Scott Martindale  by Scott Martindale
  President & CEO, Sabrient Systems LLC

Overview:

The year began with impressive strength and resilience in risk assets despite all the uncertainties around tariffs, trade wars, hot wars, slowing GDP growth, inflation, stagflation, AI impact and capex, and myriad other concerns. The US was considered the rock in a recessionary world, attracting massive foreign capital flight (according to Nasdaq, total foreign holdings of US equities as of June 2024 was $17 trillion—almost double versus 2019). But once the dam broke, stocks, crypto, and the US dollar started melting down in a “waterfall decline” culminating in a “flash crash” on Monday with the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) nearly hitting 30 before closing at 27.86. As the adage goes, “Stocks take the stairs up and the elevator down.” But I believe this is a valuation-driven correction, as stocks had become “priced for perfection,” and the rapid meltdown ultimately will give way to a gradual melt-up, driven by rising global liquidity, a weaker US dollar, reduced wasteful government spending, lower tax and interest rates, less regulatory red tape, and the “animal spirits” of a rejuvenated private sector and housing market.

Prop desks and algorithmic trading systems hit sell stops to exacerbate the selloff, with many flipping from long to short exposure, and markets imploded as average investors quickly swung from extreme greed to extreme fear. According to Real Investment Advice, “The last time the market was this oversold and 3 standard deviations below the [50-day moving average] was in August of last year during the 10% correction as the Yen Carry Trade erupted.” The AAII weekly sentiment survey hit a bearish extreme of 60% on 2/26, after surging from 40% just one week earlier when the S&P 500 was at an all-time high. However, it’s important to note that stocks have historically recovered quite impressively over the 12 months following such extreme bearish readings.

The rising bond term premium in Q4 suggested that investors were becoming increasingly anxious about rising deficits and inflation, which also pushed gold higher. Meanwhile, the Fed has maintained tight monetary policy—and high real interest rates—given the uptick in inflation and apparently solid employment reports. However, I have consistently argued that the real-time inflation trend (without the lag in key components) has been falling and that massive government spending and hiring masked underlying issues with growth and employment in the private sector. So, this is not due to anything the new administration has done. As Renaissance Macro economist Neil Dutta recently opined, "[President Trump] inherited an economy with deep imbalances and a frozen housing and labor market."

In fact, John Burns Research & Consulting has observed that 3.8 million employees work directly for the government, but an additional 7.5 million workers indirectly receive some or all of their wages from the government—which totals 11.3 million workers or roughly 8% of the total US workforce (134 million) and accounts for much of the jobs growth. This is why I continue to advocate for both smaller government and another 100 bps in Fed rate cuts to achieve a neutral fed funds rate around 3.5% and stimulate private sector growth. As a result, I would expect a 10-year yield to stabilize around 4.0-4.5%, which would justify a forward P/E multiple for the S&P 500 around 20x (i.e., an earnings yield of 5%).

From their highs this year, “the S&P 500 and crypto have erased a combined -$5.5 trillion of market cap,” according to The Kobeissi Letter. The highflyers have led the carnage, most notably semiconductor stocks. Meta Platforms (META) is the only MAG-7 stock still positive YTD, while defensive sectors (like staples, telecom, and utilities), gold and silver miners, low/minimum volatility, value, high dividend payers, REITs, and long-duration bonds are among the best performers. The fact that bonds have caught a bid and credit spreads remain tight are positive signs that investors do not fear recession (or economic collapse). But investors continue to be shy about the amount and duration of tariffs, the aggressive DOGE actions, timing of fiscal policy implementation (tax cuts and deregulation), and Fed monetary policy (a Fed put?), and the collective impact on jobs, inflation, GDP growth, and risk asset prices as they retreat from historically high valuations.

To be sure, the Big Tech darlings had become overvalued, which is why the equal-weight versions of the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 have held up significantly better during the selloff. But keep in mind, the first year of a 4-year presidential term is typically the most volatile during the transition to new policies—and Trump 2.0 (“wrecking-ball”) policies are bringing quite a change from the norm. As Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said, “The economy has become hooked [on government spending], and there is going to be a detox period.”

So, knowing that he must show significant progress before the 2026 midterms, Trump is “ripping off the band-aid” to fully reveal the infected wound and wasting no time in addressing it with what he and his team strongly believes are healing policies that will restructure our nation for long-term prosperity, public safety, and national security. This is why his popularity among younger voters is holding firm. Although not nearly as extreme, it is like what Javier Milei has done to resurrect Argentina. I expect the political, economic, and market fallout will take its course during H1 2025 before giving way to a rapid building process during H2.

Investors have been increasingly scared away from risk assets at least partly due to the constant carping from both the mainstream media (MSM) and social media (usually misleadingly) about a “growth scare” (as the Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow forecast for Q1 plummeted to a recessionary -2.4% annualized growth rate), an “inflation scare” (due to tariffs, chickens, and migrant deportations), an “AI scare” (as China may be usurping our dominance with cheaper models, a “trade war scare” (as we alienate our international allies and trading partners), and various other scares that escape me at the moment (perhaps a “Hollywood exodus scare,” as celebs move out of country?). This diversified fearmongering has finally come to roost leading to the rapid unwinding of crowded long trades.

But no matter what you think of the longstanding system of global trade and whether the US was being taken advantage of, there is no doubting that the fiscal path we were on was unsustainable, with a bloated and intractable bureaucracy, wasteful boondoggles, entrenched interests, and funding of corruption, graft, fraud, racketeering, cronyism, kickbacks, and obfuscation both at home and around the world. Until now, no president has been willing or able to adequately address it, including Trump 1.0. But the new Trump 2.0 administration came in well prepared (and with a voter majority mandate) to tackle it head on. I have come to appreciate the method to our president’s apparent madness, as I discuss in my full post.

So, is this selloff likely to become a buyable dip rather than the start of a bear market? I would say yes. Although there might be some further volatility into the 4/2 tariff implementation date and perhaps the 4/15 Tax Day, I expect higher prices ahead. Why? First, from a short-term technical standpoint, the S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, and Dow Jones Industrials have diverged well below their 20-day moving averages, and they seem to have found support around their critical 300-day moving averages. Second, from a longer-term standpoint, despite all this chaos and turmoil from an administration emboldened to reverse and repair decades of neglect (and a continual “kicking the can down the road” for future generations to suffer the consequences), I remain optimistic that after some short-term pain during this transition period—including upticks in inflation, debt, and market volatility and a downtick in economic growth—the private sector will be equipped and unleashed to drive robust economic growth through productive, high-ROI investments and hiring.

In addition, as DataTrek Research recently observed, stocks have only fallen more than 10% in a given year in just 12 of the past 97 years, and each was driven either by a new hot war, recession (generally related to an oil price shock), or a Fed policy mistake—none of which are likely. So, don’t be too bearish. And as for a long entry point, the VIX can provide some guidance. It closed above 27 this week, which DataTrek considers to be a “capitulation” signal to consider getting back into stocks. And don’t forget all the cash sitting in money market funds earning those juicy risk-free rates. As money market rates recede, some of that cash may finally find its way into stocks at these more favorable valuations. Indeed, the rising price of gold may be signaling a global dovish pivot and massive liquidity support, as I discuss in my full post.

Yes, liquidity is key to keeping us out of a recession and a bear market in risk assets. Lower interest rates and a weaker US dollar are long-term economic tailwinds, while debt reduction is a short-term headwind until a rejuvenated (and turbocharged) private sector makes up for the lower deficit spending.

I expect the S&P 500 to rise above 6500 before year-end with a modest double-digit gain. Could it take longer for the expected fiscal stimulus (lower tax and interest rates, less red tape, and smaller government) to serve alongside the incredible promise of AI (on productivity, efficiency, and speed of product development) to boost the GDP such that the 6500 mark isn’t achieved until next year? Sure. But I think ultimately an economy driven by organic private sector growth is stronger and more reliable and sustainable than one driven by government (deficit) spending bills. As Elon Musk opined, “A more accurate measure of GDP would exclude government spending… Otherwise, you can scale GDP artificially high by spending money on things that don’t make people’s lives better.”

In the view of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, we have “a generational opportunity to unleash a new economic golden age that will create more jobs, wealth and prosperity for all Americans.” Indeed, if the fed funds rate begins to come down toward my 3.5% target, today’s slightly elevated valuations can be justified given solid corporate earnings growth, a high ratio of corporate profits to GDP, and the promise of continued margin growth across all industries due to the promise of rising productivity, efficiency, and product development speed from Generative AI, Large Language Models (LLMs), and Big Data. AI investment is not slowing down but simply shifting from a singular “builder” focus to a broader focus on AI applications. This is where productivity enhancement will shift into gear. And don’t forget energy, as affordable power is the lifeblood of an economy. Costs must stay low, and Trump 2.0 is prioritizing energy independence and lower energy costs.

Because this market correction was led by the bull market-leading MAG-7 stocks and all things AI related, investors now have a second chance to get positions in some of those mega-cap titans at more attractive prices. Notably, some of these names have seen their valuations retreat such that they are once again scoring well in Sabrient’s growth models (as found in our next-gen Sabrient Scorecards subscription product)—including names like Amazon (AMZN), NVIDIA (NVDA), Salesforce (CRM), Arista Networks (ANET), Fortinet (FTNT), Palo Alto Networks (PANW), Palantir (PLTR), Microsoft (MSFT), and Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM). Our models focus on high quality and fundamental strength, with a history of consistent, reliable, and accelerating sales and earnings growth, positive revisions to Wall Street analysts’ consensus forward estimates, rising profit margins and free cash flow, solid earnings quality, and low debt burden. These are factors Sabrient employs in selecting our portfolios and in our SectorCast ETF ranking model. And notably, our Earnings Quality Rank (EQR) is a key factor in each of these models, and it is also licensed to the actively managed, absolute-return-oriented First Trust Long-Short ETF (FTLS).

Sabrient founder David Brown describes these (and other) factors and his portfolio construction process in his new book, How to Build High Performance Stock Portfolios, which is available on Amazon for investors of all experience levels. David describes his path from NASA engineer on the Apollo 11 moon landing project to creating quant models for ranking stocks and building stock portfolios in four distinct investing styles—growth, value, dividend, or small cap growth. You can learn more about David's book, as well as the companion subscription product (Sabrient Scorecards) that does most of the stock evaluation work for you, by visiting: https://HighPerformanceStockPortfolios.com.

As you might expect from former engineers, Sabrient employs the scientific method and hypothesis-testing to build quantitative models that make sense. We have become best known for our “Baker’s Dozen” portfolio of 13 diverse growth-at-a-reasonable-price (GARP) stocks, which is packaged and distributed quarterly to the financial advisor community as a unit investment trust through First Trust Portfolios, along with three other offshoot strategies based on value, dividend, and small cap investing.

Click HERE to continue reading my full post (and to sign up for email delivery). I examine in greater detail the “growth scare,” inflation, tariffs, and DOGE shock, equity valuations, and what lies ahead. I also discuss Sabrient’s latest fundamental-based SectorCast quantitative rankings of the ten U.S. business sectors, current positioning of our sector rotation model, and several top-ranked ETF ideas. Also, here is a link to this post in printable PDF format.

Scott Martindale  by Scott Martindale
  President & CEO, Sabrient Systems LLC

StocksThe S&P 500 fell more than 5% over the first three weeks of April (it’s largest pullback since last October). Bonds also took it on the chin (as they have all year), with the 2-year Treasury yield briefly eclipsing 5%, which is my “line in the sand” for a healthy stock market. But the weakness proved short-lived, and both stocks and bonds have regained some footing to start May. During the drawdown, the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), aka fear index, awakened from its slumber but never closed above the 20 “panic threshold.”

In a return to the “bad news is good news” market action of yore, stocks saw fit to gap up last Friday as the US dollar weakened and stocks, bonds, and crypto all caught a nice bid (with the 10-year yield falling 30 bps)—on the expectation of sooner rate cuts following the FOMC’s softer tone on monetary policy and a surprisingly weak jobs report. So, the cumulative “lag effects” of quantitative tightening (QT), falling money supply, and elevated interest rates finally may be coming to roost. In fact, Fed chairman Jay Powell suggested that any sign of weakening in inflation or employment could lead to the highly anticipated rate cuts—leaving the impression that the Fed truly wants to start cutting rates.

But I can’t help but wonder whether that 5% pullback was it for the Q2 market correction I have been predicting. It sure doesn’t seem like we got enough cleansing of the momentum algo traders and other profit-protecting “weak holders.” But no one wants to miss out on the rate-cut rally. Despite the sudden surge in optimism about rates, inflation continues to be the proverbial “fly in the ointment” for rate cuts, I believe we are likely to see more volatility before the Fed officially pivots dovish, although we may simply remain in a trading range with downside limited to 5,000 on the S&P 500. Next week’s CPI/PPI readings will be crucial given that recent inflation metrics have ticked up. But I don’t expect any unwelcome inflationary surprises, as I discuss in today’s post.

The Fed faces conflicting signals from inflation, unemployment, jobs growth, GDP, and the international impact of the strong dollar on the global economy. Its preferred metric of Core PCE released on 4/26 stayed elevated in March at 2.82% YoY and a disheartening 3-month (MoM) rolling average of 4.43%. But has been driven mostly by shelter costs and services. But fear not, as I see a light at the end of the tunnel and a resumption of the previous disinflationary trend. Following one-time, early-year repricing, services prices should stabilize as wage growth recedes while labor demand slows, labor supply rises, productivity improves, and real disposable household income falls below even the lowest pre-pandemic levels. (Yesterday, the San Francisco Fed reported that American households have officially exhausted all $2.1 trillion of their pandemic-era excess savings.) Also, rental home inflation is receding in real time (even though the 6-month-lagged CPI metrics don’t yet reflect it), and inflation expectations of consumers and businesses are falling. Moreover, Q1 saw a surge in oil prices that has since receded, the Global Supply Chain Pressure Index (GSCPI) fell again in April. So, I think we will see Core PCE below 2.5% this summer. The Fed itself noted in its minutes that supply and demand are in better balance, which should allow for more disinflation. Indeed, when asked about the threat of a 1970’s-style “stagflation, the Fed chairman said, "I don't see the stag or the 'flation."

The Treasury's quarterly refunding announcement shows it plans to borrow $243 billion in Q2, which is $41 billion more than previously projected, to continue financing our huge and growing budget deficit. Jay Powell has said that the fiscal side of the equation needs to be addressed as it counters much of the monetary policy tightening. It seems evident to me that government deficit spending has been a key driver of GDP growth and employment—as well as inflation.

And as if that all isn’t enough, some commentators think the world is teetering on the brink of a currency crisis, starting with the collapse of the Japanese yen. Indeed, Japan is in quite the pickle with the yen and interest rates, which is a major concern for global financial stability given its importance in the global economy. Escalating geopolitical tensions and ongoing wars are also worrisome as they create death, destruction, instability, misuse of resources, and inflationary pressures on energy, food, and transportation prices.

All of this supports the case for why the Fed would want to start cutting rates (likely by mid-year), which I have touched on many times in the past. Reasons include averting a renewed banking crisis, fallout from the commercial real estate depression, distortion in the critical housing market, the mirage of strong jobs growth (which has been propped up by government spending and hiring), and of course the growing federal debt, debt service, and debt/GDP ratio (with 1/3 of the annual budget now earmarked to pay interest on the massive and rapidly growing $34 trillion of federal debt), which threatens to choke off economic growth. In addition, easing financial conditions would help highly indebted businesses, consumers, and our trading partners (particularly emerging markets). Indeed, yet another reason the Fed is prepared to cut is that other central banks are cutting, which would strengthen the dollar even further if the Fed stood pat. And then we have Japan, which needs to raise rates to support the yen but doesn’t really want to, given its huge debt load; it would be better for it if our Federal Reserve cuts instead.

So, the Fed is at a crossroads. I still believe a terminal fed funds rate of 3.0% would be appropriate so that borrowers can handle the debt burden while fixed income investors can receive a reasonable real yield (i.e., above the inflation rate) so they don’t have to take on undue risk to achieve meaningful income. As it stands today, assuming inflation has already (in real time, not lagged) resumed its downtrend, I think the real yield is too high—i.e., great for savers but bad for borrowers.

Nevertheless, I still believe any significant pullback in stocks would be a buying opportunity. As several commentators have opined, the US is the “best house in a lousy (global) neighborhood.” In an investment landscape fraught with danger nearly everywhere you turn, I see US stocks and bonds as the place to be invested, particularly as the Fed and other central banks restore rising liquidity (Infrastructure Capital Advisors predicts a $2 trillion global injection to make rates across the yield curve go down). But I also believe they should be hedged with gold and crypto. According to Michael Howell of CrossBorder Capital, a strong dollar will still devalue relative to gold and bitcoin when liquidity rises, and gold price tends to rise faster than the rise in liquidity—and bitcoin has an even higher beta to liquidity. Ever since Russia invaded Ukraine on 2/24/2022 and was sanctioned with confiscation of $300 billion in reserves, central banks around the world have been stocking up, surging gold by roughly +21% and bitcoin +60%, compared to the S&P 500 +18% (price return). During Q1, institutions bought a record 290 tons, according to the World Gold Council (WGC).

With several trillions of dollars still sitting defensively in money market funds, we are nowhere near “irrational exuberance” despite somewhat elevated valuations and the ongoing buzz around Gen AI. At the core of an equity portfolio should be US large cap exposure (despite its significantly higher P/E versus small-mid-cap). But despite strong earnings momentum of the mega-cap Tech darlings (which are largely driven by robust share buyback programs), I believe there are better investment opportunities in many under-the-radar names (across large, mid, and small caps), including among cyclicals like homebuilders, energy, financials, and REITs.

So, if you are looking outside of the cap-weighted passive indexes (and their elevated valuation multiples) for investment opportunities, let me remind you that Sabrient’s actively selected portfolios include the latest Q2 2024 Baker’s Dozen (a concentrated 13-stock portfolio offering the potential for significant outperformance) which launched on 4/19, Small Cap Growth 42 (an alpha-seeking alternative to the Russell 2000 index) which just launched last week on 5/1, and Dividend 47 (a growth plus income strategy) paying a 3.8% current yield. Notably, Dividend 47’s top performer so far is Southern Copper (SCCO), which is riding the copper price surge and, by the way, is headquartered in Phoenix—just 10 miles from my home in Scottsdale.

I talk more about inflation, federal debt, the yen, and oil markets in today’s post. I also discuss Sabrient’s latest fundamentals based SectorCast quantitative rankings of the ten U.S. business sectors (which continue to be led by Technology), current positioning of our sector rotation model, and several top-ranked ETF ideas. And in my Final Comments section, I have a few things to say about the latest lunacy on our college campuses (Can this current crop of graduates ever be allowed a proper ceremony?).

Click here to continue reading my full commentary. Or if you prefer, here is a link to this post in printable PDF format (as some of my readers have requested). Please feel free to share my full post with your friends, colleagues, and clients. You also can sign up for email delivery of this periodic newsletter at Sabrient.com.

By the way, Sabrient founder David Brown has a new book coming out soon through Amazon.com in which he describes his approach to quantitative modeling and stock selection for four distinct investing strategies (Growth, Value, Dividend, and Small Cap). It is concise, informative, and a quick read. David has written a number of books through the years, and in this new one he provides valuable insights for investors by unveiling his secrets to identifying high-potential stocks. I will send out an email once it becomes available on Amazon.

Scott Martindale  by Scott Martindale
  President & CEO, Sabrient Systems LLC

As expected, last week the FOMC left the fed funds rate as is at 5.25-5.50%. Fed funds futures suggest the odds of a hike at the December meeting have fallen to less than 10%, and the odds of at least three 25-bp rate cuts by the end of 2024 have risen to nearly 80%, with a 25% chance the first cut comes as soon as March. As a result, after moving rapidly to cash for the past few months, stock and bond investors came rushing back with a vengeance. But what really goosed the market were underwhelming economic reports leading to Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s comments suggesting the lag effects on surging interest rates and the strong US dollar are finally manifesting. Investors apparently believed the Fed’s promise of “higher for longer” (making the Fed’s job easier), which spiked Treasury yields (and by extension, mortgage rates) much faster and more severely than the Fed intended.

The S&P 500 had fallen well below all major moving averages, accelerating downward into correction territory, and was down 10% from its 7/31 high. Moreover, the S&P 500 Bullish Percent Index (BPSPX), which rarely drops below 25, had fallen to a highly oversold 23 (anything below 30 is considered oversold), and the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) had surged above the 20 “panic threshold” to hit 23. Both were contrarian bullish signals. Then stocks began to recover ahead of the FOMC meeting, and after the less-than-hawkish policy announcement, it triggered short covering and an options-driven “gamma squeeze,” with the S&P 500 surging above its 200-day, 50-day, and 20-day moving averages (leaving only the 100-day still above as potential resistance), the BPSPX bullish percent closed the week at 43 (which is still well below the overbought level of 80 last hit on 7/31), and the VIX closed the week below 15.

The recovery rally was broad, and in five short days put the major indexes back to where they were two weeks ago. The best performers were those that sold off the most, essentially erasing the late-October swoon in any instant. As for Treasury yields, the week ended with the 2-year at 4.84% (after hitting 5.24% in mid-October) and the 10-year at 4.57% (after touching 5.0% in mid-October), putting the 2-10 inversion at -27 bps. The 30-year mortgage rate has fallen back below 7.50%. Recall that my “line in the sand” for stocks has been the 2-year staying below 5.0%, and indeed falling below that level last week correlated with the surge in equities.

Looking ahead, investors will be wondering whether last week’s huge relief rally is sustainable, i.e., the start of the much-anticipated Q4 rally. After all, it is well known that some of the most startling bull surges happen during bear markets. Regardless, stock prices are ultimately based on earnings and interest rates, and earnings look quite healthy while interest rates may have topped out, as sentiment indicators are flashing contrarian buy signals (from ultra-low levels). But much still hinges on the Fed, which is taking its cues from inflation and jobs reports. Last week’s FOMC statement suggests a lessening of its hawkishness, but what if the Fed has viewed our post-pandemic, return-to-normalcy, sticky-inflation economic situation—and the need for harsh monetary intervention—all wrong?

Much of the empirical data shows that inflation was already set to moderate without Fed intervention, given: 1) post-lockdown recovery in supply chains, rising labor force participation, and falling excess savings (e.g., the end to relief payments and student debt forbearance); and 2) stabilization/contraction in money supply growth. These dynamics alone inevitably lead to consumer belt-tightening and slower economic growth, not to mention the resumption in the disinflationary secular trends and the growing deflationary impulse from a struggling China.

Notably, the New York Fed’s Global Supply Chain Pressure Index (GSCPI), which measures the number of standard deviations from the historical average value (aka Z-score) and generally presages movements in PPI (and by extension, CPI), was released earlier today for October, and it plummeted to -1.74, which is its lowest level ever. This bodes well for CPI/PPI readings next week and PCE at month end, with a likely resumption in their downtrends. So, although the Fed insists the economy and jobs are strong and resilient so it can focus on taming the scourge of inflation through “higher for longer” interest rates, I remain less concerned about inflation than whether the Fed will pivot quickly enough to avoid inducing an unnecessary recession.

Assuming the Fed follows through on its softer tone and real yields continue to fall (and we manage to avoid World War III), I think this latest rally has given investors renewed legs—likely after a profit-taking pullback from last week’s 5-day moonshot. With over 80% of the S&P 500 having reported, Q3 earnings are handily exceeding EPS expectations (3.7% YoY growth, according to FactSet, driven mostly by a robust profit margin of 12.1%), and optimistic forecasts for 2024-2025 earnings growth are holding up. Meanwhile, a renewed appetite for bonds promises to drive down interest rates.

I like the prospects for high-quality/low-debt technology companies, bonds and bond-proxies (e.g., utilities and consumer staples), oil and uranium stocks, gold miners, and bitcoin in this macro climate. Furthermore, we continue to believe that, rather than the broad-market, passive indexes that display high valuations, investors may be better served by active stock selection Sabrient’s portfolios include the new Q4 2023 Baker’s Dozen (launched on 10/20), Small Cap Growth 40 (just launched on 11/3), and Sabrient Dividend 45 (launched on 9/1, and today offers a 5.5% dividend yield).

In today’s post, I discuss the trend in supply chains and inflation, equity valuations, and Fed monetary policy implications. I also discuss Sabrient’s latest fundamentals based SectorCast quantitative rankings of the ten U.S. business sectors (which is topped by Technology and Industrials), current positioning of our sector rotation model (which is switching from neutral to a bullish bias, assuming support at the 50-day moving average holds for the S&P 500), and some actionable ETF trading ideas.

Click here to continue reading my full commentary … or if you prefer, here is a link to this post in printable PDF format (as some of my readers have requested).