Cover story: Barron's suggests that president-elect Donald Trump should take steps to make U.S. trade policy freer than it is now after a backslide during the past 15 years; Any aggressive push by Trump to hike tariffs will face resistance from a Republican-dominated Congress that has traditionally supported trade liberalization.
Features:
1) Story says the bull market has legs, and that after a strong post-election really, Wall Street's top strategists see stocks rising by 5% in 2017;
2) Cautious on DIN: Shares and profits are down this year on sluggish traffic and menu misfires, and the stock could lose up to 30% more during the next year as management implements a turnaround.
Tech Trader: Consumer technology is faltering, while the building of what's known as infrastructure for companies to use for data processing is on the rise-and 2007 should see a sharper divided than usual between the two sectors.
Trader: "Stocks look ready to deliver double-digit gains in 2016, but 2017 could be the year of living dangerously"; Since 1928, a Republican has taken the White House from a Democrat four times, and after each occurrence the market fell by about 10% during the new president's first year; Cautious on NKE: Apparel giant seems unable to keep pace with a changing footwear landscape, and could find itself on the wrong side of Donald Trump's policy goals; A strong dollar puts U.S. investors in a bind when it comes to global investing.
Profile: Tom Bohjalian, manager of the Cohen & Steers Real Estate Securities fund, screens REITs to identify those with the highest standard deviations, based on price-to-net-asset value and price-to-dividend-discount (top 10 holdings: SPG, PLD, UDR, HCP, BRX, AIV, EQIX, DLR, ESS, ARE).
Interview: Robert Willens, a leading tax and financial-accounting expert on Wall Street, talks about the potential impact of Donald Trump's tax cut proposals on individuals and corporations.
Small Caps: Barron's top picks for 2017 include, AMC, SSP, HMHC, RELY, EQC-the sole holdover from last year's list-all of which are likely to deliver gains for investors. Follow-Up: Positive on CBS: Investors should hold onto the network's shares, which could return another 10% during the next year, but sell VIA shares, which are likely to go down.
European Trader: "The outlook for European equities is surprisingly bright going into 2017, given the political clouds gathering around the eurozone and the broader European Union" (Positive on Wolsely, BTI, Inditex, EUFN).
Asian Trader: "In 2017, conversations about Asia will be dominated by the Japanese yen and the Chinese yuan, as Asia's two most important currencies continue their race to the bottom," offering opportunities in both the Nikkei and China's A shares.
Emerging Markets: The one near-certainty for emerging markets is that there will be volatility, providing equity investors with buying opportunities.
Commodities Corner: "Commodities should deliver their best annual performance in years, and traders think the rally will roll on in 2017."
Streetwise: Uncertainty next year could be further complicated if the unwinding of a 35-year bond bull market becomes unruly.
