For recession winners, look at cash-rich companies with low debt

Berkshire Hathaway is famous for sitting on a huge pile of cash. In fact, Morgan Stanley complained just last year that Berkshire hadn't been "aggressive" enough with its cash. Well, now Berkshire's cash pile is looking pretty good as the market heads into a major downturn and buyers have lots of opportunity to snatch up assets on the cheap.

In addition to Berkshire, other cash-rich companies with low debt include Alibaba, Baidu, Alphabet, Cisco, and Facebook. These companies have additional tailwinds from the fact that they're heavily involved in ecommerce and the digital space. Facebook use may increase as people spend time at home, and Cisco offers products for remote workers. Expect these giants to initiate share buybacks or mergers and acquisitions as the market finds a bottom later this year.