Published July 22, 2022
The only consistent winner during this bearish stock market period has been the U.S. dollar. Commodities had a brilliant run (blue line below) but have fallen off substantially in recent weeks. Bonds have followed stocks into the cellar in a rare case of very high correlation between the two major asset classes. Only the U.S. dollar (green line below) has held up. (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 August 14, 2020
This year has certainly already been one for the ages in many ways, including in the stock market. Stock prices have experienced both one of their steepest drops in history as well as one of their most impressive rallies. Bonds have delivered stock-like returns so far, while some commodities have soared – looking at you gold and silver! The market has rewarded both defense (bonds, gold) and offense (high growth tech/consumer stocks). The latest twist in the market has been a notable rotation into cyclical sectors, many of which have been lagging for quite some time. (more…)
Published February 7, 2020
We were reminded again this week of the psychological power of central banks over today’s market participants. An announcement early in the week of new money(!) pushed into Chinese markets by the Chinese central bank (PBOC) made stock investors forget all about the potential global economic hurdle that is the coronavirus (with investor enthusiasm aided by a reduction in the spread of the virus). (more…)
Published July 19, 2019
Below is a survey of markets through a series of charts with the idea being a quick scan to highlight the recent new highs, and how close other market indexes are to joining in those highs. The run higher in stocks has been largely propelled by optimism over a new round of Federal Reserve interest rate cuts, with investors preferring to take an optimistic view that the cuts in rates will avert a possible recession.
Published February 15, 2019
Investors often forget that markets are finite in their resources available, and investors must choose where to place their money. Sometimes the money flows into stocks, sometimes into bonds, etc. It’s simple supply and demand. We noted recently how much money was flowing INTO bonds despite a strong stock market rebound. (more…)
Published December 7, 2018
Stock investors were reminded this week that the market remains unhealthy. After approaching a retest of this market correction’s lows a couple of weeks ago, stocks ripped higher last week to recover all of the ground given up the week before. This week began well. (more…)
Published October 19, 2018
Our post last week noted that the October selloff in stocks likely had drivers other than the oft-noted rise in interest rates as some of the most interest rate-sensitive sectors, such as utilities, were holding up just fine. We also noted that the wave of geopolitical issues that seem to be ever-widening were unlikely to be a major cause of the selloff as investors were not pouring money into bonds, as they typically do during periods of angst. A recent note from Oppenheimer points to persistent and increasing weakness in non-U.S. economies as being the primary catalyst for the current stock market correction. (more…)
Published March 2, 2018
This week we share some good information from a webcast given by Charlie Bilello of Pension Partners. The first chart shows the downward trend of the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield. Note the green arrows as the yield hits the upper portion of the channel. We are sitting right at the top of the channel. Do we want to see yields break through to the upside? (more…)
Published August 11, 2017
Yield spreads provide a view into the risk appetite of market participants. If the spread between low risk and high risk bonds is large, investors are concerned and want to receive more compensation for taking on the added risk. As investors become more comfortable with the market and begin to view it as increasingly benign, they require less compensation. In times of extreme market complacency, the relationships between risk and return appear to almost break down. And so it is with European high yield (aka “junk”) bonds today. (more…)