It’s impossible to fully separate investing from politics. Just in the last few quarters, we’ve seen interest rates, tariff impacts and tax reform all move broad markets. For individual companies, political moves can have big and small impacts, whether it’s tax rate changes, regulatory enforcement or policy changes that impact growth prospects.
Some companies intrinsically have more political exposure than others. Defense contractors like Lockheed Martin (LMT) and Raytheon (RTN) depend heavily on federal government budgets. Marijuana stocks will move greatly over the next few years depending on the pace of legalization worldwide.
These 15 companies, however, are not generally among those with the highest political risk (or reward). Nevertheless, they will be watching political trends particularly close in 2019. With split government returning to the U.S., upheaval in Europe and tariff-driven worries in Asia, there’s no shortage of potential political news on the horizon. That news could hurt — or help — these stocks in 2019, and beyond. Check them out!
