A chief market strategist said the Federal Reserve’s massive 50 basis point interest rate cut last Wednesday surprised some market observers, and shared where and how he’s investing in this environment. SlateStone Wealth’s Kenney said the U.S. was “five weeks away from a very chaotic presidential election… The Fed should never have been so close to raising or cutting rates. What they did was cut rates sharply.” Porcari said on September 9 Interviewed on CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia” program on September 19th. Federal Reserve Chairman Powell emphasized that a sharp interest rate cut does not mean that the risk of economic recession has increased. “You’re going to see steady growth. You’re going to see inflation coming down. You’re going to see the labor market remain at a very stable level. So, I don’t really see that right now,” he said. Sector Preference When asked how he allocates his portfolio against this backdrop, Porcari said the majority of his investments are in equities, with a smaller portion in fixed income. Sector-wise, he eschewed technology stocks in favor of utilities, “high-dividend energy stocks,” consumer staples, financials and basic materials. These are “areas in the market that are likely to do well even if the economy slows down,” Polcari said. (I’m) going to give tech stocks a break (and) let it fall back before I add more money.” ‘Perfect Stocks’ He Bets Stocks covered include Energy Transfer, a midstream energy services company. Polcari sees it as the “perfect stock” to weather falling interest rates. He likes that it’s “best in class” and pays a “decent dividend of 7.99%.” Energy Transfer shares are up about 17.4% since the beginning of the year. Of the 20 analysts covering the stock, 18 have buy or overweight ratings and two have hold ratings, according to FactSet data. Analysts’ average price target is $19.25, with potential upside of nearly 19%. Another stock that Polcari likes is biopharmaceutical company Amgen because the company is developing new products. These include a glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) drug called MariTide, which can be injected once a month, unlike other drugs on the market that require weekly dosing; and a Diet pills are undergoing trials by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. He added that the company expected “positive results early next year.” Amgen shares are up more than 17% so far this year. FactSet data shows that Amgen’s average price target is $325.33, down 3.6%. ‘Special offer’ As for technology, Porcari likes ASML, which he says is on “special offer.” He explained that the stock “is down about 20% to 25% or so, and it’s very much like Nvidia — it’s at the nexus of the entire tech industry.” ASML’s shares trade on Euronext Amsterdam and Nasdaq. Year-to-date, its shares are up about 5.1%. Of the 38 analysts covering the stock, 29 have a buy or overweight rating, 8 have a hold rating and 1 has an underweight rating. FactSet data shows that the average price target for ASML is 1,057.52 euros ($1,170), with upside potential of 46.2%. The Dutch company makes high-tech machines that the world’s largest chipmakers rely on to make the most advanced chips. ASML will become one of the names like Nvidia as “companies around the world and across industries are using artificial intelligence to transform[their]businesses.” road. –CNBC’s Sean Conlon reports.
