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It's foolish for investors to try to time the next recession - here's a surefire 3-part strategy UBS says can thrive in any environment
When investors look back on 2018, they'll most likely think of it as the year when there was nowhere to hide.
US equities are headed for their worst year in a decade, while international stocks and bonds are also on pace to finish negative for 2018. That widespread weakness has, in turn, dragged down the performance of balanced portfolios whose diversification is supposed to insulate them from difficult markets.
And unfortunately for investors seeking returns anywhere they can find them, it's anyone's guess how 2019 will unfold.
Michael Crook, the head of Americas investment strategy at UBS, could see stock performance going either way. On one hand, he notes that the combination of recent selling and strong expected earnings growth makes equity valuations attractive. But on the other, he recognizes that a bear market could strike "some time in the near future."
What Crook does know for sure is that it's a fool's errand to try to perfectly time an economic recession and whatever market pullback accompanies it. And, by that same logic, he says it's inadvisable to ignore mounting external pressure in favor of seemingly strong fundamentals.
So what's the solution? Crook says investors should consider UBS' so-called 3L strategy.
Famous short seller Andrew Left says the marijuana producer that was recently hit by short sellers is primed to be taken over by Diageo
Famous short seller Andrew Left is going long on a marijuana stock that was recently targeted by short sellers.
Left's firm, Citron Research, on Tuesday afternoon released a bullish report on the Canadian marijuana producer Aphria.
"Expect an $APHA major partnership or total buyout SOON," Citron tweeted on Tuesday, touting the report.
Citron's report says Aphria's stock, now trading around $5.93, will go north of $8 by year-end. Perhaps more impactful, Citron says Aphria could be an acquisition target for a major consumer packaged goods company - or even another marijuana producer.
Facebook slides after acknowledging it gave Netflix and Spotify access to user messages
Facebook shares were lower Wednesday, down 2.05% at $140.73 a share, after the company said that other companies, namely Netflix and Spotify, were able to access user messages.
"Did partners get access to messages? Yes," the company wrote in a blog post.
"But people had to explicitly sign in to Facebook first to use a partner's messaging feature. Take Spotify for example. After signing in to your Facebook account in Spotify's desktop app, you could then send and receive messages without ever leaving the app. Our API provided partners with access to the person's messages in order to power this type of feature."
Wednesday's selling comes after shares had a rally off their November lows, gaining as much as 16%.
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