The rally continues, as Friday marked day 11 in the string of consecutive positive closes on the venerable Dow Industrials Index. The vitriol continues in Washington and elsewhere, as any hope of co-operation between the major parties has long since faded. Not that anyone living can remember, but some have said it is approaching levels last seen in 1860. But the markets do not seem to be concerned, so maybe it is not as bad as it seems. Meanwhile, stocks on my lists going ex-dividend this week are listed below, with ex-dividend date and yield shown. Frequency is quarterly, unless otherwise indicated.

McDonalds (MCD), 2/27/2017, yield 2.93%.

Realty Income (O), 2/27/2017, yield 4.02%. O pays monthly.

Safety Insurance Group (SAFT), 2/27/2017, yield 3.79%.

Kellogg (K), 2/27/2017, yield 2.78%.

CenturyLink (CTL), 3/1/2017, yield 8.74%.

Pepsico (PEP), 3/1/2017, yield 2.75%.

Novartis (NVS), 3/1/2017, yield 3.48%. NVS pays annually. I listed NVS last week as going ex-dividend 2/24/2017, but that apparently was an error. 

Hercules Capital (HTGC), 3/1/2017, yield 8.74%

Ensco (ESV), 3/2/2017, yield 0.38%. ESV once paid a decent dividend, before the oil price implosion. ESV is now a speculative bet on an eventual recovery in the offshore oil exploration sector.

Eaton (ETN), 3/2/2017, yield 3.33%.

Ventas (VTR), 3/3/2017, yield 4.88%.

Potlatch (PCH), 3/3/2017, yield 3.35%.

Triangle Capital (TCAP), 3/6/2017, yield 8.94%.

Last week I missed NextEra (NEE), which went ex-dividend 2/24/2017, yielding 3.07%.

All 15 stocks on my lists scheduled to report last week did so as scheduled. See last week’s posting for the names and reporting dates. For earnings details, see the firm’s press releases, articles on the mainstream financial media, brokerage compilations, or my preferred resource, Seeking Alpha.

Earnings reports expected this week are listed as follows, by date:

2/27/2017

Senior Housing Properties Trust (SNH), Ensco (ESV), Frontier Communications (FTR), ONEOK Partners L P (OKS).

3/1/2017

Windstream (WIN), Greif (GEF).

Upgrades / downgrades on my stocks coming out last week were as follows:

Verizon (VZ) was upgraded from Neutral to Buy at MuffettNathanson.

Colgate Palmolive (CL) was upgraded from Neutral to OutPerform at Exane BNP Paribas.

Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) was downgraded from Hold to Sell at Deutsche Bank, and was initiated at Neutral at Citigroup.

Waste Management was reiterated at Neutral at Wedbush.

Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) was upgraded from Neutral to Buy at BofA/Merrill, and was reiterated at Hold at Stifel Nicolaus, and at UnderPerform at RBC Capital Markets.

Diebold Nixdorf (DBD) was initiated at OutPerform at Credit Suisse.

Universal Parcel Service (UPS) was downgraded from Buy to Neutral at BofA/Merrill.

Reynolds American (RAI) was downgraded from OutPerform to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

Hercules Capital (HTGC) was reiterated at OutPerform at FBR & Co, and was downgraded to Market Perform at Raymond James.

Solar Capital (SLRC) was downgraded from Buy to Neutral at Ladenburg Thalmann.

Hercules Capital (HTGC) was downgraded from OutPerform to Market Perform at Raymond James.

The Bears have been decimated since November 8. No one predicted a monster rally if Trump was elected. In fact, the prediction was a 1000 point drop in the Dow Industrials right away, with more to come after that. Of course, every dog (or bear) has its day, so a pullback may be coming. But after what we have seen, it will take a very committed bear to short this market. On the other hand, bulls have to wonder how much longer this can go on, and if they should take some money off the table. My advice remains the same – be cautious either way. If buying, know you are paying up, with prices at highs not seen since before the 2008 financial crisis in many cases, and if selling, know that it may be a long wait to get back in at a price below where you sold, if the oft-predicted but elusive correction doesn’t show up soon..

JT

1st Posting for Week Beginning Tuesday 02/21/2017

Posted Monday 02/20/2017 08:00 AM

Another week, another round of new market highs, as the post-election rally continues. Earnings season also continues, as the reports will keep coming for another two weeks or so, but it is clear that the results overall will not kill the stock rally. The caution light is definitely flashing, however, as the bullish mood catches hold, per numerous surveys, and “Dow 30000” is being bandied about by some pundits. Buffet’s famous quote, “be fearful when others are greedy”, comes to mind.

However, there is nothing greedy about a steady stream of dividend payment from one’s holdings, in my opinion. Stocks on my lists going ex-dividend this week are listed below, with ex-dividend date and yield shown. Frequency is quarterly, unless otherwise indicated.

Statoil (STO), 2/21/2017, yield 3.87%.

Hershey (HSY), 2/22/2017, yield 2.30%.

Pan American Silver (PAAS), 2/22/2017, yield 0.51%. This one is obviously not a yield play, but rather a bet on the price of silver.

General Electric (GE), 2/23/2017, yield 3.15%.

AGNC Investment (AGNC), 2/24/2017, yield 11.10%. AGNC pays monthly.

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), 2/24/2017, yield 2.71%.

Barrick Gold (ABX), 2/24/2017, yield 0.59%. Same comment as PAAS, for gold instead of silver.

Enerplus (ERF), 2/24/2017, yield 0.97%. The one-time high-yielding Canadian trust is sadly now just another struggling oil & gas producer, paying a mere one cent CAN $ monthly, which per current exchange rates, is .77 cents US $.

STAG Industrial (STAG), 2/24/2017, yield 5.82%. STAG is a monthly payer.

Prospect Capital (PSEC), 2/24/2017, yield 10.59%. This BDC is a monthly payer.

Novartis A G (NVS), 2/24/2017, yield 3.51%. You will have a long wait for the next dividend from this Swiss drug company if you don’t acquire it before 2/24/2017, as it only pays once a year..

McDonalds (MCD), 2/27/2017, yield 2.97%.

Realty Income (O), 2/27/2017, yield 4.17%. The self-titled “monthly dividend company” pays monthly, of course.

Safety Insurance Group (SAFT), 2/27/2017, yield 3.82%.

One dividend that was missed last week was Buckeye Partners L P (BPL), which went ex-dividend 02/16/2017, yielding 7.01%.

Moving on to earnings, 17 of 17 firms that I track were listed in last week’s post as being scheduled to report, and all did so as expected. See last week’s posting for the names and reporting dates. For earnings details, see the firm’s press releases, articles on the mainstream financial media, brokerage compilations, or my preferred resource, Seeking Alpha.

Earnings reports expected this week are listed as follows, by date:

2/21/2017

Crestwood Equity Partners L P (CEQP), Wal-Mart Stores (WMT), Newmont Mining (NEM).

2/22/2017

Ares Capital (ARCC), Southern Co (SO), Welltower (HCN), Energy Transfer Partners L P (ETP), Energy Equity Partners L P (ETE), Realty Income (O), Transocean (RIG), Triangle Capital (TCAP).

2/23/2017

Iron Mountain (IRM), Hercules Capital (HTGC), Main Street Capital (MAIN).

2/24/2017

Enerplus (ERF).

Upgrades / downgrades on my stocks coming out last week were as follows:

Buckeye Partners L P (BPL) was downgraded from Buy to Hold at Stifel Nicolaus.

Reynolds American (RAI) was downgraded from OutPerform to Sector Perform at RBC Capital Markets.

Buckeye Partners L P (BPL) was reiterated at Neutral at Mizuho.

Nucor (NUE) was upgraded to OverWeight at Morgan Stanley.

SCANA (SCG) was downgraded from Buy to Neutral at Mizuho.

Exelon (EXC) was upgraded from Sector Weight to OverWeight at KeyBanc.

Noble Corp PLC (NE) was upgraded from Hold to Buy at Societe Generale.

RPM International (RPM) was initiated at Buy at Evercore ISI Group.

ConAgra Foods (CAG) was initiated at Buy at Deutsche Bank.

Kellogg (K), Hershey (HSY), J M Smucker (SJM), and General Mills (GIS) were all initiated at Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Hershey (HSY) was upgraded from Hold to Buy at Argus Research.

Kraft Heinz (KHC) was downgraded from Positive to Neutral at Susquehanna.

Cisco Systems (CSCO) was reiterated at OutPerform at RBC Capital Markets.

RPM International (RPM) was upgraded from Neutral to Buy at Northcoast.

Reynolds American (RAI) was downgraded from Buy to Hold at Jeffries.

Digital Realty (DLR) was reiterated at Hold at Stifel Nicolaus.

The question now for investors is, will these gains hold? Buying now in most cases will mean paying higher prices than seen in many years for most issues. Yet, if a real renaissance occurs, these prices may be the best we will see for a long time. With the funk that the economy had been in for so long up until the recent election, who woulda thunk it? My advice remains the same. Be very cautious about buying at these levels, but hold on to good stocks acquired at good prices – it may be a long time before you can get back in if you sell just because you have a nice gain. If you are really worried about a crash, you could “take out some insurance” by buying puts. Just be aware that the cost of the puts may end up being wasted money, in the same sense that insurance premiums are wasted money, if the threat being insured against does not materialize.

JT

The excitement continues on the political front, as the opposition to President Trump becomes ever more fanatical, and in the case of the travel ban, successful, even while earnings season reaches a climax. The market is basically reacting to political developments, not earnings. After a mild swoon the prior week, stocks recovered somewhat over the week just ended, with the major averages hitting new highs on Friday.

Stocks on my lists going ex-dividend this week are as follows:

Fifth Street Finance (FSC), 2/13/2017, yield 15.55%. FSC pays monthly.

Spectra Energy (SE), 2/13/2017, yield 4.21%.

HCP Inc (HCP), 2/13/2017, yield 4.82%.

Valero (VLO), 2/13/2017, yield 4.14%.

Exelon (EXC), 2/13/2017, yield 3.76%.

Boardwalk Pipeline Partners L P (BWP), 2/14/2017, yield 2.14%.

Gladstone Investment (GAIN), 2/14/2017, yield 8.13%. GAIN is a monthly payer.

MicroSoft (MSFT), 2/14/2017, yield 2.44%.

Chevron (CVX), 2/14/2017, yield 3.85%.

Spectra Energy Partners L P (SEP), 2/15/2017, yield 6.05%.

Emerson Electric (EMR), 2/15/2017, yield 3.06%.

3M Co (MMM), 2/15/2017, yield 2.64%.

Duke Energy (DUK), 2/15/2017, yield 4.40%.

Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.B), 2/15/2017, yield 6.60%.

Southern Co (SO), 2/16/2017, yield 4.58%.

United Parcel Service (UPS), 2/16/2017, yield 3.12%.

Main Street Capital (MAIN), 2/17/2017, yield 6.05%. MAIN is a monthly payer.

Horizon Capital (HRZN), 2/17/2017, yield 11.55%. HRZN is also a monthly payer.

One stock missed the week before last was Blackstone Group L P (BX), which went ex-dividend 2/2/2017, yielding 6.23%.

Moving on to earnings, 21 of 21 firms listed in last week’s post as being scheduled to report did so as expected. See last week’s posting for the names and reporting dates. For earnings details, see the firm’s press releases, articles on the mainstream financial media, brokerage compilations, or my preferred resource, Seeking Alpha.

Earnings reports expected this are listed as follows, by date:

2/13/2017

HCP Inc (HCP).

2/14/2017

Diebold (DBD), DrPepper Snapple (DPS), Pan American Silver (PAAS).

2/153/2017

Entergy (ETR), Pepsico (PEP), Annaly Capital Management (NLY), Cisco Systems (CSCO), Martin Midstream Partners L P (MMLP).

2/16/2017

Duke Energy (DUK), SCANA (SCG), Waste Management (WM), STSG Industrial (STAG), Washington Real Estate (WRE).

2/17/2017

JM Smuckers (SJM), Spectra Energy (SE), Spectra Energy Partners L P (SEP).

Upgrades / downgrades on my stocks coming out last week were as follows:

Total S A (TOT) was upgraded from Hold to Buy at Deutsche Bank.

Hershey Co (HSY) was reiterated at Sector Perform at RBC Capital Markets.

Sysco (SYY) was upgraded from Neutral to OutPerform at Credit Suisse, and from Neutral to Market Perform at Bernstein.

Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) was initiated at Market Perform at Bernstein.

Magellan Midstream Partners L P (MMP) was reiterated at Neutral at Mizho.

Nucor (NUE) was reiterated at Over Weight at Barclays.

Boardwalk Pipeline Partners L P (BWP) was initiated at OutPerform at RBC Capital Markets.

Emerson Electric (EMR) was upgraded from Sell to Neutral at UBS.

Freeport McMoRan (FCX) was reinstated at Neutral at JP Morgan.

PennantPark Investment (PNNT) was downgraded from Buy to Neutral at Ladenburg Thalmann.

Intel (INTC) was downgraded from Buy to Hold at Canaccord Genuity.

Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) was initiated at Positive at Susquehanna.

Williams Partners (WPZ) was initiated at Buy at Deutsche Bank.

The Washington soap opera seems to be morphing into a Greek tragedy, as the political open warfare continues apace. The Dems refusal to accept the election results threatens the nation’s security, both economic and otherwise. The global problems we face are not standing down while we get our house in order. The market seems to be unconcerned, but I wonder if this is one of those times where the market is wrong! Tread cautiously, avoid new buys. I truly believe better prices will be coming along in a few months. On the other hand, don’t sell everything, just in case I’m wrong.

JT

Stocks on my lists going ex-dividend this week are as follows:

Fifth Street Finance (FSC), 2/13/2017, yield 15.55%. FSC pays monthly.

Spectra Energy (SE), 2/13/2017, yield 4.21%.

HCP Inc (HCP), 2/13/2017, yield 4.82%.

Valero (VLO), 2/13/2017, yield 4.14%.

Exelon (EXC), 2/13/2017, yield 3.76%.

Boardwalk Pipeline Partners L P (BWP), 2/14/2017, yield 2.14%.

Gladstone Investment (GAIN), 2/14/2017, yield 8.13%. GAIN is a monthly payer.

MicroSoft (MSFT), 2/14/2017, yield 2.44%.

Chevron (CVX), 2/14/2017, yield 3.85%.

Spectra Energy Partners L P (SEP), 2/15/2017, yield 6.05%.

Emerson Electric (EMR), 2/15/2017, yield 3.06%.

3M Co (MMM), 2/15/2017, yield 2.64%.

Duke Energy (DUK), 2/15/2017, yield 4.40%.

Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.B), 2/15/2017, yield 6.60%.

Southern Co (SO), 2/16/2017, yield 4.58%.

United Parcel Service (UPS), 2/16/2017, yield 3.12%.

Main Street Capital (MAIN), 2/17/2017, yield 6.05%. MAIN is a monthly payer.

Horizon Capital (HRZN), 2/17/2017, yield 11.55%. HRZN is also a monthly payer.

One stock missed the week before last was Blackstone Group L P (BX), which went ex-dividend 2/2/2017, yielding 6.23%.

Moving on to earnings, 21 of 21 firms listed in last week’s post as being scheduled to report did so as expected. See last week’s posting for the names and reporting dates. For earnings details, see the firm’s press releases, articles on the mainstream financial media, brokerage compilations, or my preferred resource, Seeking Alpha.

Earnings reports expected this are listed as follows, by date:

2/13/2017

HCP Inc (HCP).

2/14/2017

Diebold (DBD), DrPepper Snapple (DPS), Pan American Silver (PAAS).

2/153/2017

Entergy (ETR), Pepsico (PEP), Annaly Capital Management (NLY), Cisco Systems (CSCO), Martin Midstream Partners L P (MMLP).

2/16/2017

Duke Energy (DUK), SCANA (SCG), Waste Management (WM), STSG Industrial (STAG), Washington Real Estate (WRE).

2/17/2017

JM Smuckers (SJM), Spectra Energy (SE), Spectra Energy Partners L P (SEP).

Upgrades / downgrades on my stocks coming out last week were as follows:

Total S A (TOT) was upgraded from Hold to Buy at Deutsche Bank.

Hershey Co (HSY) was reiterated at Sector Perform at RBC Capital Markets.

Sysco (SYY) was upgraded from Neutral to OutPerform at Credit Suisse, and from Neutral to Market Perform at Bernstein.

Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) was initiated at Market Perform at Bernstein.

Magellan Midstream Partners L P (MMP) was reiterated at Neutral at Mizho.

Nucor (NUE) was reiterated at Over Weight at Barclays.

Boardwalk Pipeline Partners L P (BWP) was initiated at OutPerform at RBC Capital Markets.

Emerson Electric (EMR) was upgraded from Sell to Neutral at UBS.

Freeport McMoRan (FCX) was reinstated at Neutral at JP Morgan.

PennantPark Investment (PNNT) was downgraded from Buy to Neutral at Ladenburg Thalmann.

Intel (INTC) was downgraded from Buy to Hold at Canaccord Genuity.

Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) was initiated at Positive at Susquehanna.

Williams Partners (WPZ) was initiated at Buy at Deutsche Bank.

The Washington soap opera seems to be morphing into a Greek tragedy, as the political open warfare continues apace. The Dems refusal to accept the election results threatens the nation’s security, both economic and otherwise. The global problems we face are not standing down while we get our house in order. The market seems to be unconcerned, but I wonder if this is one of those times where the market is wrong! Tread cautiously, avoid new buys. I truly believe better prices will be coming along in a few months. On the other hand, don’t sell everything, just in case I’m wrong.

JT

The political drama intensified last week, as Trump continued to show that he is not a typical politician, backing away from his promises, but instead is actually moving forward on the agenda he laid out in his campaign. With the resulting turmoil, the market faltered a bit, but then seemed to take it all in stride, with a rally on Friday recovering the ground lost earlier in the week. Earnings reports will reach a crescendo this week and next, but so far they haven’t been all that bad. As I said last week, I’m not sure anyone is paying much attention anyway.

My dividend payers are definitely not all that bad, but rather are reassuring, as the week’s lineup of firms going ex-dividend provides some comfort in a world where there isn’t much of it.

NuStar Energy L P (NS), 2/6/2017, yield 8.00%.

Archrock Partners L P (APLP), 2/6/2017, yield 6.69%.

Entergy (ETR), 2/7/2017, yield 4.87%.

Amerigas Partners L P (APU), 2/8/2017, yield 7.57%.

JM Smucker Co (SJM), 2/8/2017, yield 2.18%.

ExxonMobil (XOM), 2/8/2017, yield 3.59%.

American Electric Power (AEP), 2/8/2017, yield 3.70%.

Unilever (UL), 2/8/2017, yield 3.43%.

ConocoPhillips (COP), 2/10/2017, yield 2.18%.

Fifth Street Finance (FSC), 2/13/2017, yield 13.21%. This BDC pays monthly.

Spectra Energy (SE), 2/13/2017, yield 4.18%.

HCP Inc (HCP), 2/13/2017, yield 4.82%.

Valero (VLO), 2/13/2017, yield 4.28%.

Exelon (EXC), 2/13/2017, yield 3.66%.

Moving on to earnings, 19 of 20 firms listed in last week’s post as being scheduled to report did so as expected. See last week’s posting for the names and reporting dates. For earnings details, see the firm’s press releases, articles on the mainstream financial media, brokerage compilations, or my preferred resource, Seeking Alpha. The lone exception was Exelon (EXC), which was expected to report on 2/1/2017, but now is scheduled for 2/8/2017.

I have been relying on Etrade’s compilation of earnings reports to determine when my stocks will report, but after cross-checking against other sources, it seems the Etrade list omits many of the smaller firms, and some foreign firms as well. The Etrade list provides a good start to the task, but I’ll have to cross-check further to catch the omissions. The list of earnings reports for firms on my lists expected next week follows, with hopefully no omissions.

2/6/2017

Apollo Investment (AINV), Boardwalk Pipeline Partners L P (BWP), Sysco (SYY), Gladstone Investment (GAIN).

2/7/2017

Emerson Electric (EMR), Plains All American Pipeline L P (PAA), Statoil (STO).

2/8/2017

Exelon (EXC), CenturyLink (CTL), Prospect Capital (PSEC), GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Sanofi (SNY), PennantPark Investment (PNNT).

2/9/2017

Coca Cola (KO), Kellogg (K), Medical Properties Trust (MPW),

Reynolds American (RAI), Noble Corp PLC (NE), Fifth Street Finance (FSC).

2/10/2017

Buckeye Partners L P (BPL), Ventas (VTR).

Note that I will continue to report on firms on my lists that are slated to disappear via mergers / acquisitions, for as long as they remain independent companies actively traded on the exchanges.

Currently, Reynolds American (RAI) and Spectra Energy (SE) fall into this classification. Similarly, I will continue to report on firms on my discontinued list (List 4), including firms in bankruptcy, the latter being Breitburn Energy Partners L P (BBEP, now BBEPQ) and Linn Energy LLC (LINE, now LINEQ). Regarding these two, when oil prices first collapsed, driving the stock prices of these former stalwart dividend payers into the single digits, I reasoned that with their holdings of producing properties and much ballyhooed hedges, they would hold on and recover enough in a year or two to make the bet I was making a worthwhile speculation. Wrong! The oil price slide actually worsened after my entry point, and continues to this day due to a world-wide glut of crude oil, and the hedges were not as effective as touted. Such is the nature of speculation. Don’t do it if you can’t afford the loss. In my case, it was no big deal to me, other than my ego, and I did well with some other energy acquisitions, primarily the majors, when they hit decade lows during this period.

Upgrades / downgrades on my stocks coming out last week were as follows.

Plains All American Pipeline L P (PAA) was initiated at Neutral at Mizuho.

Noble Corp PLC (NE) was upgraded from Hold to Buy at Jeffries.

Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.B) was downgraded from Buy to Hold at Societe Generale.

Colgate Palmolive (CL) was downgraded from Buy to Neutral at Citigroup, and was reiterated at Hold at Stifel Nicolaus.

General Dynamics (GD) was reiterated at OutPerform at RBC Capital Markets.

Plains All American Pipeline L P (PAA) was upgraded from Neutral to OutPerform at Robert W Baird.

AT&T (T) was initiated at Hold at Evercore ISI Group.

Verizon (VZ) was also initiated at Hold at Evercore.

Enterprise Products Partners L P (EPD) was reiterated at OverWeight at Barclays.

NuStar Energy L P (NS) was downgraded from Buy to Hold at Stifel Nicolaus.

Eaton (ETN) was initiated at Market Perform at Avondale.

United Parcel Service (UPS) was reiterated at Equal Weight at Barclays.

Valero (VLO) was reiterated at OverWeight at Barclays.

ONEOK Partners L P (OKS) was upgraded from Neutral to OutPerform at Credit Suisse.

Transocean (RIG) was downgraded from Equal Weight to UnderWeight at Morgan Stanley.

Noble Corp PLC (NE) was upgraded from UnderWeight to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.

Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) was reiterated at Market Perform at FBR & Co.

Amerigas Partners L P (APU) was downgraded to UnderPerform at BofA/Merrill.

Eaton (ETN) was downgraded from OverWeight to Neutral at JP Morgan.

Altria (MO) was downgraded from Buy to Hold at Berenberg.

Transocean (RIG) was upgraded from Neutral to OutPerform at Credit Suisse.

Valero (VLO) was reiterated at Buy at Mizuho.

Ensco PLC (ESV) was upgraded from Neutral to OutPerform at Credit Suisse.

Magellan Midstream Partners L P (MMP) was downgraded from Buy to Neutral at UBS.

NuStar Energy L P (NS) was downgraded from Buy to Neutral at Citigroup.

AGNC Investment (AGNC) was reiterated at Buy at Maxim Group.

Note that I capitalize the ratings to emphasize that the rating means only what the firm says it means, per their definitions in the ratings scheme they employ. While generally you can assume they mean what the word implies, to really know what they mean, one would have to have the definitions of the ratings as used by a rating firm. That is, the ratings are not standardized across the industry. A “Buy” from one firm might roughly equate to only an “OutPerform”, usually the next level down from “Buy”, at another firm. Also, as I frequently reiterate, I present the ratings as being of interest, but not actionable advice. See last week’s post, below, for further elaboration on my view of the value of the ratings (interesting, but not gospel) and the underlying reports (can provide insights, definitely useful) behind the ratings.

Next week will likely be as interesting as the prior two weeks, with new headlines daily reporting the ongoing battle between the globalist elites and their socialist agenda vs the populist, conservative heartland forces which mostly embrace traditional American values. Of course, the media is largely on the same side as the former, so most news feeds need to be viewed accordingly. The markets have held onto the post-election gains thus far, but you have to wonder how long it can last, as the political eruptions continue at a level not seen since the sixties. It is certainly not a good time to go “all in” on stocks just now, in my opinion, with valuations at high levels in most cases, and uncertainty likewise at high levels. Stay alert, keep your “dry powder” (i.e. investible cash) at the ready, and get ready for whatever comes.

JT