The U.S. recession has hit just about every sector fairly hard, save health care; internet services have certainly not been immune.

Still, Wall Street has been known to overdo it somewhat on the downside, particularly when a growth play runs into a recession, and that's why Ciena Corp. (NASDAQ: CIEN) is worth a review.

Ciena supplies communications networking equipment, software and services to communications service providers, cable operators, governments and enterprises. The company specializes in helping organizations transition from old-world architectures to high-bandwidth services. Hence, CIEN is largely a broadband play, and now that it looks like better days are up ahead for the U.S. economy in a quarter or two, firms will begin to make the investments they need to stay competitive in a decidedly broadband world. The First Call F2009/F2010 EPS estimates for CIEN are a loss of 21 cents and a profit of 15 cents.

Generally, one would not list a tech stock as a defensive play. Cisco Systems may be an exception.

Two fundamentals warrant the advocacy of Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) as a defensive play: 1) the company is the world's largest supplier of computer internet-network systems, and 2) emerging market growth. So long as the internet remains intrinsic to business processes in emerging and developed markets and so long as emerging markets continue to grow, Cisco will benefit in the years head. Analysts project a roughly 12-15% annual revenue growth rate for CSCO for 2008-2009. Another positive: look for CSCO's advanced technologies unit to continue to contribute impressively to the company's revenue, on video system business.

Further, skip (for now) the debate regarding the possible 'broadband shortage' and focus instead on the counterargument. Assume deteriorating conditions in the U.S., perpetually high energy prices slowing global growth, and increased protectionist sentiment. The impact on Cisco? Most likely, CSCO keeps growing, albeit at a slower rate, but it will grow, nonetheless. The Reuters F2008/F2009 EPS consensus estimates for CSCO are $1.52/$1.69.