This edition features an oil market update; Amazon's potential in Australia; revisiting our North American airline coverage; and notes from Maersk, Air Liquide, and Allstate.

This edition features the energy sector's prospects after a period of great turmoil; opportunities in or global coverage amid the downturn; our top defense picks; and notes from Performance Food Group, Corteva, and new coverage Bausch Health.

Total is an integrated oil and gas company that explores for, produces, and refines oil around the world. In third-quarter 2019, it produced 1.7 million barrels of liquids and 7.4 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day. At year-end 2018, reserves stood at 12.1 billion barrels of oil equivalent, 43% of which are liquids. The company operates refineries with capacity of nearly 2.0 million barrels a day, primarily in Europe, distributes refined products in 65 countries, and manufactures commodity and specialty chemicals. It also holds a 19% interest in Russian oil company Novatek.

Dividends are supposed to lend stability to a portfolio. However, U.S.-based equity income investors have experienced a high degree of volatility in recent years. The Federal Reserve in 2018 embarked on an aggressive campaign to raise interest rates, causing Treasury yields to swoop and dive, resulting in a wild ride for supposedly stable U.S. high-income equities. The endless speculation over the timing of the Fed's rate hikes created market-timing headaches for equity income investors. They endured wide swings in prices for rate-sensitive equity classes such as utilities, REITs and MLPs - even as generally positive industry fundamentals remained largely intact. In our view, investing in international income stocks is one way to increase portfolio diversification while reducing sensitivity to the Fed's head fakes on rate policy. Investing in overseas stocks carries its own set of risks, including the impact of currency exchange and geopolitical turmoil. But there are also lots of positives in this asset class for U.S. investors.

Dividends are supposed to lend stability to a portfolio. However, U.S.-based equity income investors have experienced a high degree of volatility in recent years. The Federal Reserve in 2018 embarked on an aggressive campaign to raise interest rates, causing Treasury yields to swoop and dive, resulting in a wild ride for supposedly stable U.S. high-income equities. The endless speculation over the timing of the Fed's rate hikes created market-timing headaches for equity income investors. They endured wide swings in prices for rate-sensitive equity classes such as utilities, REITs and MLPs - even as generally positive industry fundamentals remained largely intact. In our view, investing in international income stocks is one way to increase portfolio diversification while reducing sensitivity to the Fed's head fakes on rate policy. Investing in overseas stocks carries its own set of risks, including the impact of currency exchange and geopolitical turmoil. But there are also lots of positives in this asset class for U.S. investors.

Dividends are supposed to lend stability to a portfolio. However, U.S.-based equity income investors have experienced a high degree of volatility in recent years. The Federal Reserve in 2018 embarked on an aggressive campaign to raise interest rates, causing Treasury yields to swoop and dive, resulting in a wild ride for supposedly stable U.S. high-income equities. The endless speculation over the timing of the Fed's rate hikes created market-timing headaches for equity income investors. They endured wide swings in prices for rate-sensitive equity classes such as utilities, REITs and MLPs - even as generally positive industry fundamentals remained largely intact. In our view, investing in international income stocks is one way to increase portfolio diversification while reducing sensitivity to the Fed's head fakes on rate policy. Investing in overseas stocks carries its own set of risks, including the impact of currency exchange and geopolitical turmoil. But there are also lots of positives in this asset class for U.S. investors.