Markets & Finance  Are Vice Stocks Losing Their Allure?  Shares
of alcohol, tobacco, gambling, and other vice vendors have
gained during recessions. But the sinful strategy hasn't paid
off lately  Companies that make money from sin and vice may be
naughty, but that rarely prevents investors from trying to
profit from them. Such stocks—especially alcohol, tobacco, and
gambling companies—are often touted as great investments during
economic downturns. Other vice stocks include weapon makers,
defense contractors, and sex businesses.  Bad times may force
people to cut back spending, the argument goes, but they will
set aside cash for their vices and addictions. "Consumers do not
kick their habits in tough times," Merrill Lynch (MER)
strategist Brian Belski wrote in November. When Merrill Lynch
examined the performance of alcohol, tobacco, and casino stocks
in all recessions since 1970, it found that while the broader
S&P 500-stock index fell 1.5% on average, those addictive stocks
rose an average 11%.  In the cur