Published February 26, 2021
Interest rates have ripped higher along with stocks as expectations for a very strong post-pandemic economic recovery gain traction. This week, however, that rise in rates appeared to reach a point where concerns crept in. Stocks tumbled as investors worried that the rise in rates was too high, too fast. (more…)
Published February 19, 2021
Below is a good overview of the powerful forces behind the market’s seemingly endless uptrend. The market will pull back at some point. But the factors below, provided by our friends at DIM, suggest that pullback is likely to be short-lived. (more…)
Published February 12, 2021
It is no secret that money is chasing stocks, creating what some are calling ‘bubbles’ of valuation here and there (if not in the market overall). We talked last week about how valuation doesn’t really matter, supply and demand does. Right now, investors see no reason to hold back on the demand piece. We find no better example of this behavior than the massive (and sharply quick) run-up in shares of the most risky of companies, broadly speaking. That would be the smallest companies in the market – the microcaps. (more…)
Published February 5, 2021
That’s right folks, any market: stocks, bonds, commodities, milk, diapers, et al. is ONLY about supply and demand. Sure, we try to make ourselves feel better by assigning formulas and trying to figure out some “fair value” based on historical data. But it’s a complete wild west guess, right? Take the price-earnings ratio, so frequently used to peg the stock market as being “expensive” or “cheap”. This ratio has run anywhere from 10 to 100, settling in a typical range of 15-20 or so. Still, it’s a bell(ish) curve with a very wide range of possible values. That typical range does not say anything about the investing or economic environment of the times. (more…)
Published January 29, 2021
This has been the rare week where investment news has become very mainstream. The frenzied trading in Gamestop and other heavily-shorted stocks has created all kinds of buzz. There are plenty of articles discussing the phenomenon of the armies of individual investors going after big-money short sellers. Once the sparks stop flying and the dust settles, there will be some big winners and losers from this market aberration. Meanwhile, the broader markets roll on, mostly unaffected by the turmoil in that handful of stocks. (more…)
Published January 22, 2021
One reason for the surging stock market recovery over the past nine months, despite extraordinary unemployment, has been the shift from spending to saving among a broad swath of the population. (more…)
Published January 15, 2021
After a sharp two year decline in interest rates which saw the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield plunge from 3.0% all the way down to 0.5%, rates have broken back above 1.0% and appear headed well higher. (more…)
Published January 8, 2021
Despite a sharp plunge in stocks early in the year, 2020 was a solid year for the stock market and most assets as shown below. Only assets related to energy and real estate posted notably negative returns. (more…)
Published January 1, 2021
Below is a good recap of the year in investing excerpted from the Wall Street Journal. Our model-driven, long-short approach to investing responded well, protecting us from the worst of the market selloff while participating well in the rebound. We appreciate you, our family of subscribers, and wish you a healthy and prosperous 2021! (more…)
Published December 25, 2020
Investors cannot help but be amazed by the stock market’s performance this year. What began as a promising continuation of a decade-long bull run quickly turned into one of the sharpest plunges in market history as Covid-19 upended economies worldwide. Shocking as that plunge was, the subsequent rebound was even more surprising, with stocks going on to record highs despite unemployment remaining extremely high and other economic indicators remaining well below their pre-pandemic levels. The record level of stock prices in the face of still-weak economic data suggests a stock market that might have run too far too fast. A couple of notable writers on investment topics in major publications have recent tackled that topic, concluding that stocks are indeed at extremely rich prices. (more…)