Will Commodities Surprise Investors In 2018?

• (0:45) - Gold Rally In December
• (5:00) - Outlook For Mining Stocks
• (11:00) - Commodities To Watch In 2018
• (13:20) - Strength of the FANG Going Into 2018
• (18:00) - Increased Consumer Spending
• (21:30) - Auto Industry Outlook
• (27:20) - Possible 2018 IPOs
• (30:30) - Episode Roundup: Podcast@Zacks.com

Welcome to Episode #113 of the Zacks Market Edge Podcast.

Every week, host and Zacks stock strategist, Tracey Ryniec, will be joined by guests to discuss the hottest investing topics in stocks, bonds and ETFs and how it impacts your life.

In this episode, Tracey is joined by David Bartosiak, the Editor of Zacks Momentum Trader and Surprise Trader portfolios, to discuss the hot trends in investing in 2018.

Metals Were the Quiet Winners

Some of the big commodity winners of 2017 were the metals:

1. Palladium up 54%

2. Copper up 31%

3. Gold up 13%

Gold (V:GLD) had quite the rally to close out the year, rising 4.4% in the last 3 weeks to re-take the $1300 an ounce level.

2018 marks the fourth-time gold will open a new year trading above $1300.

Yet, investors have virtually ignored the gold miners.

Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) was up just 2.4% in December. It didn’t even test the 1-year highs.

Freeport McMoran (NYSE:FCX) , however, which mines gold, copper and has some energy exposure, soared 39% in December to a new 2-year high.

Crude also rallied big in December 2017 to finish above $60 for the first time in 2 ½ years. As a result, many energy stocks also rallied big to end the year.

But What About FANG?

FANG stocks were big winners in 2017. Should you still be in them in 2018?

Are these stocks the new blue chips where you buy and hold for decades?

Auto Stocks in Trouble in 2018?

Dave, as many of you know, loves cars. Over the holidays, he was persuaded to buy his dream car.

They made it, almost, too easy for him to buy.

Is that a sign of a hot car market or a sign of the desperation at the end of the cycle?

Tracey and Dave talked about Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) and Ferrari (NYSE:RACE) in several 2017 podcasts. Ferrari shares were up 80% last year.

Revisiting them in 2018, are they still as bullish? Should you be buying the car stocks this year?

There’s a lot already going on in 2018. Find out what else Tracey and Dave are looking at on this week’s podcast.

[In full disclosure, Tracey owns shares of FB, GOOGL and AMZN in her personal portfolio mentioned in this podcast.]

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