(Washington)

Advisors need to prepare themselves for what could be a harsh reality. While the wealth management business collectively holds a great deal of hope that the SEC will come out with an enlightened rule that makes much more sense than its DOL predecessor, the reality is that the SEC rule is likely to be much more expansive, and potentially much more onerous. The new SEC rule seems poised to cover all types of accounts and all groups—RIAs, B-Ds, and “associated persons”, all under a broad umbrella.

FINSUM: While the industry definitely has a much higher faith in the SEC, there is certainly an element of the “devil you know” going on here. If the rule is much more expansive, it could lead to a higher regulatory burden and yet more disruption to the industry.

(New York)

One of the big overarching questions regarding the Mueller probe over the last few weeks has been two-part: will Trump try to fire Mueller, and will the Senate step in to protect Mueller from said firing. Well, one half of the answer is now clear. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell has made clear that the Senate will take no action to protect Mueller from whatever moves Trump might make. McConnell said “I am the one who decides what we take to the floor … That’s my responsibility as majority leader. And we will not be having this on the floor of the Senate”.

FINSUM: The one Caveat here is that McConnell thought he said protecting Mueller was unnecessary because he did not believe Trump would try to fire him, which slightly leaves the door open to a change of position.

(San Francisco)

Where should investors put their money in the stock market? That has been a very tough question lately, as everyone’s favorite darling, tech, has had a rough several weeks, and the outlook still seems dicey. However, Credit Suisse says that despite its woes, tech is still the best sector to be in at the moment. The reason why? Fundamentals. Tech has great underlying business momentum, with strong revenue, great growth, and strong free-cash-flow valuations.

FINSUM: We think regulation of tech is still some distance away, which mean it should have a good medium term runway to keep outperforming. All of that means the lower valuations right now could prove a good opportunity.

(New York)

Stocks have managed to turn around from their dire condition of a couple weeks ago, and from last week, have rallied well. So, what has driven the turn around, investors are probably asking. According to Barron’s, part of it is earnings, but there is more to the story. The apparent answer is that market breadth and sentiment are improving across the board, which is helping provide positive momentum. It also isn’t hurting that earnings have been strong across the board.

FINSUM: We think the more positive sentiment is just from a lack of bad news on the trade war front. No news is usually good news in such a situation and fear ebbs so long as no new developments are released.

(New York)

The retail sector has been in tumult for years, but the struggles have intensified over the last few years as ecommerce has accelerated and physical stores are under pressure. The big winner so far has been Amazon, but lately, Walmart has been pushing back with a greatly improved and expanded ecommerce offering. Now, Walmart may be able to grab more market share in the US retail market by undercutting other retailers on price. Walmart has been lowering prices and is now 3-5% below other retailers like Dollar General, Kroger, and Big Lots for the same items. Many of the items are so-called “traffic-driving”.

FINSUM: We can comment on this from personal experience. It is remarkable, especially in rural America, how much minor price differences can entice consumers to drive 10+ extra miles to the store which is perceived as cheaper. We think these price differences will be material.