The cold hard message is sinking in. Higher rates are here to stay for longer than expected. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has said multiple times that the Fed will be 'data-driven' when deciding on monetary policy. And the data has spoken. First, let's look at inflation. There has been great progress made in knocking inflation down from its peak of 9.1% in June of 2022. But achieving progress at the current lower levels, with inflation in the low-3% range, as expected, has been difficult. The Fed has been specific, saying inflation needs to be at 2% before restrictive policy will be eased. The Fed was patient after the January inflation data, and again with February data. But when March showed persistently higher prices, the Fed threw came right out and said that change can wait. Chairman Powell said the following last week. "The recent data have clearly not given us greater confidence..." and "If higher inflation does persist, we can maintain the current level of restriction for as long as needed." Now let's consider unemployment. The Fed again has been specific. Officials are looking for a 4.1% unemployment rate to gently (hopefully) slow the economy. Currently, the rate is not budging and is vacillating between 3.8% and 3.9%. Given the current macroeconomic backdrop, the following is a list of industries and companies we like that should benefit from a sustained period of higher interest rates. All are BUY-rated at Argus.

American Express provides charge and credit payment card products and travel-related services to customers worldwide. The company's product portfolio consists of charge and credit card products; expense management products and services; consumer and business travel services; stored-value products, including travelers checks and other prepaid products; network services; point-of-sale, marketing, and information products and services for merchants; fraud prevention services; and the design of customer loyalty and rewards programs.

American Express is a global financial institution, operating in about 130 countries, that provides consumers and businesses charge and credit card payment products. The company also operates a highly profitable merchant payment network. Since 2018, it has operated in three segments: global consumer services, global commercial services, and global merchant and network services. In addition to payment products, the company's commercial business offers expense management tools, consulting services, and business loans.

U.S. stocks were mixed on Friday morning following Israel's limited retaliatory strike against Iran. American Express (AXP) topped 1Q estimates and rose 4%. Meanwhile, Netflix (NFLX) shares are down sharply, despite the company easily beating expectations in the latest quarter and providing strong guidance. In a significant deviation from past practices, the company has decided to stop reporting subscriber numbers or average revenue per member, which is causing concerns among investors that the absence of these key metrics could point to stagnating growth. The Dow was up 0.4%, the S&P 500 fell 0.4% and the Nasdaq lost 1.1%. Crude oil is trading above $83 per barrel and gold rose $12 to $2410 per ounce.