A fiscal cliff investment strategy
Retail is the sector to play if our elected leaders can't reach a deal.
Let's say all goes badly and we go over the cliff. What do you do? Given the mercurial nature of politics, you need a plan that embraces the short-selling or put buying of the segment that would miss numbers anyway, even if the cliff were resolved, so that if we get a blip up on a solution the group can be re-shorted into strength.
That group is retail.
My preferred way to execute this strategy is to sell short or buy puts on the Market Vectors Retail ETF (RTH). Here's why:
First, we know that somebody's going to get hurt: the poor, the middle class or the rich -- maybe all three. They will all react by saving more until the coast is clear. That's terrible for retail, all retail, but especially the dollar stores, which have acted terribly, and the discounters -- think Wal-Mart (WMT) and Target (TGT).
Second, the weather was so bad, and the psyche so negative -- look at retail correlative Consumer Confidence -- that you can't own the strugglers: Best Buy (BBY), Bed Bath &Beyond (BBBY), Kohl's (KSS), or even good ones like Ross Stores (ROST). I would point out that Macy's (M) fares badly in this world, too, with a heavy coat segment that must be discounted.
All of these would be short-term plays. And if you are worried, I would go long Costco (COST) as a hedge because I believe it is the default play for shoppers.
I would do this trade right away and double down next week if there is a cliff jump because I believe you will get a barrage of number cuts that will make things easy to stay short.
I am making no judgments on the resolution of the cliff itself, just on the quarters to be reported because of a uniquely poor set of circumstances that will hit a reset button on the whole cohort. It can be looked at to the long side once the numbers are through cutting and the inventory is worked down to where gross margins can expand again.
Jim Cramer is a co-founder of TheStreet and contributes daily market commentary to the financial news network's sites. Follow his trades for Action Alerts PLUS, which Cramer co-manages as a charitable trust and has no positions in stocks mentioned.
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Hillary Clinton is in the hospital with a blood clot due to her concussion.Everybody on Fox said she was faking her illness.Everything is a conspiracy with the far right.Hannity,O`reilly,
etc,etc on thatfascist station should beg her for forgiveness.Those scumbags never
will.Their true colors came out once again.
Endumber says - Today's is the end of the Republican Party if no agreement to the fiscal cliff is made. Oh, the joy of it all!
Just think Endumber all those conservative republicans will be your new democratic brothers and sisters. Of course they will still vote along the line you can't stand and of course they will still elect people you hate but they will be called democrats.
Brutus assuming you meant a decade thereabouts, not really trying to be correcting, but we probably won't be here for another millennium.....Maybe Earth won't??
There have been many adjustments to the S&P 500...And other Indices.
And Values on Equities have changed several times..
And it doesn't take into Account: splits, dividends,special payments,etc.,etc.
If you were invested in a broader group like the S&P.....MORE THEN LIKELY your value has at least doubled monetarily since then....In some cases possibly tripled if real lucky...
But that would take a little trading and re-adjusting, manipulation and re-investing dividends.
Don't let people like RANDALL drag you DOWN, Man...
.......Obama's legacy is a 16 Trillion dollar debt and growing.................
Congress is a complete inflexible mess. They vote for their party...not what is good for the country. Insane debt like this is never good and the plan is to increase the debt with marginal potential cost cutting is completely inadequate.
We're going over the fiscal cliff and on Wedesday will probably have a 400+ point drop and end on Friday being down 1000 points. The plan is to dump stocks today and pick them up for a bargain late this week.
Happy New Year's to all...and lets hope the 4-years of Obama passes VERY quickly!!
"Stocks haven't been a great investment this millenium. More than likely, their long-term performance will continue to be lackluster for the foreseeable future.
S&P 500
December 31, 1999 - 1415
December 31, 2012 - 1408"
Sure, if you only want to look at the idices. Next time try factoring in dividend payments and their reinvestment. You do know how compounding works, no? I've done quite well in the market over the last decade.
Let's say all goes badly and we go over the cliff. What do you do?
We've already gone over the cliff. It's just becoming clear to those that have been wearing rose colored glasses. We can't expect 3-4% economic growth when our population is growing at 1%. We need to be happy with 2% growth but with automation that the Boomers put in place that means 7-9% perpetual unemployment. We can print money and tax to redistribute the existing wealth but we're still headed towards a fate much like Europe. We must cut defense spending back to 2000 levels of 3% GDP which will save $160b a year. No more Christian Crusades to protect Israel, Jerusalem or Saudi oil. We'll have enough oil if we focus on alternative energy and quit sailing our Navy around the globe like England, France and Spain did during their empire days. Happy New Year!
MG hit it right on the head: PAY DOWN (OFF) YOUR DEBT ! But split the expense of arming yourself with planting a full garden: Tomatoes, onions, assorted beans, corn (if you have the room) a complete herb selection, lettuce's, ect........
Do it now and don't wait or react to what the Government, farmers, businesses might do; Make your own moves, on your own time line.
You must ask yourself, "Do you have faith in our government to solve this fiscal cliff ? If the answer is NO- better get busy !
The best startegy is to hunker down, PAY OFF DEBT. Buy guns/ammo, specie and foreign stocks.
We cannot continue to Borrow and Spend our way out of debt. We cannot Tax our way to prosperity. We cannot Print our way to prosperity either. Only the imbecile Obama believes this is the road to prosperity.
Do what you want, but in the end Obamanomics will send us into a depression.
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