January 17, 2020 — On January 15, President Trump and Vice Premier of the People’s Republic of China Liu He signed a Phase 1 trade deal, bringing a hiatus—though likely not an end—to two years (almost to the day) of tariff threats and levies on goods traded between the U.S. and China.The Phase 1 deal covered several areas, some more fully than others.
January 3, 2020— On January 2, a U.S. military drone strike eliminated General Qassem Suleimani, leader of the al-Quds battalion of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The drone strike, which occurred at Baghdad airport, followed a rapidly escalating U.S. conflict with an Iranian-backed Iraqi militia. The al-Quds forces advance Iran’s influence by supporting various governments and militias across Syria, Iraq, and Yemen. Iran has threatened unspecified retaliation against U.
January 3, 2020 – With global growth showing signs of bottoming and trade tensions seemingly receding, we believe that the time is ripe to favor more cyclical sectors, poised to benefit from an upswing in economic activity. The energy sector falls under the cyclical umbrella, and with low valuations and a healthy 3.9% dividend yield versus the S&P 500’s 1.
