• April 25, 2024

The market is saying there's no 'growth problem': Strategist

Despite Thursday's weaker-than-expected GDP figure, which hinted at a slowing economy, Truist Co-Chief Investment Officer and Chief Market Strategist Keith Lerner joins Market Domination to explain why this number doesn't accurately reflect the economy's growth trajectory. Lerner argues that the GDP data was fine "underneath the hood," showing that consumers and businesses were still spending, and underlying demand remained robust. He notes, "the market's hanging in there relatively well," emphasizing that a deeper examination of the GDP components revealed "there's still solid economic growth." On the inflation front, Lerner acknowledges that he had anticipated a post-pandemic economic slowdown. However, even with solid growth, he remains optimistic that inflation can be brought down to the 2% target. Addressing concerns about stagflation, he states, "It's a risk, not our base case." Lerner points to the strong performance of the energy (XLE), financials (XLF), and industrials (XLI) sectors as evidence that "the market is telling you that we don't have a growth problem at this point." This market behavior reinforces his view that the underlying economic fundamentals remain robust, despite the weaker GDP reading. For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Market Domination. This post was written by Angel Smith

  • April 25, 2024

3 Semiconductor Stocks That Could Be Multibaggers in the Making: April Edition

Semiconductors remain a red hot field of technology. Market analyst Charlie Bilello pointed out in a recent blog post that the iShares Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ: SOXX) has outperformed every other industry group over the last decade, rising 10x. The Invesco QQQ ETF (NASDAQ:QQQ) that tracks the Nasdaq 100 index is up 4.3x in the last 10 years, while leading gold and energy ETFs have each increased 1.5x. Bilello calls the move higher in semiconductors relative to the broader market “parabolic.” Cl

  • April 24, 2024

4 best defensive plays according to this portfolio manager

Earnings season — among many other factors — has the stock market (^DJI, ^IXIC, ^GSPC) stressed, resulting in heightened volatility. Tidal Financial Group portfolio manager Michael Gayed joins Wealth! to share his perspective on why investors should adopt a defensive stance through very specific sectors. Gayed, the publisher of The Lead-Lag Report, explains that playing the market defensively involves asking, "How do you lower exposure to the factor that is likely to be most volatile?" He identifies four key areas that not only serve as leading indicators of market volatility but also tend to benefit during such periods: utilities (XLU), gold (GC=F), long-duration Treasurys (^TYX, ^TNX, ^FVX), and the US dollar. Gayed also addresses the market's concerns about geopolitical risks and long-term blowbacks to stocks. For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Wealth! This post was written by Angel Smith