What to watch for in 2019 (with a bonus)

Good Morning and Happy New Year,

I hope that everyone has had a chance to enjoy the Holiday Season and is starting the New Year off right. During this period, most of us put together either a vision board or create some New Year Resolutions, and usually getting our finances are one of the top things in mind. MarketWatch came out with an article during the holiday season which gives some topics for us to be aware of in 2019. The article highlights a presentation given by DeutscheBank about the 30 Risks to the Market for 2019, that is broad but provides something for us to think about. From the presentation a couple of key points were:

1. Slowing growth in China and Europe negatively impacting American business who receive a significant amount of revenues from overseas

2. Brexit not being as smooth as expected

3. Trade wars between the US and China or the US and Europe

4. The Fed making a policy mistake

As an individual person, none of these seem like they would directly impact me, but this is where that notion is wrong. All of these risks can negatively impact company earnings which in turn is a drag on the economy as a whole.

I would love to say that the fourth quarter was just a one-time event, but it seems that more people are realizing that our environment is riskier than expected. In the words of Wu-Tang Clan "Protect Ya Neck."

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/algo-driven-fire-sale-china-slowdown-are-2019s-top-risks-says-torsten-slok-2018-12-21?link=sfmw_tw


As a bonus for those interested, I came across an article written on Seeking Alpha that I found interesting about some 2019 predictions. I do not know the author but I found his take against the norm. What raised my curiosity about his article was his bold prediction about Apple buying Square. While I do not give any stock advice on this blog, this stood out to me because Apple has been taking a beating in the market lately (along with Square). But most investors have not picked up on how Apple has been quietly shifting their business to a more subscription-based model as opposed to their current product dependent model. The company does have an absurd amount of cash on their balance sheets and could easily incorporate Square into its business to move away from Paypal, Mastercard, Visa, etc. Also with the shift in business also creates a different demographic of Apple buyers (i.e. Warren Buffet). While this sounds great, I would advocate that anyone interested should either do their own research before buying any stock.

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4230992-10-predictions-2019-gold-bitcoin-trump?ifp=0

#financialliteracy #marketwatch #deutchebank #china #us #2019predictions #europe #tradewar #brexit #federalreserve #wutang #economy #seekingalpha #apple #square #warrenbuffet #financialfloyd #phillyfinance

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