Cover story: Positive on AAPL: With the tech giant poised to reach a $1T valuation, investors should re-evaluate the stock; The peak isn’t near, and the company “seems to be escaping its product supercycle peaks and troughs to post more-consistent year-to-year growth,” which could have a lasting effect on valuation.
Feature: 1) A panel of independent financial advisors discuss how they’re preparing their clients for 2018 and looking for unloved investment opportunities in overlooked areas of the market; 2) “The new tax bill passed by Congress on Wednesday and signed into law on Friday is a major coup for U.S. corporations, but a mixed bag of give-and-take for individual taxpayers, with benefits sharply skewed to the wealthy”; 3) Positive on WDC: The company is doing much better than the stock price suggests; the shares are cheap and could have upside of as much as 50% in the coming year; 4) Positive on PCG: Company’s move to suspend its quarterly dividend and concerns about its liabilities related to wildfires in California have sent shares down, but the the drop could be a buying opportunity.
Tech Trader: For investors looking to buy low in the tech sector, QRVO, FNSR, OLED, and CSCO are good candidates; New regulation in Washington and the European Union continues to pose a general risk for tech companies.
Trader: The Republican tax overhaul could create complications in the new year as analysts begin to tweak their numbers, even if much of what they know about the law is guesswork; Positive on UPS, FDX: “While the easy tax-reform money has been made, knock-on effects should help boost transportation fundamentals, while the technical setup is looking better than it has in a while”; There is a fundamental problem in trying to pick a bottom for bitcoin, but the greater concern may be what the recent selloff says about fledgling cryptocurrency exchanges.
Profile: Raife Giovinazzo, manager of the Fuller & Thaler Behavioral
Small-Cap Equity fund, buys companies with market values of less than $5B and pays close attention to how other investors react to insider buying and share buyback programs (top 10 holdings: LSTR, CENTA, UCTT, SBH, RUTH, NMIH, TREX, DSW, EXTR, PAHC).
Follow-Up: There’s mounting evidence that the technology sector’s tax-free ride in Ireland is about to end, amid greater pressure from European regulators and changes to the U.S. tax code.
European Trader: Cautious on Pirelli: Italian tire company, whose shares were relisted in October, faces a number of challenges, and trades at a premium to rivals Michelin and Continental.
Asian Trader: Positive on Hyundai: “After a bad year in which its stock essentially flatlined, Hyundai might be the comeback kid of the auto world in 2018.”
Emerging Markets: The election of Cyril Ramaphosa as president of South Africa has boosted EZA and the rand, but the new leader still faces major hurdles in turning around slow growth and high unemployment.
Streetwise: MCK, whose shares were sold off over drug-price pressures, might have had a strong rebound were it not for the opioid crisis.
