Catch up on the top industries and stocks that were impacted, or were predicted to be impacted, by the comments, actions and policies of President Trump and his administration with this weekly recap compiled by The Fly:
1. TAX PROPOSALS: On Thursday, Senate Republicans unveiled their proposal to overhaul the U.S. tax code, which differs from the previously released House tax plan in several ways, according to The Wall Street Journal. Most notably, the Senate bill would delay a corporate tax rate cut until 2019, sets a 38.5% top tax rate for individuals and preserves a seven-bracket structure. In contrast, the House bill would cut the corporate tax rate to 20% immediately and has a 39.6% top rate and a four-bracket structure, the Journal noted. Meanwhile, the House Ways & Means Committee voted on Thursday to approve the tax overhaul proposal and advance it to a floor vote, according to multiple media reports.
2. PRIVATE EQUITY: Earlier this week, Morgan Stanley analyst Michael Cyprys told investors in a research note that the House GOP tax proposal would limit interest deductibility, which has led to concerns over the future of private equity use of leverage and the potential for reduced supply in the high yield bond market. However, he thinks incrementally higher LBO funding costs and interest deductibility limitations should not be a major headwind for supply. Regardless of the final shape of a tax bill, change could create market dislocations and “there will be winners and losers,” Cyprys contended. He views Oaktree Capital (OAK) as best positioned for dislocation given its dry powder and skew toward distressed investing, but also sees Blackstone (BX) and Apollo Global (APO) as well positioned.
3. CRUISE LINES: Stifel analyst Steven Wieczynski attributed weakness seen in cruise line stocks on Friday to the fact that the recently released Senate tax reform bill had specific cruise language in it. However, he reminded investors that the initial House tax reform bill also had cruise specific language in it and “all of a sudden it disappeared,” which is what he expects to happen in the Senate as well given the industry’s lobbying power. He said he would use the weakness in shares of Carnival (CCL), Royal Caribbean (RCL) and Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH) as a buying opportunity.
