by Scott Martindale
  President & CEO, Sabrient Systems LLC

Overview:

Strong US stock market performance has been driven, in my view, by the combination of: 1) a dovish Fed, money supply growth and global capital flight to the US (“shadow liquidity”), 2) expectations of lower energy costs and falling inflation, 3) AI exuberance and capex and the promise of massive productivity gains, and 4) growing optimism about technologies like nuclear energy, blockchain, quantum computing, robotics, autonomous vehicles, and genomics. But after two consecutive years of 20%+ gains in the S&P 500 for the first time since 1998 (and even greater gains for the Tech-dominated Nasdaq 100)—greatly outperforming all prominent forecasts—investors are looking ahead to a year that arguably brings even greater uncertainty and a wider range of expected outcomes, ranging from a recession and bear market to a continued bull run within a Roaring ‘20s-redux decade.

Will Trump 2.0 business-friendly fiscal policies (e.g., tax cuts, deregulation) and DOGE cost-cutting impact the economy, inflation, federal budget deficit, and corporate profits negatively for a period of time before kicking in later? What about sluggish economic growth abroad and the disastrous impacts of the ultra-strong dollar, particularly among key trading partners like Canada, Mexico, Europe, China, and Japan? And will the massive corporate capex (which is expected to accelerate under the new administration’s policies) start to show commensurate returns in the form of rising productivity and profitability, leading to rising GDP growth (in true supply-side style) without the crutch of government deficit spending (which accounted for about 30% of growth over the last 4 quarters)…and ultimately to rising tax receipts to quickly offset any initial rise in the deficit?

The bull case sees an economy and stock market driven by business-friendly fiscal policies under Trump 2.0 including deregulation, lower corporate tax rate, and restoration of civil liberties and constitutional freedoms should also be stimulative and might fuel disinflation (as opposed to the inflation that many critics expect). Trump’s energy policies are also likely to be disinflationary. Capital flight into the US (most of which stays outside our banking system and therefore is not captured by M2), huge corporate capex, less deficit spending (and politburo-style “malinvestment” and mandates), and strong productivity growth, and rising velocity of money that offsets any tightening in money supply growth.

According to Capital Group, a mid-cycle economy typically displays rising corporate profits, accelerating credit demand, modest inflationary pressures, and a move toward neutral monetary policy—all of which occurred during 2024. And besides expectations of a highly aggressive 15% earnings growth in the S&P 500 over the next couple of years, Silicon Valley VC Shervin Pishevar recently opined, “I think there’s going to be a renaissance of innovation in America…It’s going to be exciting to see… AI is going to accelerate so fast we’re going to reach AGI [Artificial General Intelligence, or human-like thinking] within the next 2-3 years. I think there will be ‘Manhattan Projects’ for AI, quantum computing, biotech.” So, it all sounds quite good.

However, my observation is that GDP and jobs growth have been highly reliant on huge government deficit spending bills, which is not so good. The Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow model forecasts Q4 GDP to come in at just 2.7%, which is sluggish growth considering the huge amount of government money and corporate capex being spent. Rising bond yields and strengthening US dollar means less liquidity and tighter financial conditions, which are negatives for risk assets. The incoming administration—free this time of the unknowing appointment of deep-state obstructionists like in his first term—is suggesting a new tack characterized by smaller government and the unleashing of animal spirits in the private sector, with the goal of achieving GDP growth north of 4%.

So, for 2025, I expect strong fiscal and monetary policy support for economic growth (albeit with some pains and stumbles along the way as government spending is reined in) as well as moderating inflation as shelter costs recede, military conflicts are resolved (war is inflationary), and deflationary impulses arrive from struggling economies in China and Europe. I also expect stocks and bonds will both attain modest gains by year end (albeit with elevated volatility along the way). In this transitional year in which a more politically seasoned Donald Trump’s policies and leadership have gained broader support domestically across demographics (and indeed across the world), how it all gets off the ground and how quickly it generates traction this year will have profound implications for the rest of his term and beyond. Heck, even a growing contingent in ultra-blue California have become willing to give his approach a chance—further red-pilled by the disastrous LA wildfires (more on this below).

To me, the biggest question marks for our economy and stocks in 2025 (other than a Black Swan event) are: 1) the net impacts of Trump’s cost cutting efforts (on federal deficit spending and boondoggles) balanced with his pro-business policies and a supportive Fed, and 2) the impacts of economic growth struggles abroad. China is dealing with deflation (PPI has declined for 26 months in a row), a real estate crisis, weak retail sales, and surging excess savings among a shrinking population. Since the Global Financial Crisis, China’s marginal returns on capital have plunged from around 14% to barely 5% (on par with the US). As for the Eurozone, its share of world GDP has fallen from a high of 26.4% in 1992 to just 14.8% in 202, as its obsession with renewable electricity (rather than fossil fuels and nuclear) costing 5x the price of conventionally produced electricity—and driving low returns on capital and thus capital flight. As MacroStrategy Partners UK has opined, “With all of GDP [essentially] an energy conversion, our future depends on either extending fossil fuel production further or developing nuclear.”

Indeed, the US remains the beacon of hope for global investors. However, at the moment, surging bond yields, weak market internals, and a strengthening dollar suggest investors have grown cautious. All the major stock and bond indexes fell below their 50-day simple moving averages (although they are trying to regain them today, 1/15). Inflation hedges gold and bitcoin have risen back above theirs, but all these asset classes have lost both their momentum in concert with sluggish global liquidity growth since October (as pointed out by economist and liquidity guru Michael Howell of CrossBorder Capital). Of course, rising real yields tend to reduce the appeal of gold, and nominal yields have been rising much faster than the modest (and likely temporary) uptick in inflation.

Indeed, the latest PPI and CPI readings this week show stabilization, which the markets cheered (across all asset classes). As I write, the 10-year Treasury yield has fallen below 4.70% and the 20-year dropped below the important 5% handle. Hopefully, this will stem the rise in 30-year mortgage rates, which are above 7.0%, creating a big impediment to the critical housing market. The delinquency rate on commercial office MBS jumped to a record 11% in December, which is the highest since the Global Financial Crisis. Consumer credit card defaults jumped to a 14-year high as average cc interest rates hit a record high, now in excess of 23%. And then we have our federal government needing to roll over at least $16 trillion (of our $36.2 trillion debt) during the next four years.

Although Michael Howell thinks the 10-year Treasury yield could continue to rise to perhaps 5.5%, which would be a huge definite negative for risk assets, my view is that bond prices will soon find support (and stabilize yields), which would help stocks stabilize as well. After all, US Treasury yields are attractive in that they are among the highest among developed markets, and the two largest economies are diverging, with China’s yields collapsing (10-year below 1.7%) as US yields surged. Indeed, debt deflation and sluggish economic conditions in China are at risk of creating a deflationary spiral. Also, the traditional 60/40 stock/bond portfolio rebalancing is taking place, which shifts capital from equities to bonds.

If I am right and the bottom in 20-year Treasury price (i.e., peak yield) is nigh (as it retests its low from April 2024), we likely would see the dollar decline, gold rally, and bond yields fall, which would be a tailwind for growth stocks. Ultimately, I expect the terminal fed funds rate will be around 3.50% (from today’s 4.25-4.50%), although it might not get there until 2026, and I think the 10-year will gradually settle back to around 4.25%.

Assuming AI and blockchain capital spending and productivity gains are already largely priced into the lofty Big Tech valuations, perhaps this is the year that the market finally broadens in earnest such that opportunities can be found among small caps, bonds and dividend paying stocks, value, and cyclical sectors like Financials, Industrials, and Transports (and perhaps segments of Energy, like natural gas production, liquefication, and transport), However, the Basic Materials sector, particularly industrial commodities (like copper), may struggle with weak Chinese demand, and because many commodities are priced in dollars, a strong dollar reduces purchasing power among all our trading partners, which further hinders demand. As such, Materials continues to rank at the bottom of Sabrient’s SectorCast rankings.

I go into all of this (and more, including my outlook for 2025) in my full post below. Overall, my suggestion to investors remains this. Don’t chase the highflyers and instead focus on high-quality businesses at reasonable prices, hold inflation and dollar hedges like gold and bitcoin, expect elevated volatility given the uncertainty of the new administration’s policies and impact, and be prepared to exploit any market pullbacks by accumulating those high-quality stocks in anticipation of gains by year end and beyond, fueled by massive capex in blockchain and AI applications, infrastructure, and energy, leading to rising productivity, increased productive capacity (“duplicative excess capacity,” in the words of Treasury Secretary nominee Scott Bessent, would be disinflationary), and economic expansion.

When I say, “high-quality company,” I mean one that is fundamentally strong by displaying 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 the factors Sabrient employs in selecting our portfolios. We also use many of those factors 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 4 distinct investing styles—growth, value, dividend, or small cap growth. To learn more about David's book and the companion subscription product we offer that does most of the stock evaluation work for you, visit: https://DavidBrownInvestingBook.com

As a reminder, our research team at Sabrient leverages a process-driven, quantitative methodology to build predictive multifactor models, data sets, stock and ETF rankings, rules-based equity indexes, and thematic stock portfolios. As you might expect from former engineers, we use the scientific method and hypothesis-testing to build models that make sense—and we do that for growth, value, dividend, and small cap strategies. We have become best known for our “Baker’s Dozen” growth portfolio of 13 diverse picks, which is packaged and distributed quarterly to the financial advisor community as a unit investment trust, along with 3 other offshoot strategies for value, dividend, and small cap investing.

In fact, the Q1 2025 Baker’s Dozen will launch this Friday 1/17, followed by Small Cap Growth on 1/22 and then Dividend on 2/11.

Lastly, let me make a brief comment on the LA wildfires. It seems every wildfire in SoCal has always ended when “we got lucky,” as the fire chiefs and local meteorologists would say, due to the winds tapering off and/or rains arriving just in time. I certainly saw this firsthand a few times during my 20 years raising a family in Santa Barbara. And I always wondered, what will happen when this “luck” doesn’t materialize the next time? Of course, even if one believes that reversing climate change is humanly possible, the lengthy timetable to decarbonization (while countries like China and India continue to increase carbon emissions by burning coal at record amounts to generate 60% and 70% of their electricity, respectively) means that proper preparation today for disasters is essential. And yet California’s leadership was doing the opposite, prioritizing specious social justice agendas while degrading readiness for the “perfect storm” of wildfire conditions…when luck fails to arrive. My deepest sympathies, thoughts, and prayers go out to all those impacted by this preventable tragedy.

Click HERE to continue reading my full commentary online or to sign up for email delivery of this monthly market letter. Also, here is a link to this post in printable PDF format. I invite you to share it as appropriate (to the extent your compliance allows).

  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.

  by Scott Martindale
  President & CEO, Sabrient Systems LLC

The New York Fed’s Global Supply Chain Pressure Index (GSCPI) for November was released today, and although it rose more than expected (likely due to disruptions from heightened global hostilities), it still suggests inflation will continue its gradual retreat, with a reading near the long-run average. But let me start by talking about October’s inflation indicators. Last week, the headline reading for Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) for October came in at 3.0% YoY, helped quite a bit by the fall in oil and gasoline prices (note: the US is producing an all-time high of 13.2 million barrels/day of crude oil). Core PCE, which is the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation metric, came in at 3.46% year-over-year. However, the month-over-month number for October versus September, which better reflects today's inflation trends and the lag effects of higher interest rates, came in at 0.16%, which annualizes to 1.98%. Keep in mind, the Fed's inflation target is 2.0%. But monthly data can be choppy, so looking at the rolling 3-month average, it annualizes to 2.37%.

Earlier reports had shown October PPI at 1.3% YoY and CPI at 3.2%, with core PPI (excluding food & energy) was 2.4% YoY, and core CPI was 4.0%. All of this was presaged by the GSCPI, which measures the number of standard deviations from the historical average value (aka Z-score) and generally foreshadows movements in inflation metrics. It plummeted from a December 2021 all-time high of +4.31 down to the October reading of -1.74—its lowest level ever. However, that ultra-low October reading has been revised to -0.39 due to “a change in exchange rate weighting methodology,” according to the New York Fed. Nevertheless, the writing was on the wall for last week’s favorable PCE report. The chart below illustrates the correlation between GSCPI, PPI, and CPI.

So, what to expect for November inflation? Well, as shown in the chart, GSCPI for November just came in today at 0.11. Although rising from its ultra-low levels, it still remains at the long-run average, and the chart illustrates that volatility is to be expected. All in all, I think it still bodes well for the next week’s CPI/PPI readings as supply chains continue to heal and diversify (albeit with occasional hiccups like we see today from heightened global hostilities), especially when you also consider that the consumer has become stretched with rising household debt and falling growth in job openings and wages, money supply growth is stagnant, and budget hawks are increasingly flexing their fiscal muscles in Congress. Thus, I believe the probability of a resurgence in either inflation or fiscal expansion is quite low.

Furthermore, although the second estimate for Q3 GDP was ultra-strong (the highest in 2 years), revised up to 5.2% annual rate (from previous 4.9%), the boost came from state and federal government spending, which was revised up to 5.5% from the prior estimate of 4.6% (i.e., more unsustainable deficit spending and issuance of Treasuries paying high coupons, mostly from an 8.2% increase in defense spending), while personal consumption was revised down to 3.6% from 4.0%. This tells me the “robust” GDP number was something of an illusion.

Indeed, looking ahead, the Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow forecasts only 1.3% GDP growth and 1.9% PCE growth for Q4 (as of 12/6). Moreover, the good folks at Real Investment Advice observed that Gross Domestic Income (GDI) for Q3 was reported at only +1.5%, displaying the widest gap below GDP in 50 years. (Note: GDP measures the value of goods and services produced, including consumption expenditures, investments and exports, while GDI measures incomes earned and costs incurred in production of GDP, including wages, profits, and taxes.) Also, last week’s Fed Beige Book showed that two-thirds of Fed districts reported slower economic activity over the prior six weeks, and the ISM Manufacturing Index came in at an anemic 46.7, showing continued contraction for the 15th straight month.

So, this all seems to be more “bad news is good news” when it comes to Fed policy moves, and investors will be eagerly watching Friday’s jobs report followed by next week’s CPI, PPI, and FOMC policy announcement. Stocks have been taking a healthy breather and consolidation in anticipation of it all, but so far, no major pullback. This year seems to be following the playbook of what economist Ed Yardeni has characterized as a series of “rolling recessions” (among sectors) and an “Immaculate Disinflation,” i.e., moderating inflation without a harsh recession or massive layoffs. As an aside, I have opined many times that it is ridiculous that we constantly find ourselves awaiting the edict of this unelected board of “wise elders” to decide our economic fate. Why can’t they take emergency measures only when absolutely necessary to avert economic cataclysm, and then once the crisis has passed, those emergency measures are quickly withdrawn so that the free market can get back to doing its productive, creative, wonderful thing? One can dream.

Regardless, in my view, the Fed is likely done with rate hikes and preparing for its eventual pivot to rate cuts—which I think will come sooner than most expect, likely before the end of H1 2024. Why? Because if inflation maintains its gradual downtrend while the Fed holds its overnight borrowing rate steady, the real (inflation-adjusted) rate keeps rising, i.e., de facto tightening. Indeed, Fed funds futures are projecting 98% chance for no rate change next week, and for 2024, 62% chance for at least one 25-bp rate cut by March, 97% for at least one 25-bp cut by June, and 89% chance of a full 1.0% in total rate cuts by December 2024, which would put the fed funds rate below 4.5%.

Accordingly, after kissing the 5% handle, the 10-year Treasury yield has fallen precipitously to below 4.2%—a level last seen at the end of August. So, I encourage and expect the FOMC to follow the message of the bond market and begin cutting the fed funds rate back towards the neutral rate, which I think is around 2.5-3.0% nominal (i.e., 2% target inflation plus 0.5-1.0% r-star), and hand back control of the economy to the free market. As of now, the Fed is on the verge of crushing the housing market…and by extension the broader economy. In addition, it must ensure money supply resumes a modest growth rate (albeit slowly), not continue to shrink or stagnate.

To be sure, the safe steadiness of bond yields was disrupted this year. After rising much faster than anyone anticipated, interest rates have fallen much faster than expected, especially considering that the Fed hasn’t made any dovish policy changes. Nevertheless, if rates are going to generally meander lower, investors might be expected to lock in sustainable yield with capital appreciation potential through longer-duration securities, including long-term bonds, “bond proxies” like dividend-paying equities (e.g., utilities, staples, and REITs), and growth stocks (like high-quality technology companies).

I also like oil, gold and uranium stocks, as well as gold, silver, and cryptocurrency as stores of value in an uncertain macro climate. Notably, gold is challenging its highs of the past few years as global investors and central banks are both hedging and/or speculating on a weaker dollar, falling real interest rates, rising geopolitical tensions, and potential financial crisis, and the World Gold Council reported robust demand among central banks, which purchased a record 800 tons during the first three quarters of the year. Similarly, Bitcoin is catching a bid on speculation of broader investor access (through spot-price ETFs) and dollar debasement (if debt and deficit spending continue to spiral).

Keep in mind that, when valuations get lofty within a given asset class, volatility and performance/valuation dispersion among stocks often increases while correlations decrease. For stocks, active selection strategies that can exploit the dispersion to identify under-the-radar and undervalued companies primed for explosive growth become more appealing versus passive index investing. Sabrient’s actively selected portfolios include the Q4 2023 Baker’s Dozen (launched on 10/20), Small Cap Growth 40 (launched on 11/3), and Sabrient Dividend 46 (just launched on 11/29, and today offers a 4.7% dividend yield).

In today’s post, I further discuss inflation, the US dollar, Fed monetary policy implications, and relative performance of asset classes. 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 turned bullish in early November and remains so), 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).

  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).

  by Scott Martindale
  President & CEO, Sabrient Systems LLC

Stocks and bonds both sold off in August before finishing the month with a flourish, as signs that the jobs market is weakening suggest an end to Fed rate hikes is nigh. The summer correction in equities was entirely expected after the market’s extraordinary display of strength for the first seven months of the year in the face of a relentlessly hawkish Federal Reserve, even as CPI and PPI have fallen precipitously. State Street’s Institutional Investor Risk Appetite Indicator moved dramatically from bearish in May to highly bullish at the end of July, and technical conditions were overbought. And although the depth of the correction took the bulls by surprise, it was quite orderly with the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) staying tame (i.e., never even approaching the 20 handle). In fact, a 5% pullback in the S&P 500 is not unusual given the robust 20% YTD return it had attained in those seven months. Weakness in bonds, gold, and commodity prices also reversed.

Moreover, IG, BBB, and HY bond spreads have barely moved during this market pullback despite rising real rates, which signals that the correction in stocks is more about valuations in the face of the sudden spike in interest rates (and fears of “higher for longer”) rather than the health of the economy, earnings, or fundamentals. Certainly, the US economy looks much stronger than any of our trading partners (which Fed chair Powell seems none too happy about), with the Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow model estimating a robust 5.6% growth for Q3 (as of 8/31) and the dollar surging in a flight to safety [in fact, the US Dollar Index Fund (UUP) recently hit a 2023 high].

However, keep in mind that the US is not an island unto itself but part of a complex global economy and thus not immune to contagion, so the GDP growth rate will likely come down. Moreover, Powell said in his Jackson Hole speech that the Fed’s job is “complicated by uncertainty about the duration of the lags with which monetary tightening affects economic activity and especially inflation.”

Investors have generally retained their enthusiasm about stocks despite elevated valuations, rising real interest rates (creating a long-lost viable alternative to stocks—and a poor climate for gold), a miniscule equity risk premium, and a Fed seemingly hell-bent on inducing recession in order to crush sticky core inflation. Perhaps stock investors have been emboldened by the unstoppable secular force of artificial intelligence (AI) and its immediate benefits to productivity and profitability (not just “hope”)—as evidenced by Nvidia’s (NVDA) incredible earnings release last week.

I have discussed in recent posts about how the Bull case seems to outweigh the (highly credible) Bear case. However, the key tenets of the Bull case—and avoidance of recession—include a stable China. Since 2015, I have been talking about a key risk to the global economy being the so-called “China Miracle” gradually being exposed as a House of Cards, and perhaps never before has it seemed so close to implosion, as it tests the limits of debt-fueled growth—and a creeping desperation coupled with an inability (or unwillingness) to pivot sharply from its longstanding policies makes it even more dangerous. I talk more about this in today’s post.

Yet despite all the significant challenges and uncertainties, I still believe stocks are in a normal/predictable summer consolidation—particularly after this year’s surprisingly strong market performance through July—with more upside to come. My only caveat has been that the 2-year Treasury yield needs to remain below 5%—a critical “line in the sand,” so to speak. Although I (and many others) often cite the 10-year yield because of its link to mortgage rates, I think the 2-year is important because it reflects a broad expectation of inflation and the duration of the Fed’s “higher for longer” policy. Notably, during this latest spike in rates, the 2-year again eclipsed that critical 5-handle for the third time this year and challenged the 7/5 intraday high of 5.12%, before pulling back sharply to close the month below 4.9%.

If the 2-year reverses again and surges to new highs, I think it threatens a greater impact on our economy (as well as our trading partners’) as businesses, consumers, and governments manage their maturing lower-rate debt—and ultimately impacts the housing market and risk assets, like stocks. But instead, I see it as just another short-term rate spike like we saw in March and July, as investors sort out the issues described in my full post below. Indeed, August finished with a big fall in rates in concert with a big jump in stocks, gold, crypto, and other risk assets across the board, as cracks in the jobs and housing markets are showing up, leading to a growing belief that the Fed is finished with its rate hikes—as I think they should be, particularly given the resumption of disinflationary secular trends and a deflationary impulse from China.

Some economists believe that extreme stock valuations and the ultra-low equity risk premium are pricing in both rising earnings and falling rates—an unlikely duo, in their view, on the belief that a strong economy is inherently inflationary while a weakening economy suggests lower earnings—and thus, recession is inevitable. But I disagree. For one, respected economist Ed Yardeni has observed that we have already been in the midst of a “rolling recession” across segments of the economy that is now turning into a “rolling expansion.” And regarding elevated valuations in the major indexes, my observation is that they are primarily driven by a handful of mega-cap Tech names. Minus those, valuations across the broader market are much more reasonable, as I discuss in today’s post.

Indeed, rather than passive positions in the broad market indexes, investors may be better served by strategies that seek to exploit improving market breadth and the performance dispersion among individual stocks. Sabrient’s portfolios include Baker’s Dozen, Forward Looking Value, Small Cap Growth, and Dividend, each of which provides exposure to market segments and individual companies that our models suggest may outperform. Let me know how I can better serve your needs, including speaking at your events (whether by video or in person).

As stocks and other risk assets finish what was once destined to be a dismal month with a show of renewed bullish conviction, allow me to step through in greater detail some of the key variables that will impact the market through year-end and beyond, including the economy, valuations, inflation, Fed policy, the dollar, and China…and why I remain bullish. I also review Sabrient’s latest fundamentals based SectorCast quant rankings of the ten U.S. business sectors (topped by Technology and Energy) and serve up some actionable ETF trading ideas.

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