US COMPANIES KEEP CHUGGING ALONG NICELY. THE QUESTION IS NOT IF BUT WHEN THE FED WILL RAISE RATES

I have decided to dedicate this newsletter to the US economy, given that our investments in the US represent close to 60% of the fund's portfolio. Despite the recent stock market correction, the US economy is growing nicely with US GDP growth revised upwards to 3.7% in the second quarter. This compares to Australia where GDP growth dipped to an anaemic 0.2% in the June quarter due to weakness in mining and construction activity and exports. If it wasn't for the NSW economy, Australia would be in recession now. I know where I would prefer to have most of my investments at the moment. While Australia is exposed to weakening manufacturing and industrial production in China, the US economy powers itself internally with consumption representing 67% of GDP. I was in the US over the past two weeks, meeting a range of companies in the retail, technology, financials. media, telecommunications and industrials sectors.We own a number of companies in these sectors such as Dick's Sporting Goods, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, General Electric and Verizon to name a few. (VIEW LINK)