How to trade the Trump euphoria rally

Preface: Explaining our market timing models We maintain several market timing models, each with differing time horizons. The “Ultimate Market Timing Model” is a long-term market timing model based on the research outlined in our post, Building the ultimate market timing model. This model tends to generate only a handful of signals each decade.   The Trend...

Sector leadership review: Bear market vibes?

Now that the 2s10s yield curve has un-inverted, a review of sector leadership is showing bearish vibes. In particular, the relative performance of defensive sectors is turning up.     I conducted an extensive sector and factor rotation review to determine the extent of the damage.     Bearish vibes For the purposes of analyzing...

LBO insights: Why these deep value stocks have become even cheaper

Mark Hulbert recently published an ominous warning at MarketWatch about excessive valuation in the U.S. equity market. Most valuation ratios are in the top 90% since 2000 and “as overvalued as it was at the market top on Jan. 3, 2022”.     How worried should you be?   Hulbert admitted in his article that...

Risk budgeting ahead of NVIDIA’s earnings report

Mid-week market update: Several readers asked me for comments going into NVIDIA's earnings report Wednesday night, so I thought I would publish my mid-week update a little earlier than usual.   Bottom line, I have no idea about NVIDIA's fundamentals. You can study the chart pattern, but event-driven market moves are "roll the dice" moments....

Assessing the damage: Not just the carry trade

After strengthening rapidly, the Japanese Yen (bottom panel) has stabilized has stabilized in the 140-150 range. The 10-year Treasury-JGB spread also stabilized and found support. So did the Nikkei Average after suffering the greatest one-day decline since the Crash of 1987. The Bank of Japan sounded a dovish tone when deputy governor Shinichi Uchida said...

China slowdown = Reduce risk

It’s becoming harder and harder to avoid the cold hard facts. China is slowing. The PBOC unexpectedly cut interest rates last week. The central bank began by cutting the benchmark lending rate on overnight, 7-day and 1-month standing lending facility (SLF). The move was followed by another surprising 0.20% cut in its 1-year policy rate,...

How to buy a company with no money

Perhaps you remember the late-night television commercials selling tapes and courses on how to buy real estate with no money down. One memorable character from the early 1990s ran infomercials featuring him on a yacht surrounded by bikini-clad women to emphasize how he, a Vietnamese refugee, had made a fortune from nothing. You could do...

Value or growth? Here’s an analytical framework for decision making

Should you be a value or growth investor?   The accompanying chart shows the historical record. In the last 20 years, growth has handily beaten value. The U.S. value/growth track record closely tracked the international developed value/growth record until 2023, when AI-related plays in the U.S. went on a tear. Such stocks weren’t readily available...

Waiting for the recycle amidst an elevated tail-risk backdrop

Mid-week market update: Marketwatch recently highlighted analysis from NDR which concluded that sentiment was extended and while it may make sense to be cautious about adding risk, it's too early to turn tactically bearish until readings recycle from an overbought condition.     I agree. I've been saying the same thing for several weeks. A...

How Trump’s isolationism threatens long-term equity returns

Now that Donald Trump has become the presumptive Republican nominee for President, Wall Street is scrambling to model how a Trump White House may affect capital markets. A recent Bloomberg article summarized the consensus: Bond market: Expect rising yields from upward pressures on term premium. Currencies: Rising yields will put a bid under the USD....

Has the VIX lost its use as a fear gauge?

Preface: Explaining our market timing models  We maintain several market timing models, each with differing time horizons. The "Ultimate Market Timing Model" is a long-term market timing model based on the research outlined in our post, Building the ultimate market timing model. This model tends to generate only a handful of signals each decade.   The Trend...

Why our Ultimate Market Timing Model is cautious

 I recently had a discussion with a reader about my Ultimate Market Timing Model (UMTM). The UMTM is an extremely low turnover model that flashes signals once every few years and is designed to limit the extremes of the downside tail-risk of owning equities. When extreme downside risk is minimized, investors can afford to take...

Why you should fade the NASDAQ surge

The recent market rally has been led by a resurgence in large-cap NASDAQ stocks. This leadership has become overly extended, as evidenced by the rising divergence between their relative performance and the 10-year Treasury yield. A detailed factor and sector performance analysis reveals an underlying trend in favor of cyclical exposure.       Growth...

A 2022 report card

Preface: Explaining our market timing models  We maintain several market timing models, each with differing time horizons. The "Ultimate Market Timing Model" is a long-term market timing model based on the research outlined in our post, Building the ultimate market timing model. This model tends to generate only a handful of signals each decade.   The Trend...

What is the market anticipating ahead of the FOMC meeting?

Ahead, of the upcoming FOMC, meeting, what is the market discounting? I conduct a factor and sector review for some answers. Starting with a multi-cap review of value and growth, value stocks have been outperforming growth stocks within large caps since early August, but this has not been confirmed by mid and small caps. The...

Lessons from a study of past major market bottoms

The mood has changed on Wall Street. The WSJ declared last week that the NASDAQ is back in a bull market.     The number of "new bull market" stories have skyrocketed in recent days. Suddenly, chartists on my social media feed are full of "if this index rises to X, or this indicator gets...

Pairs Monitor: Correlations converging to 1?

I recently suggested a number of long/short pair trades as a way of achieving performance in an uncertain and choppy market. Inflation hedge vehicles have begun to underperform, and the subsequent performance of the pairs is revealing of the factors driving the current market environment.   The four regional pairs were based on a theme...

A 2022 inflation tantrum investing roadmap

In the wake of the hot January CPI print, I have had a number of discussions with readers about the most advantageous way of positioning an equity portfolio in a rising rate environment. The most obvious strategy is to use an allocation similar to the Rising Rates ETF (EQRR) is to tilt towards value and...