Roger S. Conrad

Last month, Aggressive Holding AES Corp (NYSE: AES) bought a 183-megawatt capacity wind power facility in Mississippi from Vestas Wind Systems (Denmark: VWS, OTC: VWSYF). It started up 96 MW of solar/storage projects in Massachusetts and New York. And it forged a consortium with Clearway Energy (NYSE: CWEN) to buy 7 gigawatts of solar panels annually from US manufacturers starting in 2024.

First, let’s look at the record. For the first six months of 2022, the Conservative Holdings returned an average of 4.3 percent. The Aggressive Holdings were up 0.44 percent. And the Top 10 DRIPs—which feature a fair amount of overlap with the Conservative Holdings—were ahead by 5.31 percent.

Recession may not be inevitable for the US economy this year. But with the US Federal Reserve doing its best Paul Volcker impression, it’s well past time for investors to prepare against the worst.

The highest inflation rate in 40 years plus, the worst bond market meltdown in decades, increasingly unpredictable and sometimes aggressive US regulation, war in Europe, the highest oil and gas prices since 2008 and now rising recession risk, as the US Federal Reserve jacks up interest rates to slow inflation.

After trading at extreme and unsustainably high prices for months and months, many best-in-class REITs are once again trading at good entry points for investors. But wise selection of individual REITs is more critical than ever.

Jagged daily volatility has become the rule for stocks this spring, including dividend payers backed by the steadiest of businesses. That’s historically been a classic sign the market has entered a bearish phase.

But if you have the courage, energy and wisdom to pick your own stocks, it’s hardly a sign to head for the hills. In fact, opportunities abound for both buying low and selling high.

Last month’s Labor Party’s victory in parliamentary elections is a sea change for Australian energy policy. And long-suffering shareholders of AGL Energy (ASX: AGL, OTC: AGLXY) are now uniquely positioned to benefit.

The best network will win the most business: That was the underlying premise behind Verizon Communications’ (NYSE: VZ) successful rise to become America’s largest wireless company, as the leader of the previous decade’s 4G revolution.

Is this a bear market rally, or the start of another leg of the bull market that started in March 2009? How you answer that question will probably depend on what stocks you currently own.