Stocks heating up in summer months
Summer is often associated with a slump, but as CNN’s Paul La Monica points out, that has been far from the case this year. In fact, many stocks are having not only strong summers, but reaching all-time highs in the process.
Even stranger is the fact that the summer slump actually held throughout June, when the Dow Jones and S&P 500 both dipped to values as low as they’ve been since April. Then, seemingly without warning, they shot back up to heat up along with the July weather.
If you look at the stocks that have hit all-time highs recently, they’re a diverse group except in the fact that they are usually consistent, long-haul investments marked by dividend returns more than the possibility for quick profits.
They include Hershey (HSY), JM Smucker (SJM), General Mills (GIS), and Kroger (KR) in the food and grocery area, along with Hanesbrands (HBI), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and United Health (UNH), for good measure. It’s not usual to see that many stocks hit record highs in such a short period, especially when they consist of longtime brands like Johnson & Johnson or General Mills.
What’s even harder to grasp is that the upswing has not left behind recent disappointments like Facebook (FB) and Apple (AAPL), neither of which have exactly been capitalizing on a 2013 that has been kind to other tech stocks. Facebook saw a sharp rise after their earnings report was released, but still, the gain for both companies has been surprising.
Now, it can get a bit tricky here, because the rise for those longtime household brand companies can actually be a factor of not only their safeness, but the prevailing attitude in the market. Investors are looking for sure things and dividends right now, indicating that they may not trust 2013 all-stars like Amazon (AMZN), Netflix (NFLX), or Tesla (TSLA).
Whenever I have good news to report, I tend to stress the fact that investors in an economy that is still struggling to rebound are happy with any good news, as they should be. So, even though there may be a dark cloud on the horizon when it comes to confidence in star tech stocks, it’s always good to see tried and true brands coming through big-time and posting record highs. And hey, you can’t complain about a July like the one that we’ve been having. We’ll take what we can get, because we have no choice.
