Opening Statement from the July 2016 Dividend Gems

Opening Statement from the July 2016 Dividend Gems

Originally published on July 17, 2016

Overview & Sentiment of US Markets

The continuing trend of declining earnings growth combined with unimpressive strength in the US economy could pose problems for the stock market. Thus far, share repurchases and increasingly lowered expectations for interest rate hikes have kept the market at elevated levels for  months.

More recently, the notion of lower interest rates across the globe has caused investors to rush into government bonds, pushing yields to new historic lows. These results are consistent with our previous warnings of global deflation. The silver lining is that the US economy remains the strongest of all advanced nations. With rare exception, this has been a trend for several years. Moreover, the US capital markets remain as the world’s safest by a long shot, offering the best risk-adjusted returns in the world. We have been emphasizing these points for several years.