Three themes to keep in mind this year. First, a stronger U.S. dollar as a result of economic and monetary divergence would put more downward pressure on commodity prices. Oil, natural gas and copper fell to multi-year lows last week. Second, we favor a more cyclical stance within U.S. equities. We continue to see opportunities in ‘old technology’ firms and in financials. Third, look for markets with tailwinds, either in the form of monetary stimulus or structural reforms. For example: Japan, emerging markets within Asia.
Source: Bloomberg.
Russ Koesterich, CFA, is the Chief Investment Strategist for BlackRock. He is a regular contributor to The Blog and you can find more of his posts here.