Spring is in the air and with it comes hope in the fight against Covid-19. We have attached a data sheet to this email that shows the progress that has been made in the US on Covid-19. The infection rate, hospitalization rate, and most importantly, the death rate are all falling rapidly. In the US, there have already been more than 95 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines administered, and the CDC estimates that we already have over 60% of the US population immune to Covid-19. With improving Covi… View More
On Saturday the US Senate passed President Biden’s American Rescue Plan, a $1.9 trillion spending package designed to deal with the economic and health effects of COVID-19. Although there are still a few steps left in the process, President Biden is well on his way to signing into law a very large fiscal package within the next week. Some minor changes were made to the legislation during the Senate’s 24-hour amendment process last night but we believe the legislation will come in just slight… View More
4Q Earnings Season Wrapping Up The fourth-quarter earnings season is just about completed now, and pretty much all things considered, it was a strong showing across the board. Every sector saw greater than expected earnings growth except energy which was still dealing with extremely low oil prices. That will change in 2021. Sales growth also showed significant improvement with only the utilities and the energy sector finishing the quarter below initial expectations. Earnings Growth To Take The… View More
Ever since the stock market bottomed in 2009 during the financial crisis, people have been coming up with reasons why the bull market was about to end. We heard every reason – Brexit, the end of Quantitative Easing, too much debt, COVID, etc. – and while we understood each may be a cause for consternation, we focused on valuations, which suggested the bull market would continue. Over time, math wins. After the recovery in stocks from the 2020 lockdowns (and especially the latest surge in eq… View More
Fourth quarter 2020 earnings and revenue growth both surprised with positive results. With more than 75% of companies reporting, earnings growth is expected to be 3.4%. This is a significant increase compared to the -1.03% originally estimated on January 1st and further improvement from last week’s 2.4%. Revenue growth is also expected to be positive at 1.3%, up from -1.4% at the start of the year. In aggregate, companies are reporting earnings that are more than 17% above estimates, outpacin… View More