing its quarterly dividend by 14 percent, to 25 cents a share.