Last week, on April 7, I told you I thought we were “at the cusp of an enormous market reversal.”

By that, I meant that we’re shifting away from the absolute obsession with the Magnificent Seven. Growth stocks just aren’t going to be the market’s one-and-only focus anymore.

It’s time for real estate investment trusts (“REITs”) and other dividend-paying value investments to shine again.

However, I don’t think that’s the only major change we’re in for. There are so many other shifts we need to pay attention to.

We’re living through absolutely unprecedented times. And it’s absolutely crucial not to get distracted by the sideshow guessing games going on right now.

Will the markets go up today? Or won’t they? If they drop (again), how far will they fall? If they rise, is it a blip? Or has the market actually found a bottom?

Spending too much time and energy on those questions is, at best, a great way to not make money. At worst, you’ll flat-out lose.

Unbridled investment fear usually has that effect.

Nick Ward, my fellow Wide Moat Research analyst, wrote about this on Friday:

No, there are never guarantees of success in the stock market. All equities are risk assets. There’s no way around that.

But when it comes to fear, I’m a firm believer that, no, this time isn’t different.

It never is.

Then he says this:

There’s always a reason to be fearful. But American ingenuity has always overcome these hurdles.

I’m still a believer in American Exceptionalism.

I couldn’t agree more. Despite all the drama going on right now, that concept is shaping up to become an intense reality.

And one I don’t want any of us to miss out on. So let’s discuss what’s going on behind the fear and confusion.

Production Opportunities Keep Coming In

While the markets panic over President Trump’s global tariffs… celebrate over his 90-day pause for most of them… panic again when he goes even harder on China for retaliating against him… and then celebrate again because of his pause on tech goods…

My main attention is elsewhere. I can’t help but notice how many companies and countries are coming to the table to make world-changing deals.

Take Swiss-based Novartis’ (NVS) big announcement last week. It’s the world’s seventh-largest pharmaceutical company, with 2024 revenue of $50.32 billion.

For reference’s sake, the sixth-largest is fellow Swiss entity Roche, which brought in $52.45 billion. And the biggest dog of the bunch is the U.S.-based Merck (MRK) at $64.17 billion. So listing in seventh is still quite a big deal in this sector.

Even if it wasn’t though, any $23 billion pledge is a significant one.

That’s how much Novartis just said it would invest into the U.S. by building seven new facilities – six being manufacturing plants – and expanding already existing ones over the next several years. The company estimates its commitment will create almost 1,000 jobs directly and 4,000 total including construction and partnerships.

That’s just the latest Trump-era announcement of a foreign company committing to make America great again. On March 24, I wrote how Hyundai plans to boost its production in Georgia…

How Honda Motor (HMC) will invest $4.5 billion in Ohio…

Volkswagen will build a $2 billion electric-vehicle plant in South Carolina…

And Volvo will expand production in South Carolina…

Now Nissan is considering shifting some of its production to the U.S. And, just days ago, BMW said it was considering boosting output at its plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina – my hometown – by 80,000 units.

(By the way, I welcome any of my readers to join me for coffee anytime you’re in “Sparkle City!”)

Plus, there are plenty of non-car companies mulling over similar moves, as I also reported three weeks ago.

I’m guessing these growing announcements are why Amazon (AMZN) wants to spend $15 billion to expand its warehouse network throughout the U.S. Bloomberg reported that on Wednesday, noting how the global giant is shopping around for capital partners to fund the potential investment.

There’s absolutely no way it would be doing so unless it expected significant economic expansion here at home.

As a side note, I imagine that one of my favorite REITs, Realty Income (O), will make a move via the sale-leaseback model. It’s a topic I wrote about earlier this month, which you can read about right here.

The World Does Want Its Piece of the American Exceptionalism Pie

Here’s another thing you’re not hearing enough about: Outside of China – which I’m not saying to ignore – most other countries seem very willing to make nice with Trump in this whole tariffs exchange.

The European Union, for instance, announced on Thursday that it wants “to give negotiations a chance.” That was a mere day after it passed fairly weak retaliatory tariffs against the U.S.

Sure, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen talked tough about what might happen after Trump’s 90-day pause. But the fact that the E.U.’s initial “punishment” was a mere fraction of the U.S.’s tariffs is rather telling.

Meanwhile, Australia just openly declined China’s (attempted) rallying cry to create a resistance pact against the U.S. This is a very big deal considering how China is its biggest trading partner.

Yet when Ambassador Xiao Qian declared that “the only way” to deal with Trump’s “hegemonic and bullying behavior” was to join forces, Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles responded that his country wouldn’t be “holding China’s hand.”

As for the rest of the world, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Thursday:

We have so many countries to talk to. They have come with offers that they never, ever, ever would’ve come with but for the moves that the president has made demanding that people treat the United States with respect.

Again, this isn’t to discount the pain we could very well feel from surging trade animosity with China. I have absolutely no idea how much higher either side will go before someone cries “Uncle.”

But as everyone else lowers tariffs and taxes against American exports, it will give greater incentive to make products here. In which case, we’re going to see even more investments – complete with individual job creation and national economic expansion – than the ones I’ve already listed.

That’s where all the evidence is pointing. And I’ll keep directing your attention right to it until all this drama is said and done.

In short, there are opportunities unfolding everywhere.

Ignore them at your own risk.

Regards,

Brad Thomas
Editor, Wide Moat Daily

P.S. Stay tuned for my YouTube show this week, where Nick Ward and I will discuss private versus public real estate investing. You’d better believe there are profitable details in that discussion.

MAILBAG

What other opportunities do you think could be unfolding behind the scenes? Write us at [email protected].