Stocks like American Express may benefit as higher-income consumer remains strong
(This is a wrap-up of the key money moving discussions on CNBC’s “Worldwide Exchange” exclusive for PRO subscribers. Worldwide Exchange airs at 5 a.m. ET each day.) Strategists are urging investors to be patient ahead of the U.S. presidential election. That said, an opportunity may be emerging in stocks catering to high-income earners. Worldwide Exchange Word of the Day: Patience Steven Wieting of Citi Global Wealth Investments said investors should take a wait-and-see approach before the election. “This is a time when markets are distorted… the October period before US elections have usually been distorted,” Wieting said on Worldwide Exchange. “There is a lot of gaming around this… a lot of apprehension. We will have to wait and see the opportunities that arise from the election results. We think the differences of policy of these two candidates are significant enough to really have large moves in global markets, perhaps more impact outside the U.S. than within,” he added. Picks: Home Depot (HD) and American Express (AXP) Aadil Zaman of Wall Street Alliance says executive commentary from recent bank earnings conference calls has given him confidence in the overall consumer and especially the high-end consumer. He says Home Depot (HD) and American Express (AXP) are stocks that will benefit from continued spending of higher income earners. “The higher end consumer is where you want to be right now,” said Zaman on Worldwide Exchange. “Those consumers are not going to scale back their consumption based on small economic blips.” Dividend-Focused Investing Wieting says a dividend-focused strategy is a great way to hedge against the uncertainty of the election, Fed rate decisions and other possible market moving events. We asked him about two ETFs: the ProShares S & P Dividend Aristocrats ETF (NOBL) and the Vanguard Dividend Appreciation Fund (VIG) . “This is the kind of strategy that has had long term outpeformance. But it has lagged Big Tech,” Wieting said. “This is one of the greatest ways to build wealth over a long period.” Chart of the Day: IYT Transports ETF The iShares Transportation Average ETF (IYT) hit an all time high on Wednesday, boosted by better-than-expected earnings from JB Hunt. Many analysts believe it’s a more representative look at the freight and logistics sector because it has a lower weighting of airlines an includes more trucking stocks. Approximately 72% of US Freight is moved by truck, according to the American Trucking Association . The ETF pulled back in the premarket on Thursday after East Coast railroad CSX fell on weak forward guidance.
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