Day 15: Trump Twitter Trade
Today was volatile to say the least but all the trauma was over President elect Trumps press conference not fundamentals. Trump would mention healthcare and healthcare stocks sold off. Trump tweets about the F-35 fighter jet costs and Lockheed Martin sells off. Really! Isn't this all just a bit silly? Nothing has happened and nothing will happen for a long time. But hey, we got over it and the DOW closed UP +98.75 points. The markets used to sell off anytime there was a terrorist attack, now it doesn't. I hate to think that we've become desensitized to terrorists attacks, I truly hope we haven't, but investors collectively have learned to not sell off stocks in a knee jerk reaction to an attack. Maybe investors will soon become desensitized to the Trump twitter trade as well. Repeat after me, "A tweet is not the same thing as whiffing an earnings call".
Tomorrow (Wednesday 12th) the markets will be looking for guidance on macro conditions in the job market as reports are due for Initial jobless claims, Continuing claims, The import price index month over moth, and the Bloomberg Consumer Comfort report. Taiwan semiconductor reports earnings January 12th, a meet or beat on estimates could be a good omen for all semi-conductor companies.
On Friday more reports are due on Retail sales and the PPI. Why do I care about any of this? Why should you? You shouldn't, but it helps to know that something besides a tweet might be driving stock prices up and down. Also on Friday are earnings calls from the banks; specifically Bank of America, Blackrock, First Republic, JP Morgan Chase, PNC Financial and Wells Fargo. I think this group has to really blow investors away with a big beat on earnings estimates. These stocks are already pumped up and there's a lot of enthusiasm to see them go higher. Goldman Sachs was downgraded because analysts think it's already gone up too much. I disagree with this general consensus and think the banks have a great deal more room to run, especially if interest rates continue to climb this year and a few tweaks get made to Dodd-Frank to encourage banks to lend "a little more".
I did some buying today as a few companies behaved and got released from 'Time-Out'. Take note that I bought at the opening bell prior to Trumps press conference, and yes I boldly bought some healthcare stocks. I'm happy to say they were all up on the day.
Today I bought shares in BancFirst Corporation (BANF), Neogen Corporation (NEOG), ICU Medical (ICUI), Renasant (RNST) and AMN Healcare Services (AMN).
Stay Invested,
Clay Baker
