Eric Green, a fund manager at at Penn Capital Management Co., believes GDP “will surprise to the upside. We could grow at a 3 to 4 percent rate over the next couple of years.”
However, the caveat is how the president elect will manage the $1.1 trillion federal budget deficit – the Congressional Budget Office has cautioned that the U.S. could drop into recession if over $600 billion scheduled government-spending reductions and tax increases automatically kick in after the “Fiscal Cliff.”
Green points to manufacturers, materials producers, energy and technology sectors for the rosier outlook.
- Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEArca: XLI)
- iShares Dow Jones US Industrial Sector Index Fund (NYSEArca: IYJ)
- Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEArca: XLB)
- Vanguard Materials ETF (NYSEArca: VAW)
- Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEArca: XLE)
- Vanguard Energy Index Fund (NYSEArca: VDE)
- Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEArca: XLK)
- Vanguard Information Technology Index Fund (NYSEArca: VGT)
On the other hand, “defensive” sectors, like real-estate investment trusts, health- care providers and consumer staples, will not do as well.
- Vanguard REIT ETF (NYSEArca: VNQ)
- Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEArca: XLV)
- Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEArca: XLP)
For more information on sector funds, visit our sector ETFs category.
Max Chen contributed to this article.