Alta Industries’ returns move with, hence are positively correlated with, the economy, because the firm’s sales, and hence profits, will generally experience the same type of ups and downs as the economy. If the economy is booming, so will Alta. On the other hand, Repo Men is considered by many investors to be a hedge against both bad times and high inflation, so if the stock market crashes, investors in this stock should do relatively well. Stocks such as Repo Men are thus negatively correlated with (move counter to) the economy. (note: in actuality, it is almost impossible to find stocks that are expected to move counter to the economy. Even Repo Men shares have positive (but low) correlation with the market.)