The economic outlook for the United States seems pretty good. The Fed's Beige Book was released last week, confirming a continued improvement in the domestic economy, with a pick-up in employment. Important data points reported last week included a 0.3 percent increase in industrial production. Capacity utilization rose to 78.4 percent, housing starts rose 9.8 percent, consumer prices rose 0.3 percent in June (but only 0.1 percent over the last year), producer prices rose 0.4 percent, import prices fell 0.1 percent, the budget deficit remained near a seven-year low and retail sales, the big measure, fell a disappointing 0.3 percent in June.

Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen reiterated her view that the first rate increase will come this year and that future increases will be scattered and moderate, depending on the economic data points. I believe that the Fed is hamstrung by problems overseas, strength in the dollar and weakness in commodity prices. The dollar hit a 10-year high last week.

Finally, if it matters, the White House cut its projections for growth in 2015 and 2016 to 2.0 percent and 2.6 percent, respectively, and lowered its inflation forecast.

I should add that the nuclear deal with Iran appears to be moving forward and its impact on oil prices declining was seen right away. In addition, Japan lowered its growth targets for 2015 and 2016 and maintained its commitment to expanding the monetary base by $648 billion over the next year.

My core beliefs remain intact so I see no reason to change my positive fundamental outlook for stock markets, while remaining negative on bond markets as the yield curve steepens. But what became crystal clear last week was that all stocks are not alike and there are tremendous opportunities to make money if you recognize and invest in change.

I mentioned earlier GE, Google and the banks. But the list could go on and on as their managements are acting as their own activists and are dramatically altering their business plans to succeed in a slow-growth, competitive world. I have never seen such broad-based movement in companies large and small. And it is starting to happen overseas, too.

The bottom line is that U.S.-domiciled companies are leading the way in change. In addition, our economy is acting better than most others and has also built a strong foundation for the future. The dollar is showing the way. A successful investor needs to be patient and let change play out, as the benefits over time will be enormous. My biggest concern are the lack of economic growth and politics. But the positives far outweigh the negatives.

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