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On today’s episode of Free Lunch, Ryan McQueeney sits with Zacks Chief Equity Strategist John Blank to discuss the top five financial news stories of 2018: the inverse VIX implosion, Facebook, trade wars, the Disney-Fox deal, and the Fed.
Free Lunch is presented by Zacks Investment Research. It is streamed live, four times per week, and features breaking news and analysis from Zacks strategists. Free Lunch is available on YouTube, Twitter, and other major streaming platforms.
2018 has been a wild ride for investors, and that ride included a handful of major stories that significantly influenced our sentiment and understanding of the financial markets.
Notably, February’s correction caused a historic spike in the CBOE Volatility Index, also known as the VIX. This surge essentially broke the inverse VIX instruments that drove the “short volatility” trade, which had become a huge business on Wall Street during multi-year stretches of calmness. One popular inverse VIX ETN actually went to $0, and some traders lost millions of dollars overnight.
The broader market eventually recovered from the February selloff, but drama at certain market-leading companies—such as Facebook —kept the threat of more selling present at all times.
Facebook’s woes started in March, when it was first reported that political data firm Cambridge Analytica had inappropriately accessed information about millions of Facebook users. Questions about Facebook’s handling of user data continued to crop up throughout the year, with concerning new reports emerging as recently as this week.
Meanwhile, another segment of the tech sector was in flux this year, as Disney’s (DIS - Free Report) plans to buy 21st Century Fox (FOXA - Free Report) assets culminated with the reveal of its upcoming over-the-top streaming service. Streaming media was more disruptive and impactful than ever before in 2018, and investors will likely feel its effects again in the New Year.
And while these headlines played out, two massive macroeconomic stories developed over several months: U.S. trade antagonism and the Federal Reserve’s shifting monetary policy.
The White House went to bat against basically any trade partner it could find, including Mexico, Canada, Europe, and China. The results so far have been mixed. These partners have certainly felt some pain, and a few key domestic industries have been hurt by rising input costs. A few updates to old policy were shaped into a “new Nafta,” and there are plans to hash out an agreement with China soon. A complete and long-term solution to these trade disputes continues to look uncertain, however.
This has added to the growing list of economic questions for the Fed to consider. Nevertheless, as we learned just yesterday, the central bank remains on course to tighten monetary policy and raise rates again—albeit with less rate hikes planned for next year than previously thought.
Together, Ryan and John recap the aforementioned stories and chat about what lessons each of them taught investors throughout the course of the year.
Today's Stocks from Zacks' Hottest Strategies
It's hard to believe, even for us at Zacks. But while the market gained +21.9% in 2017, our top stock-picking screens have returned +115.0%, +109.3%, +104.9%, +98.6%, and +67.1%.
And this outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon. Over the years it has been remarkably consistent. From 2000 - 2017, the composite yearly average gain for these strategies has beaten the market more than 19X over. Maybe even more remarkable is the fact that we're willing to share their latest stocks with you without cost or obligation.
The Top 5 Financial News Stories of 2018
On today’s episode of Free Lunch, Ryan McQueeney sits with Zacks Chief Equity Strategist John Blank to discuss the top five financial news stories of 2018: the inverse VIX implosion, Facebook, trade wars, the Disney-Fox deal, and the Fed.
Want more video content from Zacks? Subscribe to Zacks Investment News now!
Free Lunch is presented by Zacks Investment Research. It is streamed live, four times per week, and features breaking news and analysis from Zacks strategists. Free Lunch is available on YouTube, Twitter, and other major streaming platforms.
2018 has been a wild ride for investors, and that ride included a handful of major stories that significantly influenced our sentiment and understanding of the financial markets.
Notably, February’s correction caused a historic spike in the CBOE Volatility Index, also known as the VIX. This surge essentially broke the inverse VIX instruments that drove the “short volatility” trade, which had become a huge business on Wall Street during multi-year stretches of calmness. One popular inverse VIX ETN actually went to $0, and some traders lost millions of dollars overnight.
The broader market eventually recovered from the February selloff, but drama at certain market-leading companies—such as Facebook —kept the threat of more selling present at all times.
Facebook’s woes started in March, when it was first reported that political data firm Cambridge Analytica had inappropriately accessed information about millions of Facebook users. Questions about Facebook’s handling of user data continued to crop up throughout the year, with concerning new reports emerging as recently as this week.
Meanwhile, another segment of the tech sector was in flux this year, as Disney’s (DIS - Free Report) plans to buy 21st Century Fox (FOXA - Free Report) assets culminated with the reveal of its upcoming over-the-top streaming service. Streaming media was more disruptive and impactful than ever before in 2018, and investors will likely feel its effects again in the New Year.
And while these headlines played out, two massive macroeconomic stories developed over several months: U.S. trade antagonism and the Federal Reserve’s shifting monetary policy.
The White House went to bat against basically any trade partner it could find, including Mexico, Canada, Europe, and China. The results so far have been mixed. These partners have certainly felt some pain, and a few key domestic industries have been hurt by rising input costs. A few updates to old policy were shaped into a “new Nafta,” and there are plans to hash out an agreement with China soon. A complete and long-term solution to these trade disputes continues to look uncertain, however.
This has added to the growing list of economic questions for the Fed to consider. Nevertheless, as we learned just yesterday, the central bank remains on course to tighten monetary policy and raise rates again—albeit with less rate hikes planned for next year than previously thought.
Together, Ryan and John recap the aforementioned stories and chat about what lessons each of them taught investors throughout the course of the year.
Today's Stocks from Zacks' Hottest Strategies
It's hard to believe, even for us at Zacks. But while the market gained +21.9% in 2017, our top stock-picking screens have returned +115.0%, +109.3%, +104.9%, +98.6%, and +67.1%.
And this outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon. Over the years it has been remarkably consistent. From 2000 - 2017, the composite yearly average gain for these strategies has beaten the market more than 19X over. Maybe even more remarkable is the fact that we're willing to share their latest stocks with you without cost or obligation.
See Them Free>>