Better Buying Opportunity: Large-Cap or Small-Cap Stocks?
Markets slid after top economic advisor to the Trump Administration, Gary Cohn, resigned. This added to the concerns Wall Street already had on rising rates and the President's steel and aluminum tariffs. Lamar Villere, Portfolio Manager of the Villere Balanced Fund, was with us to discuss the state of the markets.
Trade war not good for business, but it's really bad for multi-national corporations. Villere added that small caps will be more shielded from a trade war because they are less exposed to international macroeconomic variables.
The portfolio manager said rising interest rates are a bigger risk for markets than the steel and aluminum tariffs. The reason is because it is too hard to predict how other countries will respond, Villere adds.
Villere is on ETF bubble watch, which he says is a crowded space. He warns that "you don't want to be in a crowded trade." He adds that these ETFs are not as diverse as people think.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said Thursday that the majority of iPhones sold in the U.S. in the current fiscal quarter will be sourced from India, while iPads and other devices will come from Vietnam as the company works to avoid the impact of President Trump’s tariffs on its business. Apple’s earnings for the first three months of the year topped Wall Street’s expectations thanks to high demand for its iPhones, and the company said tariffs had a limited effect on the fiscal second quarter’s results. Cook added that for the current quarter, assuming things don’t change, Apple expects to see $900 million added to its costs as a result of the tariffs.
