Insight & Commentaries
Page through any investment brochure, factsheet, or presentation, and you’ll eventually get to the disclosure language claiming “All investing involves risk.” For fixed income investors, credit spreads over risk-free U.S. treasuries provide a sense of the interest rate, reinvestment, and credit risk they assume when buying corporate bonds. Along the same lines, stock investors must consider inherent risks in the equity markets when facing investing decisions. The Equity Risk Premium (ERP) indicates the price of risk in equities and is a key metric in determining the appeal of owning stocks versus bonds or other assets at any given time. What…
Many managers use textbook financial ratios such as return on equity, debt to equity, and earnings per share variability to evaluate the quality and value of a company. However, these metrics can be easily manipulated by a company’s management and misused by index providers and rating agencies. For example, the return on equity ratio can be increased overnight by issuing debt and using it to buy back stock rather than investing in the business to promote growth. This can create an illusion of higher profitability without actually improving the company’s business operations. Distortions Caused by Share Buybacks To better understand…
Consistency is a big part of quality. Our search for consistency leads us to companies that generate dependable growth. And the most consistent growth engine of the world’s economy — decade after decade — has been the consumer. Household consumption sits at the center of our economy, accounting for over 70% of all activity in the United States. When threatened, government intervention has been there to help shore up consumption, come what may, and from administration to administration. The reason for such policies are simple: employers all across the economy ultimately hire, invest, and produce to serve consumers. If consumption…
The only sure thing in investing is the uncertain. When we began the year, bearishness was rampant. Most Wall Street forecasters were expecting a recession, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned the “worst is yet to come.” Thus far, the dismal outlook of these forecasters has yet to materialize. The lesson is that accurate and precise forecasts are rare. So how do we deal with uncertainty? We plan for the unexpected by continually focusing on quality. Fixing the roof when the sun is shining is far easier than when it rains! The S&P 500 is up 18% year-to-date, with…
As we pointed out in our Viewpoint 2023, the air of gloom that hung over markets at the start of the year was extreme. Instead, we saw improving fundamentals and opportunity for the situation to play out better than expected. So far, the economy and markets have proven resilient in 2023 with equity markets and the economy turning in better-than-expected performance. While the economy rolls along, however, there are some crosscurrents in the data leading us to avoid large tactical bets at the moment. Conquest Portfolios
What comes around goes around. What has been going on for the past few years may now be coming to an end. From the pandemic lows of March 2020, low-quality stocks rode a wave of liquidity that is now receding. The roughly $5 trillion of new money creation, and the transfer payments that followed, encouraged risk-taking. After taking a beating at the onset of the pandemic, low-quality stocks suddenly became en vogue after March 2020. From that bottom, low-quality stocks rose 170%, as high-quality stocks rose 104%. But this situation now is going the other way. The Situation Now The…
This morning’s lead story in the Wall Street Journal is about the resilient U.S. economy. According to the report, strong hiring, consumer spending, stock market, and housing trends are all helping. Yet, a closer look shows some peculiar disconnects. Productivity fell again last quarter, manufacturing is rolling over, and the money supply is falling. Moreover, higher interest rates pose a challenge as the S&P 500 moves toward bull market territory. Case for Growth Last week, a scorching hot May jobs report showed the U.S. economy adding 339,000 jobs, far above expectations. Private payrolls grew 283,000, up 2.7% from a year…
The S&P 500 is up 8.8% for the year through May 25. So, we should start celebrating a bull market, right? But look deeper, and a different picture emerges. Take away the top ten, mostly technology, names, and the market return falls to zero. Moreover, those ten stocks performed horribly last year, with an average decline of 43%. The average stock in the broader market, defined as the largest 3,000 stocks in the United States, is also flat for the year. Such narrow leadership is not what we expect in a full-bore bull market. Stumbling Block The market hit a…
Like it or not, debt negotiations and shutdowns are integral to the political process, recurring over the past 50 years. The fear of a budget impasse, shutdown, default, and debt downgrade has again gripped the markets. However, it is unlikely that lawmakers will allow a debt default, following instead a familiar pattern of bipartisan argument, brinksmanship, and, finally, compromise. While an outright U.S. government debt default is improbable, we should emphasize quality due to its numerous benefits. Durable, flexible, and predictable firms tend to fare better in uncertain times. In contrast, financially weak firms are more susceptible to government default…
Consistency is not flashy. Consistency does not take center stage. Consistency does not make headlines. Yet, consistency wins the day when predictability is in short supply, as it is now. With many observing that the recession risk is high, earnings could be at risk. Sales and profit margins for the S&P 500 companies are rolling over. Forecasted earnings trends are also headed down. Several high-profile companies that boasted stellar growth in 2020-2021 are falling flat. For this reason, we thought we should focus on consistency — one of the three pillars of our definition of “quality.” Consistency Defined When evaluating…
Surging inflation and interest rate expectations undermined stock and bond markets last year. There are nascent signs these trends may be reversing. Accordingly, stocks and bonds have rallied so far in 2023, despite the emergence of concerns in the banking sector. After a period of being slightly underweight equities, we have aligned tactical portfolio risk exposure close to benchmarks to reflect improvement in our WCA Barometer, coupled with a wide band of uncertainty around the forecast. Conquest portfolios
Index funds have gathered a devoted following since their debut in the 1970s. According to the Investment Company Institute, passive indexes and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) were 43% of the $29 trillion mutual fund industry. A main selling point of the funds is their “hands-off” nature, requiring little ongoing research or knowledge. But these funds are more active than you might think. While the funds do mirror an index’s composition, the index itself can change a lot. Those changes can be more significant than you think and introduce unwanted risks. Set and Forget Strategy An appeal of passive funds is their…
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