GDP Growth Above 3% Is Attainable

One component of the Trump administration policies is to improve the growth rate of the economy through an infrastructure spending policy, reducing taxes and regulations and increasing spending on rebuilding the military. While campaigning he stated his policies would return the economic growth rate, GDP, to 3%. A number of economists, along with the Federal Reserve, indicate moving the growth rate of the economy to 3% will be a difficult task. To put the 3% growth rate into perspective though, up until and through the financial crisis, the long run GDP growth rate was nearly 3.5%. Since the financial crisis though, the growth rate has averaged 1.8%.

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Market Advance May Have Stalled On Concerns Around Timing Of Tax Reform

For the first few trading days in March, the equity market seems to be consolidating the gains achieved in February. Sideways or small market pullbacks have been a common pattern for the market since the election. For the most part the market has corrected over time (sideways movement) versus a steep contraction during the post election advance. This type of market pattern can be frustrating to investors waiting for a more significant pullback so cash can be deployed into the market. As the below chart shows, the type of pattern formed for the market is what is know as a bull flag chart pattern and this pattern has developed again with this month's trading action.

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Better Investing Members Net Sellers Of Apple

Periodically I provide a review of what individual members of Better Investing are purchasing. My last review or update was in August last year and BI members reported their top purchase was Apple (AAPL). Another purchase back in August was Southwest Airlines (LUV), so BI members seemed to be ahead of Warren Buffett's interest in airline stocks. In regards to Apple, BI members are reporting they are net sellers of the stock now. Amazon (AMZN) has been a favorite for some time and continues near the top of the list. CVS Health (CVS) has experienced weakness recently and BI members are reporting they are net purchases of this stock at the moment. Below is a list of the current Most Active stocks reported by Better Investing members.

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Time To Reduce One's Equity Exposure?

The U.S. stock market has been on a steady climb higher since the November election. From 11/8/16 to 3/1/17 the S&P 500 Index has moved higher by 11.96%. This double digit return in a short period of time has some investors asking if this is an appropriate time to reduce equity exposure.

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Sentiment In An Elevated Market

With the weekend nearly over and any research or reading completed, most investors now know the Dow Jones Industrial Average has been on a rare eleven day winning streak. What makes this more amazing is this is occurring as the market hits new highs with each close. One conclusion drawn from this seems to be the market is nearing a correction or consolidation point and I will be the first to admit, a pullback in the market would certainly be healthy. Since the U.S. election on November 8, the S&P 500 Index is up 10.6%, a return investors would find acceptable for an entire year. The strong and sustained market advance has led to a number of technical and sentiment readings approaching what seems to be elevated levels.

First, below is a chart of the S&P 500 Index along with its 200-day moving average. The chart shows the S&P 500 Index is trading above its 200-day moving average be an amount reflective of an overbought market.

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The Significance Of The S&P 500 Yield Falling Below The 10-Year Treasury Yield

For most of 2016 the dividend yield on the S&P 500 Index was greater than the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury. Historically, this has served as a positive sign for forward stock price returns. With the strong equity market returns in 2016 and the move higher since the election, the S&P 500 yield is now lower than the 10-year Treasury. In addition to the move higher in stocks, bond prices have declined as well (a higher yield) resulting in bonds now having a higher yield than the S&P 500 Index.

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Recent Outperformance Of Low Volatility A Sign Of Risk Off Ahead?

Since the election in the U.S. it has been a 'risk on' environment for stock investors. Last week though, the Powershares Low Volatility ETF (SPLV) broke out of a sideways trading range to the upside. At the same time, the Powershares High Beta ETF (SPHB) remains trapped in a sideways range. Might the move higher in the low volatility ETF be a signal there is underlying action by some investors to be more defensive in anticipation of a potential pullback on the horizon? The third chart below compares the high beta ETF performance versus the low volatility ETF performance since the election and high beta has far outperformed low volatility.

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Positive Sentiment And Fundamentals Rests On Positive Political Expectations

I believe there are two broad issues at play that are having a positive influence on equity prices. The first issue is a fundamental one and related to a much improved corporate earnings picture. Looking solely at companies in the S&P 500 Index, Thomson Reuters publishes a weekly report summarizing the quarterly earnings reports of companies. Friday's report notes,

• Q4 '16 earnings are expected to increase 8.4% on a year over year basis. The financial sector is projected to show the strongest YOY growth at 20.8%

• Of the 357 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings to date for Q4 2016, 68.3% have reported earnings above analyst expectations. This is above the long-term average of 64% and below the average over the past four quarters of 71%.

• 48.3% of companies have reported Q4 2016 revenue above analyst expectations. This is below the long-term average of 59% and below the average over the past four quarters of 51%. Revenue growth for Q4 '16 is estimated to equal 4.4% YOY.
  

The second issue influencing the market is the dramatic positive shift in sentiment by both consumers and businesses. I could probably show a dozen different charts that support the positive shift in sentiment with just two of them below. The first one measures CEO Confidence and it had one of  the largest month over month increases in the measure's history. The second one shows consumer sentiment jumping higher subsequent to the election as well.

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Room For More Debt?

As was mentioned in a previous post, S&P 500 companies have taken advantage of cheap debt to fund continued capex and share buybacks since the recession.  This has driven total debt to new all-time highs.  Though there has been much concern about the "abuse" of low interest rates to create a rally fueled by buybacks, it does not strike me as much of an issue.  In fact, it makes sense for companies to take advantage of cheap debt to lower their WACC with the potential side effect that they shift their capital structure.  Interestingly, however, the capital structure has not shifted with this proliferation of cheap debt.

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Dogs Of The Dow 2017: Know The Strategy's Bets

The Dogs of the Dow strategy is one where investors select the ten stocks that have the highest dividend yield from the stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Index (DJIA) after the close of business on the last trading day of the year. Once the ten stocks are determined, an investor invests an equal dollar amount in each of the ten stocks and holds them for the entire next year. The popularity of the strategy is its singular focus on dividend yield.

As we noted in a year end post, the Dogs of the Dow strategy in 2016 did outperform both the S&P 500 Index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average Index last year. However, the strategy is somewhat mixed from year to year in terms of outperforming the Dow index though. Over the last ten years, the Dogs of the Dow strategy has outperformed the Dow index in six of those ten years. For investors utilizing the strategy it is important to be aware of where ones bets are in terms of stock and sector exposure.

Essentially one month has passed in 2017 and the Dogs of the Dow strategy is underperforming both the Dow index and the S&P 500 Index. Below is a table noting the year to date performance of the current Dogs.

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YTD Equity Market Declines In 83% Of All Up Years Since 1945

CFRA Research, in conjunction with S&P Global, recently published a report on the probabilities of a market pullback. A number of interesting data points are outlined in the report, but a few interesting ones are as follows:

• "during bull markets since 1945, the S&P 500 experienced a pullback (a decline of 5.0%-9.9%) once a year, on average,"

• "a correction (a 10% to 19.9% decline) every 2.8 years, and,"

• "a bear market (-20%+) every 4.7 years."

• "the S&P 500 suffered a YTD price decline in more than 80% of all years in which the S&P 500 recorded a positive annual performance since WWII."

As further proof that the market does not move higher in a straight line, the CFRA report notes the S&P 500 Index incurred a year-to-date price decline in 83% of all up years since 1945.

Also interesting in the report is the fact that 70% of all year-to-date declines occurred in the first quarter of the year and approximately a third of all the year-to-date declines occurring in January.

The entire report is a worthwhile read as it contains data on the market's performance after surpassing millennial points.

Source:

Pullback Probabilities
CFRA research
By: Sam Stovall, Chief Investment Strategist
January 17, 2017
https://goo.gl/teukJW

Market Breaks Out Of Sideways Trading Range To The Upside

Over the course of the last three trading days this week, the S&P 500 Index and Nasdaq broke out of the trading range in place since mid December. We highlighted this range in a recent post that noted sizable corrections are unlikely when earnings are improving.

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Buybacks vs. Capex

The below chart shows that through the end of 2015, S&P 500 companies were contributing a similar percentage of revenue to capex as they were back in 1995 (6.495% in 2015 vs. 6.5% in 1995). This same percentage capex contribution, however, is now only covering 113.4% of depreciation, when it covered 132.73% at the end of 1995.

[Note: going back to 1980 or 1990 shows that companies are clearly investing significantly less in capex since then, but for the purposes of this post it was sufficient to show that it is relatively unchanged in the past twenty years.] 

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Individual Investors Cautious On Equity Market

If the contrarian individual investor sentiment measure reported by the American Association of Individual Investors indicates anything, individual investors seem to be questioning the sustainability of this market rally. Because the Sentiment Survey is a contrarian measure, just maybe the market advance has further upside. In AAII's report this morning, bullish sentiment fell 5.4 percentage points to 31.6% which is nearing an extreme for the reading. Most of the decline in bullish responses showed up in the neutral reading as it increased 4.6 percentage points to 34.9%. This is the highest neutral rating since it was reported at 42% in early November of last year.

Second Longest S&P 500 Rally Since 1932

Chart of the Day's report this morning notes the S&P 500 Index return since the October 2011 low is now the second longest since the Great Depression. Specifically, their commentary notes,

"With the S&P 500 once again in record high territory, today's chart provides some perspective on the current rally by plotting all major S&P 500 rallies of the last 86 years. With the S&P 500 up 107% since its October 2011 lows (the 2011 correction resulted in a significant 19.4% decline), the current rally is above average in magnitude and the second longest rally since the Great Depression."

Source: Chart of the Day

Notes:
- A major stock market rally has been defined as a S&P 500 gain of 30% or more (following a correction of at least 15%).
- The S&P 500 was not adjusted for inflation or dividends.
- Selected rallies were labeled with the year in which they began.
- There are 252 trading days in a year (100 trading days equal about 4.8 calendar months).

Sizable Equity Pullback Less Likely During Periods Of Strong Earnings Growth

The return for many of the the equity indexes subsequent to the U.S. election has been stronger than many expected. However, most of the post election return was generated in the six weeks following the November 8 election with the equity market trading sideways since mid December. The post election spike higher has some investors waiting for a pullback in the market in order to invest cash that may be on the sidelines. Below are a couple of index charts that show this sideways trading range.

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CEO Confidence Surges Higher

Early this month The Conference Board reported the fourth quarter 2016 Measure of CEO Confidence. The fourth quarter reading was reported at 65 and is the highest reading since the first quarter of 2011. Readings above 50 indicate more positive than negative responses.

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A Chart Supporting Market Bears

For investors and analyst it is important to read and evaluate perspectives that run counter to ones own in order to increase the likelihood they are not missing something in their analysis or thinking. For example, the equity market has essentially moved higher, uninterrupted, since the end of the financial crisis low in 2009 and the bull market seems to want to continue; however, is there something suggesting the bull market may be nearing an end? Many of the technical aspects of the market support an additional move higher though and just one bullish chart is noted below.

Source: The Kirk Report

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Trying To Market Time Is Fraught With Risk

The U.S equity market has certainly had a nice recovery since the financial crisis low in 2009. The magnitude and length of the recovery may have some investors contemplating selling their equities in favor of sitting on the sidelines until the next pullback.

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Buy The Rumor, Sell The News

The old investing adage “Buy the rumor, sell the news” comes to mind following the “Trump Rally” to end 2016. As we all know, President-Elect Trump has not yet been sworn into office and yet, the year-end climb in US markets has been mostly attributed to his policy proposals. This makes sense as the market is always forward-looking, but it is important to keep in mind that it often overshoots in the near term. As a prime example, the chart below shows the relative performance of the Utilities sector against the S&P 500 in the three months before (left) and after (right) the two most recent Fed rate hikes. The line moving higher indicates Utilities outperforming the S&P 500 and lower indicates Utilities underperforming.  As any market participant would tell you, this conservative/high income sector should suffer from an increase in interest rates. And it did, but all of the underperformance came before the actual event (Fed rate hike) and subsequently, Utilities dramatically outperformed (short-term).

The surprise victory of Donald Trump in the Presidential election brought about a dramatic market rotation that benefited cyclical sectors like Financials and Industrials. Cyclical sectors outperformed due to the widespread belief that Trump’s pro-business policies could boost domestic economic growth. 

This rotation may prove to be wise and Trump’s policies may boost the U.S. economy, but in the near term, we would not be surprised to see some of this rotation temporarily undone. The market has been driven higher by policy speculation; actual legislation may prove the wisdom of “Buy the rumor, sell the news.”