Week 1 – 2 (Feb. 1 – 15):
More trade uncertainty for March 1st and looming government shutdown #2 are on the horizon. Have been all month so haven’t wanted to commit to anything in the stock market. The Chinese will be watching the compromise bill to avert the shutdown so as to guess how soft a deal Trump might accept. For those inclined to be in the market consider ARCH for growth; RC and RIO as dividend growth stocks; and the ETFs IHI and VOT. Good luck!
Week 2 – 4 (Feb. 18 – 28):
It appears that Pres. Trump will come up with some type of deal on trade with China. Unfortunately, it is unlikely that any deal will actually be a good one as Trump doesn’t understand the economics of trade. Still, any deal is better than the status quo. Thus, we will go from really bad, to somewhat less bad, which is an improvement, but far from optimal.
Overall the domestic US economy is still strong, but the stock market is running up to fast to be sustainable. Expect an eventual slow down. Otherwise, expect a sudden drop after a continued run up that is not sustainable.
With this caveat in mind, consider the growth stocks CATM, WIRE, and VIPS (a Chinese stock . . . and the first time I’ve recommended one of those for a long while). Dividend growth stocks include RC, RIO, and SUN. Excellent ETFs are JKH, VGT, and IYW. Good Investing!
