Markets slid after top economic advisor to the Trump Administration, Gary Cohn, resigned. This added to the concerns Wall Street already had on rising rates and the President's steel and aluminum tariffs. Lamar Villere, Portfolio Manager of the Villere Balanced Fund, was with us to discuss the state of the markets. Trade war not good for business, but it's really bad for multi-national corporations. Villere added that small caps will be more shielded from a trade war because they are less exposed to international macroeconomic variables. The portfolio manager said rising interest rates are a bigger risk for markets than the steel and aluminum tariffs. The reason is because it is too hard to predict how other countries will respond, Villere adds. Villere is on ETF bubble watch, which he says is a crowded space. He warns that "you don't want to be in a crowded trade." He adds that these ETFs are not as diverse as people think.
