Perspectives

Equities were sharply lower last week with the S&P -4.0%, its worst week in ten. Friday’s Fed Chair Powell’s Jackson Hole speech was the catalyst for the significant Friday decline as he signaled that the Fed is willing to risk recession to lower inflation. Best performers were energy (+4.3%), materials (-1.3%) and utilities (-2.6%). Worst sectors were technology (-5.6%), communication services (-4.8%) and consumer discretionary (-4.7%). We recognize that we send out a lot of material. … View More

Equities declined last week (S&P 500 -1.2%) with the bulk of the decline coming toward the end of the week. The decline came after four straight weeks of gain. Downside occurred due to Fed commentary indicating determination to fight inflation and therefore more rate increases. Downward earnings revisions and stretched valuations were also of concern. Best sectors were consumer staples (+2.0%), utilities (+1.3%) and energy (+1.3%). Biggest decliners included communication services (-3.3%), m… View More

Second Quarter Earnings Better Than Expected In Aggregate… With over 90% of companies reporting earnings for the second quarter, aggregate EPS growth of 9.7% for the S&P 500 is well above the original estimates of 5.6%. The energy sector provided a significant boost; however, 8 of the remaining ten sectors also beat their initial estimates. In addition, revenue growth of 13.7% was also better than expected. …But 2023 Earnings Per Share Estimate Being Revised Lower In our opinion, th… View More

Stocks were mixed last week (S&P 500 +0.4%). The most notable event for the week was the hot jobs report on Friday as the Fed continued to push back talk of a Fed pivot post the turn of the year. Best sectors were technology (+2.0%), consumer discretionary (+1.2%) and communication services (+1.2%); worst sectors were energy (-6.8%), real estate (-1.3%) and materials (-1.3%). At full employment, U.S. job growth should be slowing – we’re still waiting. U.S. nonfarm payrolls surged +528… View More

Stocks rallied again last week (S&P 500 +4.3%) for the third week in the past four helped by continued better than feared earnings (especially big technology companies), declines in bond yields, and valuation improvement. Best sectors were energy (+10.4%) and utilities (+6.5%); worst sectors were consumer staples (+1.6%) and healthcare (+2.0%). 2Q Aggregate Earnings & Sales Growth Improving Last week, more than 150 companies reported earnings, and overall results continued to show signs… View More

What do you do when you are technically in a recession and inflation is running out of control??? Raise taxes and increase spending on climate change of course! The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) came out at -.90% for Q2 today to confirm our country is technically in recession. The White House is trying to change the definition of recession like it does everything else these days, but the classic definition of a Recession is two quarters of negative GDP. Instead, we are being told we are in a tr… View More

Naturally, during times of market stress, every week seems pivotal. Still, the next five days will be chock-a-block with earnings, economic releases, and economic events that are likely to set the tone for the market and a fair amount of political commentary for the rest of the summer. More than 170 S&P 500 companies will report earnings this week (including 12 Dow components), while 2nd quarter GDP and the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation - the Core PCE- and the ECI will also be annou… View More

The Treasury yield curve flattened significantly over the course of the week as short-term yields rose and long-term yields dropped while inflation continued to run hotter than expected. The flattening of the yield curve started early in the week as China re-imposed Covid restrictions leading to concerns of additional slowdowns to the world economy. Data released on Wednesday showed the consumer price index increased at a 9.1% year-over-year rate for June, which is the highest annual increase in… View More

CPI again surged +0.7% m/m (!) and 5.9% y/y. Shelter rose +0.6% m/m. Both core and headline CPI m/m surprised to the upside again this month, indicating inflation has broadened. Bottom line: U.S. inflation is still too high, and monetary policy needs to continue to tighten aggressively in our opinion. Having chosen a +75bp hike last meeting, that should become the default for the July Fed hike at the end of the month. HOW WILL U.S. CONSUMERS DEAL WITH INFLATION? Consider: 1) SMOOTHING THE … View More

In January 2022 we rebalanced our portfolios to reduce exposure to companies that had extended multiples and were paying little or no dividends. These equities are considered long-duration equities because they will grow into their stock pricing multiples over an extended time period. These companies' stock performance have a history of being very volatile in times of economic slowing and high inflation. In January, we added a number of companies to our portfolio that better met the attributes … View More