The markets recently took note of JPMorgan Chase's better-than-expected earnings, but they may have overlooked a telling point: Acquiring Bear Stearns was more than just a price coup for JPMorgan Chase; it also neatly filled in valuable pieces for its long-term strategy. Only last February, JPMorgan told investors it needed investment-banking capabilities--like those of Bear Stearns--to meet its growth goals.

Of course, JPMorgan Chase's quick action benefited from a unique set of circumstances. But it underscores that--for executives with the right combination of readiness, prudence, and guts--economic turbulence actually presents some of the best opportunities to fill capability gaps, gain market share and change a company's competitive position.

Making these kinds of bold investments when markets are in dire straits might seem reckless to many managers. But our analysis of more than 24,000 deals between 1996 and 2006 reveals that companies that acquired through the last downturn (2001 to 2002) generated almost triple the excess returns of companies that made acquisitions during prior boom years.