Eq: Large Cap
(New York)
Investors need to be worried about the amount of corporate debt out there. Over the last decade, companies have binged on corporate debt to the tune of $14 tn of issuance. Total US corporate debt from nonfinancial companies is now 74% of GDP, its highest ever. And total corporate leverage is now 20% higher than before the Crisis. On the back of this, Goldman Sachs says that so far this year stocks with the strongest balance sheets have been outperforming weaker ones considerably. Here are some companies to look at to protect one’s portfolio from a crunch: Mastercard, Electronic Arts, Equity Commonwealth (a REIT), Graco, and Verizon.
FINSUM: The amount of corporate debt is quite alarming, and it does seem like there will be a reckoning. But when? As long as earnings stay strong, it seems unlikely there will be a big blow up.
(New York)
Markets got hit with a double whammy yesterday. Escalating trade tensions absolutely nailed equities, but in a move that surprised some, US Treasuries did not gain. For essentially the last 30 years, whenever equity prices took a big hit, Treasury bonds tended to gain on their safe haven value. However, yields on the ten-year actually rose a point yesterday. The reason why appears to be the Fed’s very optimistic position on the US economy, which compels many to believe rates are headed higher, making Treasuries less appealing.
FINSUM: Markets, both stocks and bonds, are caught between a burgeoning trade war and a rate tightening cycle. Doesn’t sound very bullish.
(New York)
The Dow had a very ugly day yesterday, as did the Nasdaq and S&P 500. However, that might just be the beginning, argues Barron’s. Markets plunged as Trump escalated the trade stand-off with China and other US trading partners, including limiting Chinese investment in American technology companies. And while markets have been looking at a possible trade war for months, it seems as though they have not fully priced in one of the magnitude which now looks to be emerging. According to one analyst, “Markets are starting to price in the possibility of a trade war with China, however, I would argue that a true trade war–one that drives us into a worldwide recession–would lead to a 20% or more drop in prices, so we haven’t priced one in yet”.
FINSUM: This is a very ugly, but realistic, prediction. We are increasingly worried about the direction of the international dispute on trade.
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(New York)
As if there were not enough worrying indicators out there, Market Watch has featured a new worrisome measure. The paper interviewed a famous Wall Street quant who says that algorithms which track broad social media sentiment are showing significant risks of a serious decline in equities. The big worries on the public’s mind revolve around the escalating trade war between China and the US. The indicator also informs sector picks, to which strategist Yin Luo said “With U.S. stocks, we are bullish consumer discretionary, technology, and industrials over the medium horizon, and are negative on consumer staples and telecom services, where fundamentals remain relatively weak and momentum has been negative”.
FINSUM: We are always skeptical of these kinds of views because what people say on social media is not a very good reflection of what they are doing in their investment account. Further, there are likely mountains of people being assessed by the algorithms that have no trading/investment account, so their impact is nearly non existent.
(New York)
A big wave of buybacks is about to hit markets, and in an area where they haven’t showed up for a long time. The Federal Reserve is expected to give the green light to banks this week to rain buybacks down on investors. Furthermore, dividends are expected to grow considerably. Banks are expected to return 100% of their earnings over the next 12 months. JP Morgan is expected to hike dividends to 3%, and Citi looks poised to buy back 10% of its stock.
FINSUM: Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley might be the odd banks out in this forthcoming frenzy, but otherwise it should be very bullish for investors.
(New York)
Corporate earnings are doing well and are forecasted to keep rising. Alongside those improvements in operating performance, one would expect stocks would likely keep rising. Not so fast, says Goldman Sachs, who says that earnings improvements will likely do little for stock prices. David Kostin, the firm’s chief US equity strategist, says that earnings’ influence on prices will be moderated by a number of factors. “The appreciation potential will be constrained by tightening monetary policy, a flattening yield curve, rising trade tensions, and the upcoming mid-term Congressional elections.”
FINSUM: In other words, stock market investors are dealing with much more than operating performance. We think the market will discount earnings even more than expected because a lot of the gains are being driven by the tax policy change, making the improvement temporary in nature.