By
Steve Muchoki
April 16th, 2024
As Donald Trump has threatened to target 52 Iranian cites and just recently organized a bombing which killed its major general Qassem Soleimani, the prices for gold and oil have jumped quite a bit.
The geopolitical tensions are high as Iran said that it will no longer abide by uranium enrichment limits and Donald Trump has claimed to attack them like “they’ve never been before”.
While this is happening, WTI oil prices increased by as much as 2% overnight (and it is quite impressive, right?) as Brent Crude topped $70 per barrel. Since September this is the first time that such a situation has happened. Also, it’s worth mentioning that gold managed to almost reach $1,600/ounce which is the highest mark where it has been in seven years. But is only gold and oil worth being viewed as a variant for an investment?
The U.S. has just recently spent $2 trillion on military equipment. That means that defense stocks could be a winning trade in 2020. The iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF has rallied more than 70% since Trump was elected while the S&P 500 is up around 50% in that time.
Another thing to look after is cinema stocks. Sony Pictures and Universal took home the top prizes for the best picture in their categories at the Golden Globes. Since Netflix had the most nominations (17) and it took home only two, this could be a sign that people would be betting on film studio success in 2020.
Also, Bed Bath & Beyond apparently has signed a deal to sell roughly half of its real estate to private-equity firm Oak Street. That is including its headquarters, a distribution facility and an undisclosed number of its 1,500 stores. They will then lease backspace in a transaction that will generate more than $250M in proceeds, which will be used to repay debt, buy back shares and fund a turnaround effort under new CEO Mark Tritton. The company is also expected to evaluate the rest of its real estate and retail concepts like Buy Buy Baby and Harmon drugstores.
A thing to look out for is France’s recent decision to retaliate digital tax.
“If the Americans decide to go ahead and impose sanctions… in this case, we would retaliate,” warned French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire on Monday.
Washington has threatened to impose duties of up to 100% on imports of champagne, handbags and other French products worth $2.4B after a government investigation found the tax would harm U.S. tech companies.
And to finish off, let us mention that Cannabis ETF is entering Europe. Canadian fund group “Purpose Investments” has decided to launch Europe’s first Cannabis ETF. It is set to launch on January 13. Washington has threatened to impose duties of up to 100% on imports of champagne, handbags and other French products worth $2.4B after a government investigation found the tax would harm U.S. tech companies.