Markets

In our Quarterly Strategy Report, we illustrate the relative attractiveness of select developed international sectors. Prefer to download this presentation in PDF? Please click here. 1. Summary -Monetary policy is considerably more restrictive than many perceive. The San Francisco Federal Reserve has calculated a “Proxy Rate” that…

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Inversion December 20, 2022

Posted by Steven Vannelli, CFA in Economy, Markets

In a recent San Francisco Federal Reserve Publication titled “Monetary Policy Stance is Tighter Than Fed Funds Rate,” the authors argue that the “all in” policy rate is actually higher than the Fed Funds rate would suggest. They open: “The Federal Reserve’s use of forward…

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International Innovation November 02, 2022

Posted by Steven Vannelli, CFA in Knowledge Leaders, Markets, Portfolio Management

Investors in innovation tend to focus on the US exclusively, and some of that is for good reason as the US spends more than any other country on research and development. But there are many innovative companies outside the US that spend substantial sums on…

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Knowledge Leaders US Mid-Large Innovation Analysis October 25, 2022

Posted by Steven Vannelli, CFA in Knowledge Leaders, Markets

In recent reports, we’ve been highlighting that innovation—as a factor represented by R&D as % of sales—has stopped underperforming and it is selling for an attractive valuation. We used the S&P 500, Russell 2000 and other off-the-shelf indexes. Today we will highlight one of our…

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S&P 500 Innovation Leaders vs. Followers October 18, 2022

Posted by Steven Vannelli, CFA in Knowledge Leaders, Markets

While many perceive the S&P 500 Index to be a broad innovation-heavy index, in a way it is and in a way it isn’t. It is an innovation-heavy index in so far as aggregate R&D investments total $478.8 billion, but it isn’t so innovation-heavy in…

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Has Innovation Bottomed? Is It Cheap Yet? September 20, 2022

Posted by Steven Vannelli, CFA in Knowledge Leaders, Markets

Innovation was the market darling thematic for many years leading up to COVID. The pandemic turbo-charged returns for innovation as the stay-at-home beneficiaries did phenomenally well. However, since the first quarter of 2021 innovation has struggled as a thematic strategy. It appears to us that…

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Four Technical Patterns in the Tech Sector September 14, 2022

Posted by Steven Vannelli, CFA in Markets, Portfolio Management

Using our proprietary point-and-figure-based charting system, I review a couple thousand charts per week in an attempt to identify interesting buy or sale candidates. I am never satisfied with sector or industry-level narratives because underneath the surface, there is always more than one narrative going…

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Options Based Hedging is at Record Levels September 07, 2022

Posted by Steven Vannelli, CFA in Markets

Last week, the combined dollar value of hedge positions on the S&P 500, NASDAQ 100 and Dow Jones Industrial indexes was $121.43 billion, not far from the August 16 peak of $160.02 billion. Last week, large traders (50 or more contracts) bought nearly 5 million…

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Is It Still June? Positioning is Still Quite Supportive of Equities August 29, 2022

Posted by Steven Vannelli, CFA in Markets

The most significant element going into the June low was positioning. Investors were hyper-aggressive buying hedges for equity exposure. Nothing has changed, especially after last Friday’s drop, and investors are still looking quite defensive. This is a positive in so far as it is indicative…

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The Deus ex Machina Scenario August 19, 2022

Posted by Steven Vannelli, CFA in Economy, Markets, News

Given all the confusion in the world around COVID, supply chains, inflation dynamics and war, there are lots of potential externalities that could resolve themselves unexpectedly. We call this the Deus ex Machina scenario. Our analysis follows in our Mid-Quarter Update. Prefer to download this presentation…

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Is Now the Time for Small Cap Growth to Shine? August 03, 2022

Posted by Steven Vannelli, CFA in Markets

Across US indexes, growth has experienced a resurgence relative to value off the June 17, 2022 low. In this piece, I am going to focus on small-cap stocks and consider their merits through the lens of: 1) US Treasury yields, 2) oil prices, and 3)…

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Is the Japanese Yen’s Decline Over? July 26, 2022

Posted by Steven Vannelli, CFA in Economy, Markets

Since the COVID low in US Treasury rates and subsequent rise, the Japanese Yen has tracked the yield differential between the US and Japan. With the Federal Reserve having embarked on a rate hiking cycle, the monetary policy divergence between the US and Japan has…

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