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Monthly Archives: October 2018

Equity Market Insights – Bumped into the Ditch by Tariffs

Equity Markets Bloodied Again By Tariffs

  • A brutal week for risk-taking – all major equity asset classes lost money last week
  • Higher rates contributed to this as well as slower expected global growth due to an escalation of tariffs
  • EM Equities have taken a real beating this year down over 17%
  • YTD only US Large Cap is in positive territory
    • The S&P 500 is up 1% for the year

 

Countries & Region:

  • Carnage all over the place – a global retreat from risky assets
  • Equities vastly under-performed bonds last week despite generally higher global interest rates and decent growth
  • In the US Growth out-performed Value over the last 5 trading by over 40 bp
    • Traditional Value sectors such as Energy, Industrials and Telecom did not provide any downside protection
  • Utilities and Staples, two traditional low beta sectors lost the least

 

Style & Sector:

  • In the US, mega-caps underperformed small caps by 10 bp last week
  • Value once again under-performed Growth as the Energy and Telecom sectors provided a huge drag
  • Growth and Momentum keep dominating YTD among US stocks but the lead is shrinking
  • Developed international markets performed in line with US markets but lag significantly YTD
  • EM LATAM recovered last week driven by Brazilian election results favoring a pro-business candidate

This Coming Week:

  • Risk Aversion should stay high and we expect choppy markets this coming week again
  • Technicals have deteriorated massively – sure looks like a bear market or at least a very serious correction
  • We are starting to see oversold conditions but our RAI needs to remain another week in the Fearful Zone to act
  • Tariff wars are taking a bite with the IMF recently citing trade wars as the main reason for a cut in their forecast of global growth
  • Small caps have massively underperformed large caps over the last 3 months – risk is being shunned at the moment
    • Our models still like small caps better
  • Will EM equities recover? Seems to be all about the direction of the US dollar at the moment. Pretty beat up despite stronger fundamentals
  • What form will sanctions take against Saudi Arabia?
    • Maybe they get a free pass but in any case, I would expect the oil market to be materially affected.
    • Q3 reporting is heavy in the US – looking for commentary on tariffs, slowing growth and inflationary pressures

To read our weekly report including style factor breakdowns please click  here

Eric J. Weigel

Global Focus Capital LLC

eweigel@gf-cap.com

___________________________________________________________________________________

 

Publications:

Weekly Asset Allocation Review – Free

Weekly Equity Themes Review – Free

The Equity Observer (Monthly) – Subscription Required

The Asset Allocation Advisor (Monthly) – Subscription Required

 

Asset Allocation Insights – A Dicey Week Gets Investors to Pay Attention to Risk

Investors Pay Attention To Risk Again

  • Risky assets suffered large losses last week with the exception of REITS up over 3%
  • Fixed income also experienced losses as interest rates globally moved up yet again
  • In general, while the losses paled in comparison to the previous week, multi-asset investors continued losing capital
  • Within equities, US large cap ended up flat with Value strategies outperforming Growth by 1.3%
  • A 60/40 mix of purely US assets out-performed a global version and remains vastly ahead YTD
  • In general, higher risk multi-asset strategies under-performed last week but remain ahead YTD

Currencies:

  • The USD once again regained lost strength last week
  • The Brazilian Real further recovered as a pro-business President is on deck
  • EM currencies were mixed with the Peso and Yuan losing additional ground
  • The British Pound lost about 1.5% last week as Brexit negotiations continue without a clear outcome
  • The Yuan avoided being labeled a currency manipulator by the US Treasury but the trend is for further depreciation

Commodities:

  • Commodity indices gave back some of the gains from the previous week as oil prices retreated
  • Grain prices also retreated further but prices have stabilized from the bottom hit in the summer
  • Sugar and Coffee showed the most gains aided by an appreciating Brazilian Real
  • Gold and Silver were stable last week for a change but barring a real crisis continue on a downtrend especially in light of higher short-term interest rates

This Coming Week:

  • US risky assets keep outperforming YTD but last week was a down week across the board except for REITS
  • The worst performing asset categories are international equities with EM down almost 15% YTD
  • The critical variable to watch for this week is the US 10 Year Note – another spike up and risky assets will be under great stress
  • Our view is that volatility is here to stay
    • In fact, we see current asset class volatility as normal
  • We are also watching out for any strong jump in inflationary expectations
    • Tariffs are inflationary and will be reflected in higher consumer prices eventually
  • EM equities, in particular, are taking a huge hit both on the asset side as well as currency – this is turning out to be a lost year for EM investors
    • We still believe that an allocation is warranted
  • Value dramatically outperformed Growth last week and we are seeing faint signs of industry rotation toward value sectors
    • The Momentum trade while still ahead YTD is quickly losing strength
  • Earning season in the US is back with Amazon, Microsoft, and Google all reporting
  • The biggest issue for investors is lack of a reasonable hedge to equity risk

To read our full weekly report please click here

Eric J. Weigel

Global Focus Capital LLC

eweigel@gf-cap.com

___________________________________________________________________________________

Publications:

Weekly Asset Allocation Review – Free

Weekly Equity Themes Review – Free

The Equity Observer (Monthly) – Subscription Required

The Asset Allocation Advisor (Monthly) – Subscription Required

 

Equity Market Insights -Nowhere to Hide

Equity markets get body slammed with small caps taking the biggest hit

  • A brutal week for risk-taking – all major equity asset classes lost money last week
    • Higher rates contributed to this as well as slower expected global growth
  • EM Equities lost the least last week (-2%) but continue being the worst performing equity class YTD (-13.6%)
  • YTD US Large Cap has leapfrogged small caps
    • Small caps are down 10% in the last month
  • Our top-rated asset class at the moment is International Developed Markets (EAFE) but last week was not good for this asset (-3.9%)
  • Year-to-date US equities are vastly out-performing international assets – strong home bias fuelled by strong US growth plus an appreciating US dollar
  • In the US Growth outperformed Value but internationally the opposite was true – Investors keep hoping for Value to play better defense
  • Last week woke up investors to equity risk – our Risk Aversion Index jumped to the very top of the Normal Zone

 

Countries & Region:

  • Carnage all over the place – a global retreat from risky assets
  • Equities vastly under-performed bonds last week despite generally higher global interest rates
  • In the US Growth out-performed Value over the last 5 trading days but in the rest of the world Value outperformed
    • Traditional Value sectors such as Industrials, Materials, and Financials got hit hardest
  • Utilities and Staples, two traditional low beta sectors lost the least

 

Style & Sector:

  • In the US, mega-caps outperformed (lost less, unfortunately)
  • Value once again under-performed Growth –mainly due to losses in the Industrials, Materials and Finance sectors
  • Growth and Momentum keep dominating YTD among US stocks
  • Developed international markets slightly outperformed the US but remain in the red for the year
  • EM LATAM recovered last week driven by Brazilian election results favoring a pro-business candidate

 

This Coming Week:

  • Risk Aversion should stay high and we expect choppy markets this coming week
  • Technicals have deteriorated massively – sure looks like a bear market or at least a very serious correction
  • The battle may not be between growth and value – feels more like momentum versus reversal
  • Tariff wars are taking a bite with the IMF recently citing trade wars as the main reason for a cut in their forecast of global growth
  • Small caps have massively underperformed large caps over the last 3 months – risk is being shunned at the moment
    • Our models still like small caps better
  • Will EM equities recover? Seems to be all about the direction of the US dollar at the moment. Pretty beat up despite stronger fundamentals
  • What form will sanctions take against Saudi Arabia?
    • Maybe they get a free pass but in any case, I would expect the oil market to be materially affected.
    • Q3 reporting starts in the US – looking for commentary on tariffs, slowing growth, and inflationary pressures

 

To read our weekly report including style factor breakdowns please click  here

Eric J. Weigel

Global Focus Capital LLC

eweigel@gf-cap.com

___________________________________________________________________________________

 

Publications:

Weekly Asset Allocation Review – Free

Weekly Equity Themes Review – Free

The Equity Observer (Monthly) – Subscription Required

The Asset Allocation Advisor (Monthly) – Subscription Required

 

Asset Allocation Insights – Commodities Roar Back

Commodities Roar Back

  • Risky assets suffered large losses last week with EM stocks taking the biggest beating
  • Fixed income also experienced losses as interest rates globally spiked up
  • Only Commodities as an asset class experienced positive returns
  • Within equities, US large cap lost the least as Value strategies actually showed slight gains
  • A 60/40 mix of purely US assets out-performed a global version and remains vastly ahead YTD
  • In general, higher risk multi-asset strategies under-performed last week but remain ahead YTD

Currencies:

  • The USD regained lost strength last week
  • The Brazilian Real spiked up as pro-business President is expected to be elected
  • EM currencies continue getting pounded with the Rand taking the biggest beating as SA enters a recession
  • As central banks normalize their policies expect enhanced volatility as market participants balance interest rate differentials with economic growth dynamics
  • The Yuan has stabilized after a period of depreciation – authorities have refrained so far from using a weaker currency to fight tariffs

Commodities:

  • Best week this year for commodity prices – potentially a wakeup call as investor update their inflationary expectations
  • Sugar and coffee prices were up the most boosted by the appreciation of the Brazilian Real
  • Grain prices recovered from previous week lows but until tariffs with China are not agreed to we should expect to see huge volatility
  • Oil keeps marching higher as economic growth remains robust and sanctions against Iran take a bite out of supplies
  • Gold and Silver were stable last week for a change but barring a real crisis continue on a downtrend especially in light of higher short-term interest rates

This Coming Week:

  • Risky assets keep outperforming YTD but last week was a down week across the board except for commodities
  • The critical variable to watch for this week is the US 10 Year Note – another spike up and risky assets will be under great stress
  • Our view is that markets will calm down and that risky assets will recover this week
  • We are also watching out for any strong jump in inflationary expectations
    • An important economic number to watch this week is US CPI on Thursday
  • EM equities, in particular, are taking a huge hit both on the asset side as well as currency – this is turning out to be a lost year for EM investors
  • Value dramatically outperformed Growth last week and we are seeing faint signs of industry rotation toward value sectors
    • The Momentum trade while still ahead YTD is quickly losing strength
  • What will make investors price risk more in line with history?
    • A growth scare in the US, maybe? A real inflation scare?
  • The biggest issue for investors is lack of a reasonable hedge to equity risk

To read our full weekly report please click here

Eric J. Weigel

Global Focus Capital LLC

eweigel@gf-cap.com

___________________________________________________________________________________

Publications:

Weekly Asset Allocation Review – Free

Weekly Equity Themes Review – Free

The Equity Observer (Monthly) – Subscription Required

The Asset Allocation Advisor (Monthly) – Subscription Required

 

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