Displaying items by tag: stocks

(New York)

We are in an era of rising rates. That means that income-based stocks generally suffer as their yields look less and less and attractive. So how does one maintain an allocation to high-yielding stocks while preserving capital—buy stocks with good dividend growth. With that in mind, here is a list of seven good dividend growers. The list favors “established dividend paying stocks with strong fundamentals and stocks potentially trading at or below fair value. Dividend safety is another important factor”. The stocks are Home Depot, Boeing, Union Pacific, Amgen, J.M. Smucker, Honeywell International, and Pepsico.

FINSUM: This is a nice mix of sectors and well-known names that seem to have some real value in them. Definitely worth a deeper dive.

(San Francisco)

Faangs and the tech sector more generally have had a tumultuous year. There have been a lot of fears over regulation, valuation, and data breaches. Yet, on the whole, the performance has been strong. However, many investors are now turning against the faangs in a big way, as short bets against it have soared recently. There is now a $37 bn short position against the group of companies, up 40% in the past year. Amazon is the most shorted single stock, with around $10 bn of short interest against it. Faangs have accounted for almost half of the Nasdaq’s rally above 8,000.

FINSUM: The short interest is understandable given the lofty valuations, but the issue is that the underlying businesses look quite strong, which makes us doubtful there is going to be a coordinated faang crash of any grave magnitude.

(New York)

Stocks have been doing great—almost too great. After a rough patch from February to July, the S&P 500 is up 3% in the last two weeks alone. Stocks have been so strong over the last several weeks that it has taken shares back to nearly overbought territory—right where they were in January before February’s violent correction. However, that seems less likely this time around for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the economy and earnings have been humming; and secondly, because many fund managers might ditch their short bets and go long before they fall even further behind.

FINSUM: There are several factors coming together which make it look like this could be a very good autumn for stocks.

(New York)

For a long time, Walmart was one of the greatest growth stocks in history, growing from a small regional company to the largest retail chain in the nation. However, growth has evaded it for some time, and its quick expansion ended about 20 years ago. That may all be about to change, however. Walmart’s ecommerce operation is really taking off, growing at a 40% clip, at the same time as its in-store sales are rising at their fastest pace in a decade. Walmart is already the fourth largest online retailer in the US, but the stock has not given full credit to how well the company is doing, creating an opportunity for investors.

FINSUM: Walmart’s acquisition of Jet in 2016 was a smart one, and it has shown good leadership in ecommerce. We suspect the stock has a few years of good growth coming.

(Washington)

As the midterm elections are starting to heat up with various primaries, it is time to revisit how the elections will impact markets. Because Republican victories in the House and Senate would simply be a continuation of the status quo, the big question seems to be what happens if Democrats win one or both. The answer is that there will likely be little impact, but if there is, it could be positive, according to Barron’s. This is because having Democrats control the house (perhaps a likely outcome) would be seen as keeping the White House’s potential overreach on trade and the economy in check.

FINSUM: Historically speaking, the midterms have resulted in strong rallies for stocks. Why wouldn’t it be the same this year? We expect either little effect or a positive one.