Now on to specific stocks, and the current market environment. As you know, the market’s been acting well for the past week or so, with the major indexes rallying after a terrible February and early March. By my measures, the market’s overall trend is still down (though barely), so I’m content to wait for our indicators to turn up before plunging in.

Thus far, most of the action has come from the off-the-bottom stocks. You know what I mean–the stocks that fell from 70 down to 8 and have now rallied to 13. It’s something that needs to happen for the market to get going, especially in the beaten-down financial stocks. But those aren’t high-odds investments.

Anyway, it’s at times like this that I step up my research and look for any broad industry themes. Honestly, there aren’t many, but two come to mind.

First is gold. The entire group enjoyed a HUGE volume advance on Wednesday after the Fed announced it was going to buy hundreds of billions of dollars of this, that and the other thing. Investors are clearly thinking the Greenback will be under pressure while the Fed prints money.

But beyond gold is a unique “group” that is benefiting from the current downturn in the economy–the “staycation” stocks. Actually, these are really companies that help cash-strapped consumers by offering cheap merchandise and entertainment options. Sounds simple–and it is. And the stocks are acting very well.

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Netflix (NFLX) is a stock we’ve mentioned many times. Heading to the movies with a family of four can easily cost upwards of $50 once you add in all the candy, popcorn and drinks. But Netflix’s service starts at just $10 a month, allowing for many family movie nights at home (likely with cheaper, store-bought popcorn, too). The stock is hitting new highs.

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American Italian Pasta (AIPC) makes … pasta. But pasta is cheap, and more families are trying to feed a whole family without gouging the checking account. The company is a turnaround story with new management, lower raw material costs and lower legal fees. The stock is consolidating after a big run.

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Family Dollar Stores (FDO) sells lots of stuff for a buck, including many basic home goods. Why spend more for a can of soup or a tube of toothpaste when you don’t have to? The stock gapped up on earnings on March 5 and has crawled higher since. It might need a pullback here.

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Green Mountain Coffee (GMCR) owns Keurig, the self-operated, single-cup brewing systems that are gaining popularity in offices and homes. Instead of paying a few bucks at Starbucks, people can easily brew their own coffee in just a few seconds at home, for less money. The stock nosed out to new peaks on low volume this week–it probably needs more time before getting going.

However, one thought occurs to me; if the market is truly entering a sustainable advance, it’s likely discounting a better economy. And if that’s the case, maybe the demand for cheap products (and these stocks) won’t be as great. We’ll see how it plays out, but as of today, these are among the strongest stocks in the market.