Or will the company simply weather the storm and continue its course of success?

Low debt, he said, helps companies weather the storm, even if their stock prices have hit new lows.

He focuses on good values, believing the best Mexican companies can weather rough times.

Good governance, it said, should be viewed as a kind of insurance policy to help all companies weather the inevitable difficult times.

And he figured that the company would weather weakness in the chip market.

"It clearly helped companies weather the storm of the recession."

This expansion helped the company weather the economic downturn in 2001 and so did its 8(a) certification.

But the companies that are still standing have weathered the storm.

Many tobacco industry analysts think the major companies will weather the storm.

"The company will weather the next recession better than the prior two," he said.