JPMorgan, for instance, suggests selling the Hungarian forint against the euro, a perfect position to profit from what is likely to be a sharp Hungarian recession this year, which will put pressure on it to devalue its currency.

If you are queasy about dabbling in faraway countries where strange languages are spoken, there are also options to profit from recession at home. Last month, Merrill Lynch suggested American muni bonds on the grounds that even if their finances look dismal, the feds are unlikely to let states and municipalities go under. “One would think that taking the ‘fiscal stimulus’ to the grass roots level would be the most effective way of dealing with the situation,” it said.

There is even a good strategy to invest in domestic equities. All you do is buy them at night and sell them in the morning. Last week, Goldman Sachs noted that short-selling the S.&P. index by the day and buying it overnight would have produced a 9 percent return since the start of 2008  respectable considering the S.&P. had fallen by nearly half since then.

I realize it must feel somewhat strange to be taking financial advice from the people who brought us the collateralized debt obligation and the credit default swap, those “financial weapons of mass destruction,” in Warren Buffett’s parlance. But who else should we take investment advice from?

Mr. Buffett’s own “Buy” recommendation last October has taken a beating. And though President Obama is clearly a profound thinker, his observation that stocks are cheap these days sounds somewhat amateurish.