Seven Post-Election Investments to Buy as They Start to Ascend

Seven post-election investments to buy as they begin to ascend feature four funds, gold, an insurer and an e-commerce company for pet owners.

The seven post-election investments to buy include O’Shares funds favored by Kevin O’Leary, chairman of the investment company and a panelist on the “Shark Tank” television program. O’Leary, who offered his post-election outlook in a Nov. 12 podcast, said he expects equities to be the place for investors during the next 36 months. He is following his own advice by recently moving from an allocation of 50% stocks and 50% fixed income in his family trust to 70% and 30%, respectively.

Paul Dykewicz wraps up an interview with  O’Shares ETFs’ chairman.

O’Leary said his family trust is designed to distribute 6% annually. To achieve that goal, he is putting about 40% of his family trust in O’Shares US Quality Dividend ETF (BATS:OUSA), offering a 2.40% dividend yield.

That exchange-traded fund (ETF) features high-quality, dividend-paying equities that are a subset of S&P 500 companies that have strong balance sheets, O’Leary said. OUSA has produced returns of 1.22% in the last month, 3.61% in the last three months, 4.43% so far this year and 7.35% in the past 12 months.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

O’Leary Likes Several O’Shares ETFs Among Seven Post-Election Investments to Buy

O’Leary added that his family trust also has exposure to his fund company’s O’Shares Global Internet Giants ETF (BATS:OGIG), which notched gains of 0.46% in the last month, 14.97% in the past three months, 82.41% thus far in 2020 and 94.53% in the last year. He remarked that the 56 U.S. companies he owns use technology from OGIG’s holdings.

Plus, O’Leary said his family trust further uses O’Shares Small Cap Quality Dividend ETF (BATS:OUSM), targeting mid-cap stocks that have strong balance sheets. That ETF has surged lately after lagging the market much of the past year.

OUSM is up 6.79% in the past month, 9.24% in the last three months, 2.60% so far in 2020 and 4.79% in the last year. It also offers a 1.84% dividend yield.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

Wall Street’s Scaramucci Liked Equites for the Next Three Years, Too

Anthony Scaramucci, founder and managing partner of Skybridge Capital, also served briefly as President Trump’s White House communications director and told listeners during the Nov. 12 podcast, with O’Leary, that his investment company has 26,000 clients and a required minimum investment of $25,000. Scaramucci said he is trying to “democratize” hedge funds and hopes to attract investors with $1 million portfolios that ideally would include “every dentist in America.”

The Federal Reserve’s monetary policy intervention has produced the current liquidity-driven bull market, Scaramucci said. Extra capital is expected to keep coming from the Fed during the next 12-18 months, he added.

However, the current second wave of COVID-19 cases will slow down the market in the months ahead, Scaramucci said. It is a predictable outcome if previous pandemics are studied, he added.

Once hundreds of millions of people are inoculated by an effective COVID-19 vaccine, it will be a major lift for markets and consumer demand, Scaramucci said. Growth of 5G telecommunications, artificial intelligence (AI) applications and other technologies will boost the markets in the future, he added.

Gold Belongs Among Seven Post-Election Investments to Buy, Pension Fund Head Says

“At this point, every portfolio should have a position in gold,” said Bob Carlson, chairman of the Board of Trustees of Virginia’s Fairfax County Employees’ Retirement System, with more than $4 billion in assets and head of the Retirement Watch investment newsletter. “For most investors, an allocation of around 15% to gold is appropriate.”

The Federal Reserve has indicated it will ensure there is liquidity in the markets and that interest rates will stay low. The U.S. central bank can buy government bonds and take other actions to meet these goals. Foreign central banks are taking similar actions.

Thus, expect higher inflation and lower values in paper currencies during the next few years, Carlson said. Gold is the best way to profit from those trends, he added.

“I recommend owning gold through an exchange-traded fund (ETF),” Carlson told me. “An ETF is a very liquid and efficient way to buy and sell gold. My choice is iShares Gold Trust (NYSE Arca:IAU). It usually has the lowest fees of the gold ETFs.”

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

Central Bank Policies Fuel Seven Post-Election Investments to Buy

Investors too often make significant changes due to potential consequences of an election, Carlson told me. People can overreact and make ill-advised moves, he said.

An election does not change an economy or the markets in the short term. Even after a change in power, it takes time to enact new policies on taxes, spending and regulation.

There are two main drivers of economic activity for now: COVID-19 and monetary policy.

The Federal Reserve and monetary policy are key drivers of the economy and will remain unchanged heading into 2021. The Fed’s aggressive easy-money policy, or low rates, will continue and be followed by similar actions from central banks elsewhere.

So far, some sectors are doing very well, either benefiting from the pandemic or not being affected by it. Other sectors keep struggling.

Seven Post-Election Investments to Buy Affected by Bifurcated Economy

A key issue over the next few months is whether the bifurcated economy can continue indefinitely or if the lagging sectors will drag down the others.

A second issue is how much fiscal stimulus is needed to replace the income lost by the portions of the economy that are closed or operating at reduced capacity. The main fiscal stimulus measures expired at the end of July and have yet to be restored.

While the economy has rebounded significantly from the low point of last spring, gross domestic product (GDP) still is well-below its high and at a depressed level. Even so, the economy has been resilient despite the expended stimulus.

Pension fund chairman Bob Carlson answers questions from Paul Dykewicz in an interview before social distancing became the norm after the COVID-19 outbreak.

Will the Biden Administration Try to Tax to the Max?

On the tax front, there likely will be no change to corporate or individual tax rates during a Biden administration, if the Republicans can retain control of the Senate. That situation should be positive for equity prices during the medium-and-longer-term.

There also is coronavirus stimulus legislation in the $1.5-2 trillion range that could pass by the end of 2020 or early in 2021. But a $4-5 trillion stimulus bill that the Democrats were seeking seems dead without them gaining control of the Senate.

A Biden administration is much more likely to impose new mandates and lockdowns to curb the spread of COVID-19 than the Trump administration. Such lockdowns may save lives but will hurt the economy, corporate earnings and the price of equities.

Alternative Energy Shines as an Investment Opportunity Regardless of Politics

A sector likely to do well without the Democrats or Republicans controlling both the White House and Congress is alternative energy. For example, solar, wind, electric vehicle makers and lithium miners are likely to gain a lift from a green-energy friendly administration.

An ETF that offers exposure to the alternative energy segment is the iShares Global Clean Energy ETF (ICLN), a $2.3 billion portfolio of 30 large-cap renewable energy stocks that include wind, solar and utility industries, said Jim Woods, who heads the Successful Investing and Intelligence Report investment newsletters, as well as the Bullseye Stock Trader advisory service. After a recent rebalancing, one of the ETF’s largest holdings is Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ:PLUG).

Biden Administration May Help Investors Who Are High on Cannabis Sector

The cannabis sector also should benefit from a Biden administration, since it could influence the Justice Department to ease restrictions and enforcement on recreational marijuana use. With Congress and many Americans largely in favor of decriminalizing marijuana, it should aid this sector’s stocks.

“Although there are new funds in this space, the leader for exposure to marijuana stocks is the ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF (NYSEArca:MJ),” Woods said. “This fund owns 35 stocks designated by the Prime Alternative Harvest Index. This includes exposure to publicly traded cannabis growers, as well as traditional tobacco stocks, pharmaceutical companies and agricultural firms. The result is a diversified portfolio of cannabis-related stocks with a truly global footprint.”

Other potential winners from a Biden administration include industrial stocks, especially those involved in infrastructure, along with health care and Chinese stocks, if that country’s trade war with the United States eases.

As for sector losers, expect the oil and gas industries to come under pressure. Such stocks could face increased regulation, since, in his final presidential debate, Biden said that he supports a multi-year transition away from fossil fuels toward clean energy.

Paul Dykewicz meets with investment guru Jim Woods before the COVID-19 crisis.

Follow Market’s Long-Term Trajectory, Kramer Advises

“This year has taught alert investors many things, but the most important is simple: remain disciplined,” said Hilary Kramer, host of a national radio program, “Millionaire Maker,” and head of the GameChangers and Value Authority advisory services. “Follow your sense of the market’s long-term trajectory. And while the heat on Wall Street rotates across sectors and themes over the economic cycle, a well-balanced portfolio has kept making money over the past century, through recessions, wars and even presidential elections. Maybe that will change someday but it will take something more than the pandemic.

“Think back to February before the COVID-19 outbreak went global and you’ll remember that stocks already looked overpriced and overextended. Growth was sputtering in the trade war’s wake. The mood was brittle. When the pandemic struck, the natural impulse was to sell and move to the sidelines until we saw exactly how bad it would get.”

Lockdowns occurred in New York City and elsewhere in the country to trigger the “most savage recession” in memory, Kramer said. Investors who held on have seen the S&P 500 climb 9% since March. The Nasdaq rose 27% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average is nearing 30,000 for the first time ever, she added.

Columnist and author Paul Dykewicz interviews money manager Hilary Kramer, whose premium advisory services include 2-Day Trader, Turbo Trader, High Octane Trader and Inner Circle.

Kramer Counsels to Consider Investing in Two Post-Election Stocks

The market has absorbed the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak and strong stocks have kept breaking enough records to compensate for those that have faced serious challenges in 2020, Kramer said. That is how the market always works, she added.

Kramer said her favorite stocks are the same ones as a year ago. Some are old-economy stalwarts that pay strong dividends on reliable cash flow.

Look at Old Republic International Corp. (NASDAQ:ORI) as an example, Kramer said. It has beaten the S&P 500 this year and still offers a 4.5% dividend yield.

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

For growth, Kramer said she still loves Chewy Inc. (NASDAQ:CHWY), an e­-commerce company for pet owners.

“We’ve doubled our money here in my IPO Edge service,” Kramer said. “I loved it before the pandemic accelerated migration to electronic commerce and I’ll love it when the virus has been defeated. This stock was always the future.”

Chart courtesy of www.stockcharts.com

The COVID-19 pandemic not only has caused heavy economic fallout and forced huge job cuts but led to a second surge in cases recently that included the infection of President Trump and his hospitalization Friday, Oct. 2, until Monday, Oct. 5. COVID-19 cases have totaled 11,350,143 and led to 248,600 deaths in the United States, along with 55,578,685 cases and 1,337,559 deaths worldwide, as of Nov. 17, according to Johns Hopkins University. America has reported the most cases and deaths of any country.

The seven post-election stocks to buy amid COVID-19 offer four funds and three stocks that should rise in the months ahead. Investors seeking to profit should focus on the sectors that have the strongest growth prospects.

Paul Dykewicz, www.pauldykewicz.com, is an accomplished, award-winning journalist who has written for Dow Jones, the Wall Street Journal, Investor’s Business Daily, USA Today, the Journal of Commerce, Seeking Alpha, GuruFocus and other publications and websites. Paul, who can be followed on Twitter @PaulDykewicz, is the editor of StockInvestor.com and DividendInvestor.com, a writer for both websites and a columnist. He further is editorial director of Eagle Financial Publications in Washington, D.C., where he edits monthly investment newsletters, time-sensitive trading alerts, free e-letters and other investment reports. Paul previously served as business editor of Baltimore’s Daily Record newspaper. Paul also is the author of an inspirational book, “Holy Smokes! Golden Guidance from Notre Dame’s Championship Chaplain,” with a foreword by former national championship-winning football coach Lou Holtz. The book is endorsed by Joe Montana, Joe Theismann, Ara Parseghian, “Rocket” Ismail, Reggie Brooks, Dick Vitale and many others.