Cover story: Short-term approaches to elderly caregiving can “stretch into years, upending lives, taking family dysfunction to new levels, and blowing up otherwise solid retirement plans,” making long-term care one of the biggest challenges of aging; Barron’s provides an overview of the stages of care to help people craft a plan that works best for all family members.
Features: 1) Positive on AGN: Growing competition for Botox and the surprise loss of patent exclusivity for dry-eye treatment Restasis have prompted worry, but the concerns are overdone, and the stock “is ready for a major face-lift”; 2) Positive on GPS: Retailer’s Old Navy brand is seeing fast sales growth and plump profit margins, has exposure to strong areas such as activewear—and could end up boosting Gap shares by 25%; 3) Interview with Hedgeye Risk Management healthcare analyst Tom Tobin, who says medical costs could begin falling for the first time in more than half a century.
Tech Trader: Now that the Trump administration has thwarted AVGO’s plan to acquire QCOM, Wall Street is focusing on what chief Hock Tan’s plan B deals will be; the two most likely targets are XLNX and MU, but others are conceivable, including MCHP, MRVL, MXIM, and ADI.
Trader: There’s a good chance that if the market tumbles even more, it won’t be because of higher bond yields and concerns about inflation, says Michael Shaoul of Marketfield Asset Management; Investors shouldn’t be surprised if there are more highs ahead for banks, because the current environment seems right for a rally.
The Financial Crisis 10 Years Later: 1) Jeffrey Gundlach of DoubleLine Capital, one of the few experts who predicted the financial crisis, doesn’t see any disasters in the offing, unmitigated or otherwise—but says that’s no reason to relax; 2) Ten years after the collapse of Bear Stearns, it’s clear that “no regulatory apparatus can be erected against complacency or the normal ebb and glow of the business cycle.”
Follow-Up: GS, recently humbled by a trading slump, has created something of a hedge with its apparent choice of David Solomon, a lender and investment banker, to replace chief Lloyd Blankfein; The SEC’s recent action against Theranos is an attempt to address the Silicon Valley hype machine, and could begin to foster more truth and accountability among startups.
European Trader: Positive on Umicore: For investors looking for a promising bet on the rising demand for electric vehicles, the Belgium-based battery-materials company could fit the bill.
Asian Trader: Many investors see the potential meeting between Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as a turning point for South Korea and its perennially cheap stock market.
Emerging Markets: Investors concerned about the long-term outlook for emerging markets can compromise by seeking out funds that dampen the volatility of the asset class.
Commodities: “Import tariffs announced by the Trump administration threaten to spark a global trade war that could put a dent in the U.S. agricultural market, and domestic soybean prices could suffer the most.”
Streetwise: The Trump administration’s move to block the AVGO-QCOM deal may have been misguided, because Broadcom is really a collection of U.S. businesses, but what was more troubling was that it came without any signal government policy had changed.
