According to a new report from Bloomberg, rural America is booming.

And no wonder…

• Tech nerds from California – who can now work from home – are fleeing to cheaper states.
• Retirees and nature lovers – who can move anywhere – are flocking to places like Montana, Idaho and Wyoming.
• Midwesterners – who are tired of shoveling snow in the dead of February – are moving to the Sun Belt.

This shift, which started during the pandemic, has continued long after COVID restrictions were lifted.

Case in point…

The number of people living in non-metropolitan areas outgrew the urban population for the first time in three decades in 2021.

And the rural population expanded once again in 2022.

As a result, housing prices in the fastest-growing rural counties have surged more than 40% over the past three years.

This shift is impacting farmland prices big-time.

As you can see below, farmland prices – which were already at record levels due to higher commodity costs and more people buying land as a hedge against inflation – have continued to ascend.

The value of agricultural land is up 7.5% since last year – and this trend is not showing any signs of slowing down.

YOUR ACTION PLAN

Companies like John Deere (NYSE: DE) and Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) stand to benefit from the increasing value of farmland. As I wrote in The War Room this morning, Caterpillar is one of the best dividend stocks your money can buy. And it’s cheap right now – it currently trades at 14X this year’s earnings, which is down from 17X last year. This is a classic “Dividend Aristocrat” play that offers great long-term value.

To see how we’re trading these two names, you need to be “in the room.” Click here to join us!

MONDAY MARKET MINUTE

• Apple Set to Launch New iPhone. AAPL will reveal its latest round of products tomorrow, but it could be a “sell on news” event if the hype is subdued. Unless the company reveals something like a new Apple iCar or a plan to buy ESPN from Disney, we could see a muted reaction. Tracking.
• Reminder: September’s Historical Weakness. Remember, the month of September has been negative for stocks in each of the last three years. It was the worst month of the terrible 2022 investing year, and it was also the worst month in a pretty strong 2021 investing year. All told, the S&P 500 has dropped an average of 1.1% in September dating back to 1928. So clearly, it’s now time to be defensive.
• Looking at AbbVie. Last week, ABBV very quietly poked its head above resistance around $149. This might be a “safe haven” play for September.
• “Recycled TV” Is Bullish for Netflix. With the Hollywood writers strike still going on with no end in sight, who needs new programming when you can just recycle your old TV shows? This is the bullish case for NFLX, which has demonstrated the ability to get people to watch old content as if it were new. If this trend continues, I’d look to buy NFLX on any dips.