The Dow Industrials Index surged to new highs last week, as the widely-followed but narrowly-focused stock average was boosted by positive earnings reports from some big names. The other four more broadly-based indexes I follow, to get a picture of the overall market, did not fare nearly so well, barely holding on to the levels they were at when the week began, or even losing ground slightly. For reference, the five indexes I track and the number of stocks in each index is as follows:

Dow Jones Industrials (INDU), 30 stocks, the largest and most influential US firms.

New York Composite (NYA), all stocks trading on the NYSE, over 1900 stocks, including around 400 foreign stocks with American Depositary Receipts trading on the NYSE.

S&P 500 (SPX), let’s see, let me guess, is it 500 stocks? Yes! This index is considered by students of the market to be much more representative of the US stock market, at least the blue-chips, and consists of 500 of the largest companies trading on US exchanges. The stocks in the index represent an estimated 80% of the capitalization of all stocks trading.

Nasdaq Composite (COMPQ), about 3100 stocks, all stocks trading on the NASDAQ.

Russell 2000 (RUT), around 2000 stocks, consisting of the leading small-cap stocks.

There are numerous additional indexes one could follow, but if you keep up with these five, you will know how the US market is faring overall. 

My dividend payers are faring quite well, it seems, with another batch from the universe of stocks I track scheduled to go ex-dividend this week.

Williams Partners (WPZ), ex-dividend date 8/2/2017, yield 5.87%.

Eaton (ETN), ex-dividend date 8/2/2017, yield 3.06%.

Pfizer (PFE), ex-dividend date 8/2/2017, yield 3.88%.

Unilever (UL), ex-dividend date 8/2/2017, yield 2.58%.

Energy Transfer Partners L P (ETP), ex-dividend date 8/3/2017, yield 10.54%.

American Midstream Partners L P (AMID), ex-dividend date 8/3/2017, yield 12.68%.

Crestwood Equity Partners L P (CEQP), ex-dividend date 8/3/2017, yield 9.78%.

ONEOK (OKE), ex-dividend date 8/3/2017, yield 5.26%. With the disappearance of OKS, I have substituted OKE (which acquired OKS) into my Tier2 list, as OKE has an attractive dividend and decent fundamentals.

Martin Midstream Partners L P (MMLP), ex-dividend date 8/3/2017, yield 10.26%.

Energy Transfer Equity L P (ETE), ex-dividend date 8/3/2017, yield 6.36%.

HCP Inc (HCP), ex-dividend date 8/3/2017, yield 4.64%.

Intel (INTC), ex-dividend date 8/3/2017, yield 3.12%.

Archrock Partners L P (APLP), ex-dividend date 8/4/2017, yield 7.80%.

Welltower (HCN), ex-dividend date 8/4/2017, yield 4.78%.

Valero (VLO), ex-dividend date 8/7/2017, yield 4.14%.

We are now deeply into earnings season. All 38 of the firms listed last week as being scheduled to report did so, with no real surprises. See last week’s posting for the 38 firms. In addition to the firms listed last week, another stock on my lists also reported, ENI S p A (E), the Italian integrated oil company. For earnings details, see the firms’ press releases, articles on the mainstream financial media, brokerage compilations, or my preferred resource, Seeking Alpha. As I have noted before, Seeking Alpha often provides a transcript of the earnings conference call.

As for this week, we have an even longer list of firms I follow scheduled to report, tallied following by earnings reporting date.

7/31/2017

Boardwalk Pipeline Partners L P (BWP), Sanofi (SNY).

8/1/2017

Archrock Partners L P (APLP), Crestwood Equity Partners L P (CEQP), Eaton (ETN), Emerson Electric (EMR), HCP Inc (HCP), Pfizer (PFE), Horizon Technology Finance (HRZN), ONEOK (OKE), STAG Industrial (STAG), Tanger Factory Outlet Centers (SKT), Pitney Bowes (PBI).

8/2/2017

Ares Capital (ARCC), Entergy (ETR), Exelon (EXC), Magellan Midstream Partners L P (MMP), Southern Co (SO), Amerigas Partners L P (APU), Annaly Capital Management (NLY), BlackRock Investment (BKCC), CenturyLink (CTL), Legacy Reserves L P (LGCY), Spectra Energy Partners L P (SEP), Transocean (RIG), Triangle Capital (TCAP).

8/3/2017

Consolidated Communications Holdings (CNSL), Duke Energy (DUK), Enterprise Products Partners L P (EPD), Kellogg (K), Medical Properties Trust (MPW), MFA Financial (MFA), Senior Properties Housing Trust (MPW), SCANA (SCG), TICC Capital (TICC), Windstream Holdings (WIN), Alliant Energy (LNT), Hercules Capital (HTGC), Main Street Capital (MAIN), Noble Corp PLC (NE), Kraft Heinz (KHC).

8/4/2017

Apollo Investment (AINV), Buckeye Partners L P (BPL).

Here are the ratings that came out last week on the stocks I track:

HCP Inc (HCP) was downgraded from Buy to Neutral at Goldman.

NextEra Energy (NEE) was reinstated at Buy at Goldman.

General Electric (GE) was reiterated at Buy at Stifel.

Novartis (NVS) was upgraded from UnderWeight to OverWeight at Morgan Stanley.

Roche Holdings LTD (RHHBY) was downgraded from OverWeight to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.

Freeport McMorAn (FCX) was reiterated at OutPerform at Cowen & Co.

Newmont Mining (NEM) was upgraded from Hold to Buy at Argus.

Kinder Morgan (KMI) was initiated at Neutral at Mizuho.

Coca Cola (KO) was reiterated at Buy at UBS.

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

Pitnew Bowes (PBI) was initiated at Hold at Loop Capital.

ConocoPhillips (COP) was upgraded from Neutral to Buy at BofA/Merrill.

DrPepper Snapple (DPS) was reiterated at Neutral at UBS.

J M Smucker (SJM) was upgraded from Hold to Buy at Jeffries.

SCANA (SCG) was downgraded from Buy to Hold at Gabelli & Co, and from Buy to Sell at Guggenheim.

I have been looking at Closed-End Funds (CEFs) lately as an alternative to stocks for some of my funds, since all quality companies have been bid up to the sky, which causes yields to be at multi-year lows. The only choices for attractive yields from specific companies come packaged with outsized risks, it seems. CEFs may be a safer way to get an attractive yield. I will be adding some CEFs to my lists soon. I learned enough about CEFs in my research that I decided to write an article on the topic, which has now been published on Seeking Alpha. The article title is “Yield, Value, Safety: Available With Closed-End Funds?”, and can be selected from the heading “Published Articles” at my website, www.OptimumStockInvesting.com. While I have always disdained mutual funds and ETFs/ETNs in favor of individual stocks, which can be evaluated, my frustration with the present environment causes me to consider alternatives to individual stocks, and at this point, CEFs seem to me to be the best alternative available. If you are interested in learning more, I suggest you take a look at the article.

JT

Stocks basically churned in place last week, with the venerable Dow Industrials index declining 4 days out of 5, but only by modest amounts, while the NASDAQ gained 4 days out of 5, by equally modest amounts. Earnings season is now in full swing, but seems to be having a minimal effect on the market thus far.

Dividends just keep on coming from my payers, thank goodness! Stocks on my lists scheduled to go ex-dividend this week are listed following, with the ex-dividend date and current yield shown. Assume frequency is quarterly unless otherwise indicated.

AGNC Investment (AGNC), 7/27/2017, 10.29%. The mortgage REIT pays monthly.

Enterprise Products Partners L P (EPD), 7/27/2017, 6.07%.

Magellan Midstream Partners L P (MMP), 7/27/2017, 5.08%.

Plains All American Pipeline L P (PAA), 7/27/2017, 8.31%.

Tanger Factory Outlet Centers (SKT), 7/27/2017, 5.06%.

STAG Industrial (STAG), 7/27/2017, 5.06%. STAG is a monthly payer.

Kinder Morgan (KMI), 7/27/2017, 2.43%. KMI excited the market this week when, during the earnings press conference, management indicated increasing the dividend will be a priority going forward. It will have to increase a lot to make up for the dividend cut shareholders endured a couple of years ago.

Alliant Energy (LNT), 7/27/2017, 3.07%.

Enerplus (ERF), 7/27/2017, 1.12%. My lament is, “oh, how can the one-time high-yielding Canadian Trust pacemaker yield so little these days”? The answer is, “it’s easy when you only pay out one cent Canadian monthly”.

Prospect Capital (PSEC), 7/27/2017, 12.18%. The BDC pays monthly. I must note that PSEC’s dividend is on the endangered list, in the opinion of some pundits.

ConAgra (CAG), 7/27/2017, 2.52%.

Blackstone Group L P (BX), 7/27/2017, 6.68%.

Realty Income (O), 7/28/2017, 4.43%. O pays monthly. The consensus seems to be that O is over-loved, and thus over-priced, in spite of (or because of) the firm’s sterling record, and that it must come back down eventually as it faces numerous headwinds going forward. Yet, all pundits seem to agree that the firm’s management is first-rate, and is doing the best that can be expected in the current environment.

Paychex (PAYX), 7/28/2017, 3.50%.

As noted in the opening remarks, we are now into earnings season. All 11 of the firms listed last week as being scheduled to report did so, with no real surprises. See last week’s posting for the 11 firms. For earnings details, see the firms’ press releases, articles on the mainstream financial media, brokerage compilations, or my preferred resource, Seeking Alpha. As I have noted before, Seeking Alpha often provides a transcript of the earnings conference call.

As for this week, we have an even longer list of firms I follow scheduled to report, tallied following by earnings reporting date.

7/24/2017

RPM International (RPM).

7/25/2017

3M Co (MMM), Freeport-McMoRan (FCX), Kimberly Clark (KMB), McDonalds (MCD), Newmont Mining (NEM), Potlatch (PCH), AT&T (T).

7/26/2017

Coca Cola (KO), General Dynamics (GD), Hershey Co (HSY), NextEra Energy (NEE), Norfolk Southern (NSC), Waste Management (WM), AGNC Investment (AGNC), Barrick Gold (ABX), Ensco (ESV), Kimco Realty (KIM), Mid America Apartment Communities (MAA), Realty Income (O).

7/27/2017

Altria Group (MO), American Electric Power (AEP), ConocoPhillips (COP), DrPepper Snapple (DPS), Procter & Gamble (PG), Raytheon (RTN), Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.B), United Parcel Service (UPS), Valero Energy (VLO), Verizon (VZ), Digital Realty (DLR), Intel (INTC).

7/28/2017

Exxon Mobil (XOM), Iron Mountain (IRM), NuStar Energy L P (NS), Public Service Enterprise Group (PEG), Ventas (VTR), Welltower (HCN).

It always seems strange to me that the REIT formerly known as Health Care REIT changed their name to Welltower, but kept the prior symbol HCN. I just don’t expect a firm’s name to be totally unrelated to the stock symbol, which is usually some form of abbreviation of the company name. Not that it matters.

Before I present my weekly tally of upgrades/downgrades, reiterations, and initiations/resumptions of coverage from the previous week on stocks I track, it is time to repeat my standard admonition on the topic. While I’m always interested to learn of analysts’ opinions of stocks I follow, they are to be taken with a grain (or sometimes a whole shaker) of salt. That is, do not treat the ratings as actionable advice. For one thing, the ratings changes usually come far too late to be acted upon. If you haven’t bought or sold by the time the ratings to do so are out, you are way too late. Also, note that the ratings focus almost exclusively on the near-term expectation of the stock price movement, not the long-term value as an investment, with dividends considered. Still, I always find it to be of interest when a firm indicates a view of a stock I am following, whatever the view. For upgrades/downgrades, I give the prior rating if available from my source. Sometimes it is possible to view the complete analyst report, either via brokerage websites or online sleuthing, if a rating is of enough interest that one desires to determine what is behind the rating. The full ratings report can indicate the analysts’ thinking, which can be valuable information.    

Here are the ratings that came out last week on the stocks I track:

Realty Income (O) was initiated at Market Perform at FBR & Co.

Fifth Street Finance (FSC) was upgraded from Market Perform to Market OutPerform at JMP Securities.

Medical Properties Trust (MPW) was upgraded from Market Perform to Market OutPerform at JMP Securities.

General Electric (GE) was reinstated at Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.

NuStar Energy L P (NS) was downgraded from OutPerform to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

MicroSoft (MSFT) was reiterated at OutPerform at Credit Suisse.

Waste Management (WM) was reiterated at Buy at Stifel.

Fifth Street Finance (FSC) was upgraded from Hold to Buy at Deutsche Bank.

Realty Income (O) was initiated at Buy at Canaccord Genuity.

Hershey (HSY) was reiterated at Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.

Magellan Midstream Partners L P (MMP) was downgraded to Equal Weight at Barclays, and upgraded to Buy at UBS.

Plains All American Pipeline (PAA) was upgraded to OverWeight at Barclays.

Mid America Apartment Communities (MAA) was reiterated at OverWeight at Barclays.

McDonalds (MCD) was reiterated at Buy at Nomura.

JM Smuckers (SJM) was downgraded to Equal Weight at Stephens & Co.

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) was reinstated at OutPerform at Credit Suisse.

Pfizer was downgraded from OutPerform to Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) was downgraded from Neutral to Sell at BTIG Research, and from Neutral to UnderWeight at Atlantic Equities. It must be valuation perceived to be too high, as the company is performing magnificently, as usual.

MicroSoft (MSFT) was reiterated at OutPerform at BMO Capital Markets, and at Hold at Canaccord Genuity.

SCANA (SCG) was upgraded to Neutral at Goldman.

Upon review, I have noticed I inadvertently omitted my weekly ratings update for the previous two weeks. I kept track of the ratings, which I tabulate daily, I just forgot to list them. In the interest of completeness, I will list them now.

First, ratings updates for the week beginning July 10:

Intel (INTC) was downgraded from Hold to UnderPerform at Jeffries.

Magellan Midstream Partners L P (MMP) was downgraded to UnderPerform at Mizuho.

Plains All American Pipeline (PAA) was upgraded from Neutral to Buy at Mizuho.

Southern Co (SO) was upgraded from Neutral to OutPerform at Macquarie.

Enerplus (ERF) was initiated at OverWeight at Capital One.

Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) was downgraded from Hold to Sell at Berenberg.

Williams Partners (WPZ) was upgraded to Buy at Jeffries.

General Dynamics (GD) was initiated at Buy at Berenberg.

Energy Transfer Equity L P (ETE) was initiated at Buy at Maxim Group, and at Buy at Stifel Nicolaus.

PennantPark (PNNT) was initiated at Buy at Compass Point.

AT&T (T) was downgraded from Buy to Neutral at BofA/Merrill.

Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) was upgraded from Neutral to Conviction Buy at Goldman.

AT&T (T) and Verizon (VZ) were both reiterated at Equal Weight at Barclays.

Vodafone (VOD) was initiated at Add at Numis.

And finally, ratings updates for the week beginning July 3:

JM Smucker (SJM) was reiterated at Neutral at Credit Suisse.

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) was downgraded from Buy to Neutral at Citigroup.

Novartis (NVS) was downgraded from Neutral to UnderPerform at Credit Suisse.

Chevron (CVX) was resumed at UnderPerform at RBC Capital Markets.

ExxonMobil (XOM) was resumed at OutPerform at RBC Capital Markets.

Diebold (DBD) was reiterated at Buy at Lake Street.

Noble Corp PLC (NE) was downgraded from Market Perform to UnderPerform at Bernstein.

Transocean (RIG) was downgraded from OutPerform to Market Perform at Bernstein.

Barrick Gold (ABX) was downgraded to Market Perform at BMO Capital.

ConocoPhillips (COP) was downgraded from OutPerform to Market Perform at Bernstein.

Mid America Apartment Communities (MAA) was downgraded from Buy to Neutral at UBS.

Norfolk Southern (NSC) was downgraded to Sector Perform at Scotiabank.

General Electric (GE) was reiterated at UnderWeight at JP Morgan.

SCANA (SCG) was reiterated at UnderPerform at Mizuho.

Roche Holdings LTD (RHHBY) was downgraded from Buy to Hold at Deutsche Bank.

There isn’t much more to say about the current state of affairs. Politics has dominated the news flow for effectively years now, and seems likely to continue to do so. The nation has festering problems that the previous administrations failed to address back when it would have been easier, though still far from easy, and sooner or later things will come to a head. The three biggest, in my opinion, are immigration and border/visa enforcement, the debt bomb facing all levels of government, and the threat to national security posed by a nuclear North Korea/Iran. After these comes the national health care fiasco, excessive regulations and governmental overreach, the need for income tax reform to address our job-killing tax code, and the recurring problems related to law enforcement. The police need public support, but there also in some cases needs to be reform of police department procedures and improved relations with the public.

When you look out over the landscape of the problems we face, it’s hard to get worked up about an earnings disappointment causing a sell off of a stock, or even a dividend cut. But I digress. The topic of this blog is how to generate income from a stock portfolio consisting of a subset of the stocks I follow, with the composition of the subset depending upon the risk tolerance of the investor. What I bring to the table is information regarding these stocks, as events occur or are scheduled, that I obtain from a weekly scan of various news sources and web sites, summarized in a regular weekly format, presented in a light-hearted manner, with occasionally some opinionated commentary. I realize no income from this blog, and I often wonder if anyone besides me is looking at it. Regardless, the exercise is worthwhile for me, because it forces me to keep up with the 100 + stocks in a way I probably would not do if not for the blog. So, for at least as long as I deem it necessary for my own purposes, JT’s weekly stock blog will continue.

JT

Stocks advanced steadily all last week, with the Dow, the S&P 500, and the New York Composite all posting new highs, while the NASDAQ came very close to doing the same. As usual at the onset of earnings season, there are some predictions of a market decline triggered by disappointing earnings, but if recent experience is any guide, it won’t happen. Some earnings will be up and some will be down, but nothing towards the downside severe enough to trigger a major sell off is likely in the present environment of “managed earnings”.

One item that can’t be managed is dividends. As a shareholder, you either receive them or you don’t. Shareholders of the following firms on my lists will be receiving soon:

Main Street Capital (MAIN), ex-dividend date 7/18/2017, yield 5.75%. MAIN pays monthly.

Horizon Technology Finance (HRZN), ex-dividend date 7/18/2017, yield 10.75%. HRZN is also a monthly payer.

Gladstone Investment (GAIN), ex-dividend date 7/19/2017, yield 8.18%. GAIN is another monthly payer.

Procter & Gamble (PG), ex-dividend date 7/19/2017, yield 3.18%.

ConocoPhillips (COP), ex-dividend date 7/20/2017, yield 2.45%. COP cut its dividend for the first time in 25 years back in February 2016. While most if not all analysts concurred that it was necessary, it still is a reminder of the double-whammy a dividend cut delivers – a drop in income and also a drop in the stock price. COP was a $70 stock in 2014, and even after a modest recovery from the lows of early 2016, is still in the low $40s.

Senior Housing Properties Trust (SNH), ex-dividend date 7/20/2017, yield 7.83%.

Pepsico (PEP) reported last week as scheduled on 7/11/2017. For earnings details, see the firm’s press releases, articles on the mainstream financial media, brokerage compilations, or my preferred resource, Seeking Alpha.

As noted in my opening paragraph, another quarterly earnings season is here. For this first week, the following firms on my lists are scheduled to report, in order by reporting date:

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), 7/18/2017.

Novartis (NVS), 7/18/2017.

Diebold (DBD), 7/19/2017.

Crown Castle (CCI), 7/19/2017.

Kinder Morgan (KMI). 7/19/2017.

Blackstone Group L P (BX), 7/20/2017.

Nucor (NUE), 7/20/2017.

Phillip Morris (PM), 7/20/2017.

MicroSoft (MSFT), 7/20/2017.

Colgate Palmolive (CL), 7/21/2017.

General Electric (GE), 7/21/2017.

There isn’t much to say about the market at this point. The status quo remains, stocks are generally over-priced, except for energy, which presents lower prices for good reason, the oil supply glut shows no signs of easing anytime soon. Earnings season is here once again, and while not likely to be great, it is not expected to be a disaster, either. Time to very selectively buy or sell as opportunities arise, but mostly just stand aside and be ready for whatever comes.

JT

Stocks did not really go anywhere last week, with minimal action until Thursday, when a decline of some magnitude occurred, after which more than half of the loss was regained the next day. The purported reason for the dip was geopolitical concerns, while a better than expected monthly Jobs report on Friday was credited for the recovery.

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

Mid America Apartment Communities (MAA), 7/12/2017, yield 3.43%.

Consolidated Communications Holdings (CNSL), 7/12/2017, yield 7.27%.

RPM International (RPM), 7/13/2017, yield 2.21%.

Colgate Palmolive (CL), 7/14/2017, yield 2.18%.

It is a pretty short list this week.

Also, note that Closed-End Fund (CEF) Kayne Anderson Energy Development (KED), on my Tier3 list, was missed last week. It went ex-dividend 7/6/2017, yielding 9.85%. CEFs are looking better all the time to me as yield plays. I am currently researching the sector, and will likely be adding several to my high-yield Tier3 group in the next few weeks. 

None of my stocks reported earnings last week. Only one firm is scheduled to report this week, Pepsico (PEP), on 7/11/2017.

Consolidated Communications (CNSL) seems to me to be the best telecom stock not named AT&T (T) or Verizon (VZ) to own. It has been a survivor. I note that it has recently acquired Fairpoint Communications (FRP). FRP was at one time a successful regional player, until the management made a disastrous acquisition of facilities from AT&T, which ended up leading to the bankruptcy of FRP. The entire episode was a case study of how an ill-conceived acquisition can sink a viable firm. FRP eventually emerged from bankruptcy and soldiered on, I suppose. I really lost interest after they went bankrupt. Analysts have not sounded any alarm bells over the FRP acquisition by CNSL, so I still recommend CNSL, which incidentally is now available at just over $20, after dropping from over $28 in late 2016.  

REITs are another sector that has some buyable names. The “Amazonation” of retail, especially malls, has led to panic selling of REITs deemed exposed to this negative force. But not all REITs affected are as vulnerable to this shift as the entire group. I am adding one of the firms I believe will be a survivor, Tanger Factory Outlet Centers (SKT), to my Tier2 list. SKT goes ex-dividend 7/27/2017, yields over 5%, and is priced in the mid-twenties currently, after being over $40 in mid-2016. I started a position last week, paying $25.90 per share for my initial purchase.

We are definitely into the summer doldrums. I don’t expect much to happen, barring some major geopolitical development, until 2^nd Quarter earnings reports start to come out. In fact, it won’t be long, as we are now into the 3^rd quarter. The 2^nd quarter earnings season will be here soon. In another two or three weeks, we’ll have reports starting to come out.

JT

Last week was a real see-saw, up, down, up, down, ending the week slightly lower overall for the week on most of the major averages. The NASDAQ was an exception to the see-saw, declining four days out of five, ending down by over 100 points, as technology stocks continued to sell off. Crude oil managed a modest rebound from the lows of the prior week, yet WTI remains under $50. (WTI = West Texas Intermediate)

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

Kimco Realty (KIM), 07/03/2017, yield 5.76%.

Cisco Systems (CSCO), 07/05/2017, yield 3.69%.

Sysco (SYY), 07/05/2017, yield 2.65%.

General Dynamics (GD), 07/05/2017, yield 1.71%.

Darden Restaurants (DRI), 07/06/2017, yield 2.75%.

General Mills (GIS), 07/06/2017, yield 3.57%.

AT&T (T), 07/06/2017, yield 5.21%.

Verizon (VZ), 07/06/2017, yield 5.20%.

Universal (UVV), 07/06/2017, yield 3.39%.

Four stocks on my list expected to report last week did so as scheduled, Darden Restaurants (DRI), General Mills (GIS), Paychex (PAYX), and ConAgra (CAG). For earnings details, see the firm’s press releases, articles on the mainstream financial media, brokerage compilations, or my preferred resource, Seeking Alpha.

 As for the week ahead, none of the firms I track are scheduled to report.

 Ratings updates from last week on the stocks I follow were as follows:

Duke Energy (DUK) was upgraded from Neutral to Buy at Goldman.

American Electric Power (AEP) was downgraded from Buy to Neutral at Goldman.

Kimco Realty (KIM) was reiterated at OverWeight at Barclays.

McDonalds (MCD) was reiterated at OutPerform at Wells Fargo.

Potlatch (PCH) was downgraded from OutPerform to Market Perform at Raymond James.

Kinder Morgan Inc (KMI) was reiterated at Sector Perform at RBC Capital Markets.

Darden Restaurants (DRI) was reiterated at Sector Perform at RBC Capital Markets.

General Electric (GE) was upgraded from Sell to Hold at Standpoint Research.

McDonalds (MCD) was reiterated at Buy at Stifel.

General Mills (GIS) was reiterated at Sector Perform at RBC Capital Markets, and at Hold at Stifel.

CenturyLink (CTL) was reiterated at UnderWeight at Barclays.

Barrick Gold (ABX) was upgraded from Sell to Hold at Berenberg.

The Fourth of July week is usually a slow week for the stock market, and the week ahead looks like it will fit that pattern. I’m in the mood to ignore Trump and his detractors, hear some good Sousa marching band music, have a few brews, and see some fireworks. I haven’t shot off any firecrackers myself since they banned Cherry Bombs, TNTs, and the most powerful (then) legal firecracker, M-80s. They were the fun ones. Typical of government regulations – with their safety fuses, they were the safest fireworks, much less likely to explode pre-maturely, like the “Black Cats” and other Chinese firecrackers. Of course, any firecracker is unsafe if proper procedures are not followed.

You may ask, what does that have to do with stocks? Absolutely nothing! Just another rant from me on how things have changed, and not for the better. But anyway, this week is a good time to take a week off from obsessing about the over-valued stock market – valuations will come down in good time, my friends, of that I’m confident, even though I can’t say when.

JT