Weekly Investor – September 10, 2018
Trade Issues Weigh on U.S. Stocks
Stocks lost ground last week, after three weeks of gains, as technology stocks and trade fears drove markets lower. Internet stocks were especially weak within information technology on concern of tougher regulation, after Facebook and Twitter executives testified before Congress about their handling of election interference by Russia.
Trade fears also continued to weigh on the market as a trade deal with Canada remains unresolved and business leaders made a last-ditch effort to persuade President Trump to change course on a plan to enact $200 billion in tariffs on Chinese imports. Instead, Trump told reporters he has identified an additional $267 billion in Chinese goods to tax.
The S&P 500® Index was down -1.0% for the week. Its top-performing sectors were Utilities (1.0%) and Consumer Staples (1.0%), while bottom-performing sectors included Energy (-2.3%) and Technology (-2.9%). In the fixed-income market, the 10-year Treasury yield was up, ending at more than 2.9%.
We continue to seek companies that reflect our Change-BasedSM investment approach.
Changes in Progress for Wynn Resorts
Founded in 2002, Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) develops, owns and operates luxury destination casino resorts. The company has two segments, Macau Operations in China and Las Vegas Operations in Nevada.
For the past two years, Wynn has executed on its business plan, driven by strong growth in its key gaming region of Macau. Because of those growth prospects, Wynn recently opened a second casino in Macau, even as the company began construction on a new property in Boston. Meanwhile, Wynn continues to evaluate additional growth opportunities around the world. Because of these positive developments, Argent believes Wynn has room to continue improving its results and fits in well with our Change-BasedSM investment approach.
Top 5 Equity Holdings
Large Cap Growth
| Alphabet Inc. (Google) | 7.6% |
| Post Holdings Inc. | 5.1% |
| Baxter International | 4.8% |
| Mastercard Inc. | 4.3% |
| First Data Corporation | 4.2% |
Small Cap Core
| Fortinet Inc. | 3.7% |
| Health Insurance Innovations | 2.9% |
| Wintrust Financial Corp. | 2.9% |
| Merit Medical Systems | 2.5% |
| PetIQ Inc. | 2.4% |
Dividend Select
| JP Morgan Chase & Co. | 5.7% |
| ConocoPhillips | 4.2% |
| Occidental Petroleum | 4.1% |
| Target Corporation | 4.1% |
| Pfizer Inc. | 4.0% |
Mid Cap
| NVIDIA Corporation | 3.4% |
| Cintas Corporation | 3.4% |
| NetApp Inc. | 3.2% |
| Amedysis Inc. | 3.1% |
| CDW Corporation | 3.1% |
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.
