Amid the Federal Reserve’s outsized interest rate hikes and elevated inflation, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that PPI for final demand rose 0.3% for November, while…
prices for final demand services advanced 0.4%. The measure shows price pressures cooled off but are still at an alarmingly high level.
The Fed officials have said borrowing costs will need to remain restrictive for some time. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell earlier said, “Given our progress in tightening policy, the timing of that moderation is far less significant than the questions of how much further we will need to raise rates to control inflation and the length of time it will be necessary to hold policy at a restrictive level.”
On the bright side, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) expects a significant decline in inflation next year as prices and wage growth slow down. The bank expects core personal consumption expenditure (PCE) to fall to 2.9% by December 2023. Moreover, Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi believes the economy will narrowly escape a recession.
Given this backdrop, fundamentally strong stocks Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMY), Waste Management, Inc. (WM), and Hillenbrand, Inc. (HI) might be solid buys for next year. Moreover, these companies have a significant dividend-paying record.
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMY)
BMY engages in the discovery, development, licensing, manufacture, and sale of biopharmaceutical products globally. The company’s offerings include products for hematology, oncology, cardiovascular, immunology, fibrotic, neuroscience, and COVID-19 diseases.
On November 29, 2022…
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