2017 Top Picks mid-year update: Gordon Pape

Change isn’t coming. It is already here. Markets change. It is part of the natural order. Meanwhile, Bank OZK (OZK) is a regional bank that has been in my Rising Trends category that I have wanted to target, highlights Kelley Wright, editor of IQ Trends.

Stocks and Treasuries are slipping in the early going, while gold and silver are on the move higher again. Crude oil is down, while the Dollar Index is stabilizing after losing 6% year-to-date. That puts the DXY on track for its worst year since 2017.

Shares of Greenbrier Cos. (GBX) slid more than 10% last week, despite continued margin strength and resilient execution in fiscal Q2. Barring a severe economic downturn, which we foresee as unlikely at present, the nearly 40% drawdown in price since late January brings shares back into accumulation territory, counsels John Buckingham, editor of The Prudent Speculator.

Strange as it may seem, the best place to hide from a market crash is amid high-flying microchip stocks. Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) was recently down 32% from its 52-week and all-time high of $149. But looking backward, even that high looks more than justified as the company’s earnings growth continues to soar, writes George Gilder, chief analyst at Gilder’s Technology Report.

There have been plenty of market meltdowns over the years. Few have matched what happened since last Wednesday evening – so-called “Liberation Day.” But then, President Trump issued a 90-day pause on most tariffs, causing a sigh of relief for the market. I like Aegon Ltd. (AEG) here, advises Chris Preston, chief analyst at Cabot Value Investor.

Stocks have been in full liquidation mode for a week. The same goes for oil. Now, BONDS are getting dumped, too. That helped drive the yield on the 10-year Treasury to 4.51% overnight – up 60 basis points from 3.9% as recently as Monday morning. The three-day rise in yields is the biggest since the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.

I probably don’t need to tell you that the stock market’s been getting hammered. Nor can I say I’m surprised. This is precisely the type of big drop I’ve been warning about for many months now. Consider Inverse ETFs like the ProShares UltraShort Dow30 ETF (DXD) for protection, writes Nilus Mattive, editor of Safe Money Report.

There was a range of possibilities with the tariffs. But the market’s worst fears came to fruition and the S&P crashed more than 5% on consecutive days last week for the first time since the onset of the pandemic. Meanwhile, Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) is a stock that can make up for lost time fast when it moves higher again, opines Tom Hutchinson, editor of Cabot Income Advisor.

Yesterday’s trading session was one for the record books – and things don’t look to be calming down today, either. In fact, stocks are soaring in the early going along with gold and silver. Treasuries and the dollar are modestly lower after...you guessed it...wild swings on Monday.

There is a gob of Play-Doh newly enmeshed into my bedroom carpet. Normally this would set-off a material increase in tempers while I mentally calculate how much this is going to cost me. But it could be worse. It’s not like they made a $6 trillion mess for someone else to clean up, observes Amber Kanwar, host of the In the Know with Amber Kanwar podcast.

Let’s start with a clear-eyed look at how the Trump Administration’s trade war is likely to affect the utility sector. Worth highlighting: Though far reaching, these tariffs are only one factor that will affect investment returns going forward, writes Roger Conrad, editor of Conrad’s Utility Investor.

Yesterday was a tariff-fueled bloodbath in markets, with stocks plunging the most in any day since the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. The damage ranged from roughly 4% in the Dow to 6% in the Nasdaq, with the total wealth wipeout coming to approximately $3 trillion. Crude oil got hammered, the dollar got crushed, and interest rates tanked. Even gold sold off in the early going, before rebounding later.