On the 27th the Independent carried a headline about the illegal logging of ancient teak forests in Burma, to be sold at the Chelsea flower show. On the inside in the 'save and spend' section of the newspaper were recommendations on who to bet on if the current stock market downturn continues (And it will).

First on the list is British American Tobacco. Ironic considering the front page, BAT still does business in Burma, albeit through a Singapore franchise. They were the last to remove operations from the country on the orders of the British government, their reason for maintaining a tertiary presence? "Maintaining local employment prospects" and protecting the "job prospects for its 500 employees".

Still my favourite of all the pro neoliberal globalisation arguements, "at least they have jobs". Maybe the Burmese people have more to worry about, for instance the military dictatorship that rules the country that is buttressed by foreign corporate investment, but hey, they still have jobs...

A court in Sydney also demanded that BAT gave the courts documents related to tobacco and cancer related illnesses, but BAT operates an Enron style filing system that shreds the most sensitive documents.

Recommended because: "The shares will continue to benefit from the inelastic demand of smokers"

Second is BP. Yet another link to Burma, BP subsidiary Arco operated oil rigs off the Burmese coast, before it was forced out again under pressure from activists. This is only one of many of the corporate crimes committed by this oil giant, despite all its green washing and propaganda it was amongst the top ten worst corporations for 2005, for its worker safety and environment record.

Third is BT. Aside from having a veritable monopoly on the British telecoms market, odds are if you are view this in Britain it will be along a line owned by BT, regardless of what company you are with. If you must have a Burma link one of BT's major shareholders Citigroup is another of the corporations who left the country, bowing to external pressures.

Fourth is Tesco. A near monopoly in the supermarket sector its stores range from faux local store, to monstrous American style big box malls. Giant warehouses where the workers need to wear roller-skates to get around the store. It has killed inner city grocers, fish mongers and butchers and its clothing is manufactured in Asian sweatshops.

Recommended because: "Tesco is strong and cash-generative"

Finally its United Utilities. A serial polluter that is consistently fined by the British Environment Agency, earlier this month it was fined £7,000 and ordered to pay £4,673 in costs for killing hundreds of trout with sewerage in Rochdale.

Recommended because: "stable, cash-generative and offers a whopping yield"

Despite a UN initiative called the "Principles for Responsible Investment" the mainstream continues to bet on black.