Per the latest survey by The Wall Street Journal and NBC News on Aug 26, President Donald Trump’s approval rating remained unaffected by the recent controversies the he found himself embroiled in. This comes as no surprise, given the fact that Trump has delivered on a lot of his promises dating back to his campaign trail.
Moreover, this bodes well for the economy and in turn the stock market because major indices have breached numerous records post Trump’s ascension to America’s presidency. Further, the U.S. GDP in the second quarter, expanded at its fastest pace in the last four years. Given such factors, investing in stocks of companies headquartered within the United States seems prudent.
Trump’s Job Approval Rating Remains Strong
A recent survey on Donald Trump’s performance as the President revealed that about 44% of Americans had favorable views. Notably, the survey was taken after Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign chairman, pleaded guilty to fraud charges and Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer, was convicted on tax and campaign finance fraud.
Further, earlier last week, just before the legal proceedings, the NBC conducted job approval rating survey on Trump stood at 46%. Despite a 2% decline, the change is well within the survey’s margin of error. It therefore does not change the fact that almost half of the Americans favor Donald Trump.
Trump’s pro-growth policies have proven a catalyst to economic growth. The landmark tax reform bill has provided the much-required impetus to stocks trading on American bourses. Notably, the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and the Nasdaq have gained 4.7%, 7.6% and 15.4%, respectively in the year-to-date time frame.
U.S. GDP Growth Fastest Since 2014
According to the Department of Commerce’s second estimate, U.S. GDP increased at a 4.2% pace in the second quarter, reflecting an upward revision from 4.1% initially thought of. This is the sharpest pace of growth experienced since the 4.9% pace registered in the third quarter of 2014. Such developments also indicate that the economy is on track to achieve annual growth of 3%, as targeted by Trump. Additionally, for the first half of 2018, the U.S. economy expanded at 3.2%.
Strength in software investment and a reduction in import bill propelled economic growth in the second quarter. This offset a minor downward revision to consumer spending.
4 Hot Choices
Trump’s pro-growth agenda has worked wonders for the economy as a whole. The U.S. GDP in the second quarter notched up its highest pace of growth in the last four years. This indicates that the economy is on track to achieve Trump’s targeted 3% annual rate of growth. Finally, major market indices have all gained significantly since Trump’s ascension to presidency.
In this context, we have selected four stocks that are expected to gain from these factors. These stocks carry a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and have year-to-date (YTD) returns of more than 100%. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Turtle Beach Corporation HEAR is a provider of gaming headset solutions for various platforms such as video game and entertainment consoles, handheld consoles as well as personal computers.
The company is based out of San Diego, CA. The expected earnings growth rate for the current year is more than 100%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has also improved more than 100% over the past 60 days.
BioLife Solutions, Inc. BLFS is a developer and manufacturer of patented tissue hypothermic storage and cryopreservation freeze products for cells, tissues, and organs.
The company is based out of Bothell, WA. The expected earnings growth rate for the current year is more than 100%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has also improved more than 100% over the past 60 days.
IntriCon Corporation IIN is a manufacturer and developer of body-worn devices in the United States as well as across the globe.
The company is based out of Arden Hills, MN. The expected earnings growth rate for the current year is more than 100%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has improved 52.1% over the past 60 days.
Medifast, Inc. MED is a manufacturer and distributor of weight loss, weight management, healthy living products as well as other consumable health and nutritional products.
The company is based out of Baltimore, MD. The expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 96.51%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has improved 23.3% over the past 60 days.
5 Companies Verge on Apple-Like Run
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