The Big Investment Picture
Investment news is a 24/7 business. So quite often we get all tied up in the minutiae of what is happening that day. Therefore it's a good idea to take a step back and assess the bigger picture.
The best place to start is GDP which is expected to come in at +2.6% for Q4 (source: GDPNow). Pretty good, but not fantabulous by any stretch.
It is fair to say that early Q4 results were held up a bit by people waiting for the election results to come in...especially businesses. Now that there is some clarity on the direction forward, then a lot of those delayed purchase/investment decisions are being done now and into 2017.
So it is reasonable to assume that GDP and earnings growth will be better in the New Year. If that proves out, and rates don't ratchet up too fast, then it provides a good backdrop for stock investors to celebrate the 8th anniversary of this bull run.
Best,
