I saw this on * on Sunday.MoneyTalks: Bell Potter’s...

I saw this on * on Sunday.

MoneyTalks: Bell Potter’s Grady Wulff gives market predictions for the second half, and red flags for tech stocks
What will the second half have in store for investors?How investors can play geopolitics and recession themesStockhead reached out to Bell Direct’s Grady Wulff, who gave her predictions There’s been a lot of drama in the first half of 2023, and if you had judged market performance by headlines alone, you might be forgiven for thinking that it’s been a bad year for stocks.The collapse of US and European banks, the debt ceiling drama, and persistent rate hikes from central banks – just some of the headlines markets had to contend with.And yet, the S&P 500 is up by 15% so far this year, while the Nasdaq has surged by over 30%.Back home, the ASX 200 is up with a more modest gain of just 1.5%. The Tech sector has been the hands down winner, up by 28%, while Telcos and Utilities have gained 9% and 7% respectively.So what’s to come for the second half?There will definitely be challenges ahead, but signs continue to point to a still-resilient economy.According to a note from JP Morgan, gains this strong tend to signal the bear market is over.“In the 21 other instances since 1950 that the S&P 500 has been up at least 10% or more in the first half, it’s rallied further in the second half 17 of those times, with the full year up on average +25%,” said the bank.
Geopolitics to dominate headlinesTo see what opportunities H2 may bring for Aussie investors, we reached out to Bell Direct’s market analyst, Grady Wulff.
Wulff believes that geopolitics – the continuing war between Russia and Ukraine and tensions in the Asia Pacific – will be a major theme in the second half.“Investors are looking at how countries are responding to rising geopolitical tensions, and how their defence spending strategies are going,” Wulff told *.“A lot of these countries are reassessing their capabilities and many are looking into AI capabilities.”That has put companies like ASX-listed DroneShield (ASXRO) on the map, says Wulff.“Some investors believe that investing in war theme stocks actually encourages war, but DroneShield’s technology actually protects lives by taking down autonomous drones that threaten lives.”Wulff is referring to DroneShield’s AI-powered anti-drone systems that are used to detect and destroy enemy drones or other unmanned aerial vehicles.“It’s an exciting time for DroneShield, which is one of the opportunities we see in the geopolitical tension area,” she said.
Sorry about the large text, I suck at this.