Markets

Small Trader Mania February 05, 2021

Posted by Steven Vannelli, CFA in Markets

In which we discuss the recent small trader mania. Download slides here: Small Trader Mania Questions? Email us at investmentteam@klcapital.com.  

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Party Like Its 1999 January 27, 2021

Posted by Steven Vannelli, CFA in Markets, Portfolio Management

In this Q4 2020 slide presentation of our quarterly strategy report, we discuss: Bob Farrell’s Rules for Trading (#5 and #7 especially resonate with us right now). What the retail trading frenzy, recent IPOs and speculation can tell us about where we are in the…

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Ready for Another USD Rally? June 19, 2020

Posted by Steven Vannelli, CFA in Economy, Markets

As funding strains appeared in March, the USD surged. Then the Fed stepped in with massive foreign exchange swaps as a way to lend USD to foreign central banks, intended to ultimately be lent to borrowers in need of USD. As F/X swaps reached almost…

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Keep an Eye on the Yuan & Corporate Spreads May 28, 2020

Posted by Steven Vannelli, CFA in Economy, Markets

Since the March 23, 2020 low, when the Federal Reserve announced basically unlimited liquidity via a variety of programs, corporate spreads have narrowed, and the stock market has risen substantially. In the chart below, I overlay US investment grade spreads over the S&P 500 Index….

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Why the Fed Cut Rates by 50bps: Will it Help? March 03, 2020

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

Despite the relief rally yesterday, financial conditions have tightened significantly in the last couple weeks. This likely explains why the Fed just made an emergency 50bps cut to the fed funds rate. The graph below highlights that the two main areas of weaker financial conditions…

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Mid-Quarter Update: Prognosis Negative February 28, 2020

Posted by Steven Vannelli, CFA in Markets, News

Widespread underperformance of Dow Jones Industrial Average stocks is a significant negative indicator for US stocks in our view. In this special report, we present charts of the 30 Dow stocks relative to long-duration US treasury bonds and gold for the last five years. Spoiler:…

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Ready for Action? February 24, 2020

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

Former Fed Governor and now professor at the University of Rochester, Narayana Kocherlakota penned the following short opinion piece in Bloomberg this morning: Fed Shouldn’t Wait to Cut Interest Rates: Narayana Kocherlakota By Narayana Kocherlakota The world economy is facing a material risk in the…

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Short Anatomy of a Sell-Off January 31, 2020

Posted by Steven Vannelli, CFA in Markets, Portfolio Management

Sell-offs can start for any number of endogenous or exogenous events. A mentor used to tell me, “There are a million reasons to sell a stock, but one reason to buy.” What he meant was that there are always personal reasons to sell: tuition is…

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What is Driving US Treasury Rates Lower in 2020? January 29, 2020

Posted by Steven Vannelli, CFA in Markets

10-Year US Treasury yields are down about 30bps so far this year, continuing the trend of lower rates that began in the fall of 2018 and confounding investor expectations for rising rates which would validate a turn up in economic activity. The primary driver of…

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