2018 was a wild year for the stock market; STZ has diverse product portfolio :)

The stock market had a lousy 2018. All three stock markets (NYSE; nasdaq; and s&p 500) were down by more than 5%. Abiomed, Macy's, McCormick, and Zoetis plus other firms posted strong gains. What about the chip sector? Chip-maker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) surged 73% in 2018. AMD is benefiting from increased demand for PCs. AMD's Ryzen chips have been taking market share from Intel. Second: in the auto world, auto parts retailers were also among the top performers in 2018. Advance Auto Parts (AAP) gained 55%, while O'Reilly Automotive (ORLY) gained 42%. In the online travel sector, TripAdvisor (TRIP) was the fourth best stock of the year. In the food and beverage world, Chipotle (CMG) gained 46% this year under new CEO Brian Niccol. Next up, let's talk about one of G. Ripley's favorite companies in the Spirits and Alcohol world. STZ is the stock symbol for Constellation Brands, and they are based in Western New York. This company owns different wines, beers like Corona; and they are invested in Cannabis. There is no smoke about that last snippet. The company is big into crown whiskey too, and their market cap is between $20-30 billion. Robert Mondavi and Kim Crawford are a few of their wine brands. In closing on STZ, keep drinking and absorbing their products because they may generate steady profits for 2019. Finally, is earnings season going to drag down the stock markets and the US economy? The earnings season starts in week of January 14; and it could be two full weeks of companies reporting 4th quarter earnings. The US economy will report their GDP numbers in the next 2-3 weeks. Hope Q4 GDP is above 1 or 2% growth. The rest of the world may be in recession, but US is chugging along at a health 2 to 2.5% growth rate for 2018. Good day from the financial R$G. Good night from g. ripley (greenleaf/ripley); and tonight's wine will be just like the picture above.