Here we are entering the home stretch of 2017 and looking back at the last eleven months, one thing is certain… no one predicted a year like this. For all the daily negativity being hyped in the financial, social, political and “fake” media it appears that things have been and will continue to be all right.

Of course, nothing in life rises in a straight line. There will always be those annoying bumps along the way whether it’s dealing with family, friends, career, finances and more but if you are looking at the big, long term picture those annoying bumps and near term setbacks tend to look smaller and insignificant the longer your time frame. Just stay focused on your own personal journey, stay diversified and comfortable with all your investments whether it’s stocks, funds, precious metals, real estate and even cryptocurrencies. Whatever floats your boat, right? With that being said, let’s take a look at my final 2017 stock considerations.

After nibbling on Hormel Foods Corporation (HRL) and General Mills, Inc. (GIS) for the last several months as stock prices hovered near their respective 52 week lows I am forced to look elsewhere as both companies have rebounded quite nicely and other opportunities exist in my portfolio. While I did receive a lot of positive comments about buying into those two companies, there was a substantial set that did not like my buys pointing out that HRL and GIS are both old companies offering up processed and packaged foods that were very much out of date and out of touch with today’s consumer. Hmm, where have I heard that song before? McDonald’s Corporation (MCD) anyone? In general, I do not like to bet against a dividend aristocrat. I do like to buy them at sale prices though. So, for December, once again, I am considering, Johnson Controls International plc (JCI). JCI is a solid long term dividend paying industrial that has been lagging a bit post its Adient plc (ADNT) spin off and continues to look very good to me at current levels. 2017 has been tough for JCI as its stock price lost a lot of ground and is now trading a few points above its 52 week low.