Over the last 20 days, the US equity market is showing early signs of exhaustion, and momentum is beginning to weaken. In the following charts, we’ll highlight the various technical measures we calculate each day to illustrate the early turn in momentum. Our KLSU DM…
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Since the start of this year, the US Treasury market is signaling a scenario of rising growth expectations and falling inflation expectations, as reflected by the various components that comprise interest rates. In this quarter’s strategy update, Portfolio Manager Steven Vannelli, CFA, explores the following:…
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With some exceptions, smaller-cap stocks in the US tend to pay higher taxes than their larger-cap peers. As such, speculation that corporate tax rates may be cut has stoked the performance of US small caps recently. In addition to the concern that tax reform and/or…
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Employing basic bond math, we can decompose the US Treasury bond into two pieces: real rates and break-even inflation expectations. Because real rates (TIPS) and nominal rates (US Treasuries) are directly observable, break-even inflation is relatively easy to determine. Taking this logic one step further,…
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This slide package is our Knowledge Leaders Strategy mid-quarter update and can be downloaded at the link below. The discussion is broken into three sections: SECTION 1: History does not support the view that the USD is propped up by a monetary tightening cycle. The…
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Today gold is trading over $1,305, for the first time since November 4, 2016. The breakdown in the USD Index last week was a good signal telegraphing the short-term breakout in gold. Gold is notoriously difficult to value, but we have found one relationship that…
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On a relative basis, compared to the developed world, North American stocks peaked on November 23, 2016, and have since underperformed by about 4% (in USD). In the charts below, we compare the relative performance of our KLSU North America Index to various economic variables….
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As the title suggests, any way we slice the data, it appears that the crude oil market is coming into balance to a greater extent than is generally recognized. This has broad asset allocation implications. There are two basic ways we look at balance in…
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Equity allocators should take note that performance trends in North America are deteriorating while they are picking up outside the US. In the table below, I show the recent performance of the sectors within our KLSU North America index, which captures the top 85% of…
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With energy setting records as the worst performing sector year-to-date, we were curious about Geopolitical Strategist Peter Zeihan’s thoughts on fossil fuels in the context of the United States’ continued retreat from the global theater. We recently caught up with Peter to ask his opinion….
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The USD is off to its worst start since 1985, down about 9%. In the chart below (courtesy of Bianco Research), it appears the USD is tracing its performance in 1985 quite closely. Of course, 1985 was the worst year for the USD in almost…
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This quarter, we look at two important structural changes that appear to be underway: a normalization in US and European monetary policy and a normalization in crude oil inventories. We expect these two trends to have important ramifications for equity sector leadership trends. In addition, we expect…
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Back in December 2016, we discussed our expectation for lower longer-term US interest rates, which we used to justify an aversion to financial stocks. This expectation played out. We also discussed our rotation into the resources sector. We suggested that sometimes rotations can be bumpy,…
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There are three basic ways to manage the risk of an equity portfolio: Diversify, by owning a collection of stocks from different industries Hedge, by shorting stocks or equity futures Buy insurance, like buying an out-of-the-money put option. The essence of diversification is choosing assets…
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A recent run of weaker economic data, highlighted by the Citigroup Economic Surprise Index (CESI) plunging to -32 from 58 in mid-March has caught the attention of the US Treasury bond market. In the chart below, I plot the CESI against US 10 Year Treasuries….
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