Conquest
Key Points: Vaccines Spur Growth Rebound U.S. Profits Recover to Pre-Pandemic Levels High U.S. Savings to Fuel Growth Stronger Dollar Favors Domestic Tilt Valuations, Rates, and Taxes are Risks Much has changed in the past quarter. A new administration and new congressional leadership has emerged in Washington. Meanwhile, a COVID-19 vaccination rollout is accelerating throughout the United States and some other parts of the world. Speculative fervor has rippled through some parts of equity markets while bond investors fret about rising interest rates. This quarter we address how these changes are shaping the environment, creating challenges and opportunities for tactical…
While risk-taking remains in fashion and more stimulus is on the way, we are trimming back some equity exposure. We now forecast some tempering in the outlook ahead (Chart A, below) after a long stretch of improving conditions. As a result, we reduced stock exposure to 67% from 80% and increased bond exposure to 33% from 20%. CONQUEST tactical asset portfolios remain overweight stocks versus bonds, only less so. Chart A WCA Fundamental Conditions Barometer High Hopes Since the governments and central banks around the world went “all-in” to save the economy from the pandemic last spring, wealth has exploded….
Many are expecting vaccinations to lead to a robust recovery this year. Return to normal and restart of the in-person economy should encourage growth and be celebrated. At the same time, the return to growth could also weaken the case for continued fiscal and monetary ease. And once restarted, the globe faces challenges. The tensions and ailments that existed before the pandemic are still with us. The path appears to be forward but it will not likely be a straight line. Last year’s pandemic-induced downturn was out-and-out different from recessions past. For this reason, we should see recovery as a…
A look at surging data as we head into the close of the year.
A month after the announcement of the first highly effective COVID-19 vaccine, positive momentum is building. Potentially game-changing vaccines, a new round of government spending, and continued, pedal-to-the-metal monetary policy are nurturing a boom environment as we end a most challenging year. While COVID-19 cases grow globally, and in the wake of the election, it is easy to lose track of market trends. In no particular order, here are a set of observations about recent trends worth noting. Observations: The value of all U.S. stocks is nearing $42 trillion, or 2 times the whole economy’s size ($21 trillion GDP). High…
Investment returns are the reward sought by all investors, not small returns or unpredictable returns, but large and guaranteed ones. Unfortunately, those sorts of returns are imaginary. This is not to say that estimation, a more respectable form of imagination, is not in widespread practice. All investors imagine some sort of plausible future of some kind, with some sort of expected reward. These imaginings are behind every dollar invested in the world today. “By the end of the next decade, quite a way off, there will be a pandemic, and stock investors will achieve record wealth.” These words, if uttered…
As we start the fourth quarter, the major U.S. stock market averages hover around a 0% return for the year. That unexciting performance masks extraordinary volatility — a 35% February-March decline and a 50% March-August bounce back. Other assets demonstrated similar volatility (graph, next page). Through September 30, Long-term U.S. Treasury bonds returned over 20%, and Bloomberg Barclays Aggregate U.S. Bond Index returned 6.5%. Short-term T-Bills returned about 0.7%, and gold is up 24%. Volatility again ruled the roost in 2020, and diversified portfolios generally did better than all stock portfolios. As we head into the final quarter of 2020,…
Years ago, it was easy to make money. Those who were around during the 1970s may even remember earning near 20%. A three-month CD in December 1980 earned over 18%, according to data from the Federal Reserve. Such rates are near 0.18% today — far below the core inflation rate (+1.3% year-over-year). At that rate, a $100 investment would grow to only $101.80 over ten years. Evaporating Interest Rates And don’t think buying longer-term bonds is the answer, either. Ten-year U.S. Treasury bonds now yield 0.7% compared to over 3% just two years ago. A $100 investment in a zero-coupon…
Last Monday, the National Bureau of Economic Research declared the longest economic expansion in U.S. history over. After beginning in June 2009, the expansion lasted for 128 months through February. Born in the depths of a severe financial crisis that started at home, many worried the U.S. would suffer a long decline. In the ten and one-half years that followed, the U.S. economy and markets outpaced most others, leaving domestic stocks with premium valuations. Even though U.S. stocks appear relatively expensive, we should remain tactically overweight domestic assets for now because dollar-denominated assets can convey significant benefits during times of…
Reopening the economy has stirred some optimism amid a wash of depressing forecasts. The Federal Reserve Banks of Atlanta and St. Louis have a model that estimates the U.S. economy may contract at a 42-48% annualized rate in Q2. For a more optimistic read, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York “Nowcast” estimates a 31% pace of decline in Q2. Thirty-six million lost jobs and record drops in both industrial output (-11% April) and retail sales (-16% April) are driving the slump. The second quarter is going to be a bad one, but recently markets seem to be looking beyond…
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