The chances of an actual interest rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve just got real – and asset prices are on the move…
Team Yellen got a big reason to raise rates with Friday’s release of the October U.S. employment numbers. The report surpassed most estimates by adding 271,000 jobs; the consensus was for about 100,000 fewer than that.
This puts the unemployment rate at 5% – its lowest level since 2008. Markets immediately reacted with lower bond prices, lower commodity prices, and in many cases, lower stock prices.
The Fed could announce a rate hike at the end of its next policy meeting on Dec. 16. That would be especially good news for a certain U.S. industry I’ll talk about today.
One particular stock in this sector climbed 65% in a little over two years after the last rate hike. But now you have the chance to make more – and in less time. The easy options play I outline here could double your money in just weeks…
These Stocks Benefit Most from a Fed Rate Hike
The last U.S. rate hike was June 29, 2006, when Ben Bernanke and the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) raised the federal funds rate one-quarter point to 5.25%.
Markets peaked a little over a year later, climbing another 25%. The stocks that benefited the most in that time were banks and brokerages.
A lot of these firms’ profits rely on higher interest rates. As the Treasury rate climbs, most businesses see the cost to borrow money increase, which puts a damper on profits. But when you are on the other side of that coin, like banks and brokerages, you see your profits actually increase.
And the banks and brokerages that stand the most to gain are ones that are a bit of both…
Charles Schwab Corp. (SCHW) is just that. It’s a bank by default, with a few branches scattered among the United States. But its brokerage service is where it stands to rake in the profits.
