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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

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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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