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Weekly Investor

Weekly Investor – February 27, 2017

28 February 2017

 

All Eyes on Trump

U.S equity markets moved mostly higher for the fifth consecutive week. The S&P 500® Index is up over 6% for the year and the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed to another record close at 20,821.  Large cap stocks drove performance while mid and small cap indexes traded flat and lower for the week.  Gold rose during the week and closed at $1,255 an ounce, a level not observed since November of last year.  Additionally, existing home and new single-family home sales registered increases in January.  Looking ahead, investors will pay close attention when President Trump gives his first major address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday.  The nation and investors will be listening for detailed plans regarding the new administration’s economic agenda.  Stay tuned…

The S&P 500® Index was up 0.7 % for the week. The top-performing sectors in the S&P 500® Index included Utilities (4.0%) and Telecommunications (2.4%), while bottom-performing sectors included Financials (-0.1%) and Energy (-1.3%). In the fixed-income market, the 10-year Treasury yield was down during the week, ending at 2.3%.

We continue to seek those companies possessing identifiable catalysts, and focusing on those stocks with favorable odds.


Industry Changes

Ciena Corporation (CIEN) provides equipment, software and services that support the transport, switching, aggregation, service delivery and management of voice, video and data traffic on communications networks worldwide.  CIEN was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in Hanover, Maryland.

We have added CIEN to our portfolio as digital traffic is expected to grow exponentially in the coming years. Going forward, we believe carriers, cable operators and businesses will need to sustain a level of communication infrastructure much different than was needed previously. Changes in communication for these industries translate to higher spending in order to upgrade existing networks.   Within communication infrastructure, CIEN is offering a platform of products and software which allow for higher network efficiency.  Thus, we believe CIEN stands to benefit from industry changes and has the potential to gain market share and sustain growth above peer levels.

 

Top 10 Equity Holdings


.
Alphabet, Inc. (Google, Inc.) 6.8%
Post Holdings, Inc. 4.2%
Baxter International Inc. 4.1%
Masco Corporation 4.0%
Marvell Technology Group 4.0%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. 3.9%
ON Semiconductor Corp. 3.9%
CBS Corporation 3.8%
Lincoln National 3.8%
Skyworks Solutions, Inc. 3.7%

This newsletter presents selected recommendations from portfolio managers of Argent Capital Management LLC, a registered investment advisor. Opinions reflect the portfolio manager’s judgment on the date above and are subject to change. A list of stocks recommended by Argent is available upon request. You should not assume that these recommendations are or will be profitable. In the course of it’s business, Argent’s client accounts may be buying and selling these stocks.