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CNBC
25 minutes ago
- CNBC
Watch CNBC's full interview with Fundstrat's Tom Lee, Wealth Enhancement's Ayako Yoshioka and Truist's Keith Lerner
Fundstrat's Tom Lee, Wealth Enhancement's Ayako Yoshioka and Truist's Keith Lerner, join 'Closing Bell' to discuss markets, companies overcoming the fifth stress test and and where they see stocks going from here.


CNBC
35 minutes ago
- CNBC
From mustard makeovers to beef tallow, six food and beverage trends that could take over
Condiments are getting an upgrade. Chefs are taking their signature sauces and dips outside the kitchen. And "swicy" still reigns. Those food trends were all on display at the Specialty Food Association's Summer Fancy Food Show, which returned to the Javits Center in New York this week. From Sunday to Tuesday, more than 2,000 exhibitors showed off a range of specialty food and drinks, offering attendees a glimpse at the products headed for grocery aisles and restaurants in the near future. "It's always been the show where people go to see the trends," said Christine Couvelier, a culinary trend spotter and founder of the Culinary Concierge. Couvelier, a seasoned show attendee, guided CNBC through three floors of booths, highlighting the trends — and winners — on her radar. Past show trends that are now making their way to mainstream consumers' palettes include new uses for vinegar, oil-based hot sauce and lavender as a flavor. But not all trends have that kind of staying power. "I think I've seen six booths that have Dubai chocolate. We won't see Dubai chocolate next year," Couvelier said, referring to the chocolate bars filled with kadayif and pistachio that have taken over TikTok, grocery stores and even Shake Shacks nationwide. The trade show has also traditionally been a springboard for new brands seeking to expand their reach. Honest Tea, Ben & Jerry's and Tate's Bake Shop are among the companies that attended the show in their early days on their way to becoming well-known consumer brands. Here are some highlights from this year's Summer Fancy Food Show: Home cooks in the U.S. have been using olive oil for several decades. In recent years, olive oil has branched out, with more focus on the flavor that it offers, whether it's drizzled on top of ice cream or used in cakes. But the cooking staple is now getting an upgrade, thanks to infusions of trendy flavors. For example, Castillo de Canena, a family-owned Spanish company, has been making olive oil for centuries, but its booth highlighted two newer additions to its line: harissa olive oil and olive oil finished in sherry casks. Olive oil isn't the only pantry staple getting a makeover. The mustard category could be heading for a shakeup, thanks to a few new entrants hoping to enliven the tired condiment. Pop Mustards pitches itself as the "caviar of mustards" because it uses whole mustard seeds, giving the condiment a new texture. The company also uses fermentation, smoking, brining and other methods to bring more flavor out of the seeds. Caplansky's Delicatessen showed off a more traditional take on the condiment at its booth, inspired by classic deli mustards. But its product lineup offers more flavor than the classic yellow mustard or dijon found in fridges today. Since Beyond Meat's meteoric rise, plant-based purveyors have displayed their vegetarian substitutes at the Summer Fancy Food Show. But as the category struggles, the number of booths hawking plant-based products dwindled this year. Still, the category hasn't disappeared altogether. Instead, exhibitors presented their products by leading with their taste, rather than their vegan or vegetarian bona fides. For example, Umyum displayed its cashew-based cheese and butter substitutes, with packaging that reads, "Our craft just happens to be plantbased." During the pandemic, many restaurant chefs pivoted to selling at-home versions of their beloved sauces, condiments and other foods that can be easily canned or packaged. Even after eateries reopened their dining rooms, some chefs have stuck with it. "This is a longer lasting trend, and it's the passion around making the best version of that food that there is, and now the chef wants you to have it at home," Couvelier said. At this year's show, exhibitors included Zahav Foods, the packaged food brand of chef Michael Solomonov, known for his restaurants Zahav in Philadelphia and Laser Wolf in New York. The mustard brand Caplansky's Delicatessen is also the brainchild of chef Zane Caplansky. "Swicy" food and drinks have already taken over grocery aisles and restaurant menus, but exhibitors were promoting the next evolution of the flavor trend, a portmanteau of sweet and spicy. Mike's Hot Honey, which helped bring back the "sweet heat" trend, showed off its collaboration with Heluva Good for a swicy dip. Smash Kitchen displayed its Hot Honey Ketchup, adding a little heat to the sweetness of the classic condiment. And Slawsa — a portmanteau of coleslaw and salsa — exhibited its sweet and spicy cabbage-based relishes. Over the last year, beef tallow has been having a moment, thanks to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his "Make America Healthy Again" agenda. Kennedy has touted the rendered fat as a healthier alternative to "seed oils," although nutrition experts broadly disagree. Two newcomers displayed their beef tallow products at the Summer Fancy Food Show: Butcher Ben's Beef Tallow and Beefy's Own, which cooks its potato chips in beef tallow.


CNBC
an hour ago
- CNBC
Re-risking your portfolio: Investor John Davi's picks for the second half of 2025
John Davi, founder and CEO of investment management company Astoria Portfolio Advisors, has one overriding piece of advice for investors heading into the second half of the year: "Re-risk your portfolio." The stock market has made a sharp turnaround from its early April lows, when fears over tariffs and their effect on inflation and the econony were at their highest. The S & P 500 was down 15% year-to-date on April 8, but is now up roughly 6.7% for the year as investors have regained confidence in the outlook for the economy , strong corporate profits and AI technology. But investors lately continue to seek out resilient pockets of the market due to uncertain trade policies and geopolitical tensions, however. Like many investors, Davi — whose firm manages $2.5 billion in total assets, including four ETFs — has gotten more constructive on U.S. stocks compared to the beginning of 2025. The recent run-up, particularly in the broader market outside tech, has given him greater conviction in companies beyond classic growth stocks. "Now we're at a point where earnings revision breadth has had this V-shape recovery. We have a weaker dollar. We've got policy uncertainty that's declined ... less tariffs. We have renewed optimism over AI," Davi told CNBC. In the past, a declining dollar "has been a tailwind for risk assets, globally ... rather than keep buying the 'Mag 7' stocks, there's so many other opportunities out there." "It's time to re-risk your portfolio," Davi said, at a time when markets are likely to rally further over the coming six months. ETFs to navigate the rest of 2025 Buying exchange-traded funds tied to the broader market are a generally safe bet for long-term investors seeking passive gains. But Davi's advice is to look beyond popular ETFs such as SPDR S & P 500 ETF and Vanguard S & P 500 ETF and look instead at opportunities in industrials, energy, real estate and fixed income. Davi named several ETFs that are strong picks heading into the latter half of the year, noting they're tax-efficient with low fees and a "safer and more conducive" means of accumulating wealth for individual investors. Equal-weighted ETFs are among his favorite during periods of high concentration, as they can offer strong returns and more diversification, particularly when smaller companies outperform. As an example, Davi spotlighted the Invesco S & P 500 Eql Wght Industrials ETF (RSPN) as a better way to gain exposure to industrials than the popular Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLI) . "There's all this risk still out there, right. But really, if you strip out the 'Mag 7,' the S & P 500 is not that expensive," he said. An equal-weighted ETF that's not skewed to the largest stocks today takes advantage of stocks outside technology, or mid-sized and smaller companies, "that are growing faster earnings than these tech stocks." One of Davi's top picks is the BNY Mellon Global Infrastructure Income ETF (BKGI) , which has jumped 30% in 2025 and 41% over the past year, against S & P 500 returns of nearly 7% and 15% over the same periods, according to FactSet. The fund's last 12 months' distribution yield is 4.17%, its net expense ratio is 0.55% and the average price-to-earnings ratio of its portfolio is 16.2 times trailing earnings, FactSet data shows. The ETF's top holdings are concentrated in utilities and energy, with Enel SpA , Hess Midstream , Orange SA and Dominion Energy among its top 10 holdings as of March 31. PPI SPY 1Y mountain Astoria Real Assets ETF (PPI) vs. SPDR S & P 500 ETF (SPY) over the past year. Astoria Real Assets ETF (PPI) offers similar opportunities, Davi said. The fund has also outperformed, rallying 14% so far in 2025. With a net expense ratio of 0.78% and a trailing, 12-month yield of 1.36%, the fund' top holdings include SPDR Gold MiniShares Trust , Rolls-Royce Holdings , Simon Property Group , Shell and Constellation Energy . Industrial and utility stocks have raced ahead this year, gaining more than 13% and 8%, respectively, as investments have ooured into AI-related projects such as data center infrastructure and equipment. In fixed income, Davi pointed to the Schwab High Yield Bond ETF (SCYB) , JPMorgan BetaBuilders USD High Yield Corp Bd ETF (BBHY) , Janus Henderson AAA CLO ETF (JAAA) and the SPDR Portfolio Intermediate Term Corporate Bd ETF (SPIB) as attractive. "Owning credit makes a lot of sense. There's value in holding high yield credit and corporate credit," he said.