Last week House Speaker Nancy Pelosi threw in the towel on any near-term chance for a big infrastructure spending package. The horrific jobs numbers had convinced her, she said, that sending more aid to unemployed workers and small businesses took a higher priority. And she hoped a bill focused on that problem alone would move faster through Congress.
At the same time, state after state is saying that tax revenues have dropped so precipitously sure to the coronavirus recession that they would have to cut spending for the upcoming year. (Most state constitutions require a balanced budget.) That means no new spending on roads and other infrastructure projects and probably a cut from current levels.
Shares of Vulcan Materials (VMC), the aggregates producer that is my favorite stock for playing any increase in infrastructure spending–whether for highway repairs or global warming seawalls– was up 4.55% as of 1:00 p.m. today New York time.
The stock is down 7.49% since I added it to my Jubak Picks Portfolio on February 25, 2019. The range over the last 52 weeks has been huge from a low of $65.56 to a high of $152.49.
I will add Vulcan Materials to the list of buy on the dip stocks I’m tracking as I wait for a buying opportunity. I am keeping Vulcan Materials in my long-term 50 Stocks Portfolio. The shares in that portfolio are up 3.44% since I added them on December 18, 2018.