Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

A Weekly Digest of The World's Financial Press: Barron's

Analysts are pondering the revival of interest in industrial cyclicals

Tuesday 27 April 1999 18:02 EDT
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

AT SOME point over the next five year the US economy may falter. But the setback is likely to be short-lived, and the long-term expansion that began in 1982 should persist. And over the same time frame the economies of the rest of the world will be in much better shape than today.

That scenario for the global economy seems more plausible than any other - far more so than the thick gloom that pervaded the analyst community only six months ago. And it perhaps best explains the sudden revival of industrial cyclical stocks.

Analysts have been reluctant to view the the industrial cyclicals as buying candidates. And to get back to bleak reality, while earnings have generally been looking better for these stocks one must bear in mind that almost across the board earnings are projected to be flat to lower for 1999.

So it may be premature to start buying these stocks. But timing is always a fine art and , especially with a five-year outlook, it's better to be too early than too late.

- Gene Epstein, staff writer

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in