It's also revealing that analysts at Societe General have recommended that clients Trump-proof their portfolios with "safe haven" assets such as gold and exchange-traded notes indexed to the CBOE Volatility Index, such as the iPath S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Future ETN (VXX) .
To be sure, Trump is losing badly. The highly respected polling outfit 538, considered the gold standard for gauging public opinion, now gives the bombastic billionaire less than a 15% chance of winning the election. But the coming days will be rocky for investors, especially as companies unveil earnings scorecards that are likely to disappoint, and traders brace for an almost sure Federal Reserve tightening before the year ends.
And as the two previous presidential debates have shown, anything can happen on that debate stage.
Investors needn't panic and run for the exits. The wisest course of action is to keep your powder dry, stick to "defensive growth" blue chips, and simply wait out the storm.
As of Oct. 14, the research firm FactSet estimated that the blended earnings decline for the S&P 500 in the third quarter would be -1.8%. If this decline comes to pass, it would mark the first time the index recorded six consecutive quarters of year-over-year declines since FactSet began tracking the data in Q3 2008, which if you'll recall was an especially dismal time for global markets.
Here are the major earnings reports to watch in the week ahead, with Capital IQ's estimated earnings compared with the figure posted in the same quarter a year ago:
Monday: Bank of America (BAC) (34 cents vs. 37 cents) and IBM (IBM) ($3.23 vs. $3.34).
Tuesday: Goldman Sachs (GS) ($3.82 vs. $2.90); Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) ($1.65 vs. $1.49); Philip Morris International (PM) ($1.23 vs. $1.24); UnitedHealth (UNH) ($2.08 vs. $1.65); Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX) ($1.77 vs. $2.74); and Intel (INTL) (72 cents vs. 64 cents).
Wednesday: Abbott Laboratories (ABT) (58 cents vs. 54 cents); Halliburton(HAL) (-7 cents vs. 31 cents); Reynolds American (RAI) (64 cents vs. 55 cents); U.S. Bancorp (USB) (83 cents vs. 81 cents); and American Express (AXP) (95 cents vs. $1.24).
Thursday: Alaska Air Group (ALK) ($2.04 vs. $2.16); Dunkin' Brands (DNKN) (58 cents vs. 52 cents); Illinois Tool Works (ITW) ($1.49 vs. $1.39); Textron (TXT) (59 cents vs. 53 cents); Union Pacific (UNP) ($1.49 vs. $1.50); VerizonCommunications (VZ) (99 cents vs. $1.04); and Walgreens Boots Alliance(WBA) (99 cents vs. 88 cents).
Friday: General Electric (GE) (30 cents vs. 32 cents); Honeywell International (HON) ($1.63 vs. $1.57); and McDonald's (MCD) ($1.49 vs. $1.40).
For the complete article please visit
thestreet.com
