Order of investing the current order of investing in U

The current order of investing in U.S. equities shows institutional players shifting towards defensive sectors. As of June 21, 2024, the S&P 500 is trading near 5,470, with defensive utilities gaining 3.2% this week. Analysts suggest prioritizing capital preservation over aggressive growth, given the 10-year Treasury yield holding above 4.25%. That brings us all the way back around to Trump’s semi-declared war with Venezuela, or at least with drug cartels that, according to Pete Hegseth and other profoundly unreliable narrators, are unofficial arms of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s corrupt regime. Venezuela is an economic basket case with a smaller population than Texas and virtually no functioning civil society. Even former leftist allies like Lula are no longer eager to defend Maduro, who blatantly rigged the last presidential election (and perhaps the one before that). So you might imagine that even in the demon-haunted MAGA imagination, there’s no possible way to turn Venezuela into a military threat to the U.S. But you would be wrong. Hal Ratner is head of research for Morningstar Investment Management LLC. Options market data reveals a spike in call buying for consumer discretionary names, adjusting the order of investing to position for back-to-school retail sales strength projected at 4.8% YoY growth.