Eye on the Market | J.P. Morgan Asset Management

Latest: Coronavirus (COVID-19) research compilation

Michael Cembalest presents his latest research to-date on the coronavirus. The compilation includes infection, mortality, economic and market research to date, and will be continuously updated.

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LATEST COMMENTARY

An investor’s look at China’s recovery

An investor’s look at China’s recovery, the Sinopharm vaccine and the importance of scientific methods

Inflation. Duh!

Our February and March Eye on the Market pieces discussed shrinking US excess capacity, fiscal stimulus and the contortions people gyrate into to convince themselves that rising inflation would not be a problem for equity markets. My conclusion at the time: expectations for permanently low inflation and rates drove the rise in P/E multiples in recent years, so a reversal in inflation and rate expectations poses a risk to them. Since March, US equity markets hit a plateau as inflation expectations reached their highest levels in a decade. This Eye on the Market addresses questions we’re receiving on markets, inflation, rates and capital gains taxes, and concludes with comments on COVID and India.

Eye on the Market 11th Annual Energy Paper

Even as the world becomes more energy efficient each year, overall levels of CO2 emissions continue to rise. Without decarbonization shock treatment, humans will be wedded to fossil fuels for longer than they would like.

Absolute Value

Topics: Biden goes for broke on growth, driving coincident and leading indicators to all-time highs; the Value recovery and where it goes from here; COVID herd immunity, the path to normalcy and rising concerns about thrombosis risks from vector vaccines.

The Smalligarchy

The Smalligarchy: how the narrowest political margins in decades could deliver one of the biggest taxation and spending increases in the post-war era; a discussion of the investment implications of physical and human infrastructure bills; the US economy approaches lift off; and the latest news on Morone saxatilis.

Interest rate pretzels and the Zoom shock on real estate

If long-term US interest rates stay below 2%, that’s a great sign for equity investors. But if they don’t…it’s amazing to see the pretzels that people contort into to convince themselves that rising rates are not a problem for equities. Also: an early look at the Zoom shock on commercial and residential real estate, and the diverging COVID trends in the US vs Europe.

Very short stories

Short stories on the global recovery, plummeting COVID infections, Larry Summers & the bond market, SPAC sponsors, renewable energy, the Texas power outage and the battle for the Republican Party.

Hydraulic Spacking

The SPAC capital raising boom, and why Biden’s early stage energy policies are more likely to increase oil imports rather than reduce emissions.

Fear of Flying

Equity markets are flying. So is COVID. So are corporate reactions to Congressional objectors.

Eye on the Market Outlook 2021: The Hazmat Recovery

Michael Cembalest’s views on what will drive markets and the economy in 2021, as well as the challenges we face that stimulus and vaccines can’t solve.

Special EOTM: Jan 6 Joint Session of Congress

The Jan 6 Joint Session of Congress is shaping up to be a very contentious meeting. Here’s a brief 2-page primer on the rules of engagement, for those interested.

Holiday Eye on the Market: The Winter of Our Discontent

The belief in election illegitimacy is spreading faster than COVID. With field reporting from Alexander Fleming, Rutherford B Hayes, Richard III, Bob Newhart and the Attorney General of Ohio.

Thanksgiving Eye on the Market: The Armageddonists, Revisited

The Armageddonists were not rescued from underperformance purgatory by COVID, and markets are at all-time highs again with prospects for further gains in 2021. However, I can think of something that could rescue them, at least temporarily: the risk of electoral illegitimacy and Constitutional mayhem on January 6th. See pages 4-6 for a review of all the rules and procedures in play, including an update from Wayne County MI, and a hyperlink you may need this Thanksgiving.

Quiet Flows the Don

For the first time in 100 years, a challenger unseated an incumbent President at a time of strong economic and market tailwinds. However, the election delivered a clearer referendum on the President himself than on policy issues dividing Democrats and Republicans; it looks like divided government may remain. So, in this week’s Eye on the Market, a (possibly) divided government investor playbook. To conclude, comments on this morning’s Pfizer vaccine news and the road to herd immunity (approval, distribution and acceptance).

Special Edition: Pennsylvania, absentee ballots, GOP challenges and multiple slates of electors

During the President’s speech on Thursday, he made it clear that the next step in the process will be a wave of GOP litigation in an effort to invalidate votes, with a special focus on the treatment and counting of absentee ballots. In this brief note, we review the election rules, legal issues, court precedents and election permutations which all lead to one place: Pennsylvania, whose state legislature holds the key to whether the Congress will have to sort out multiple slates of electors in early January.

Court Marshall

As the election outcome increasingly looks like a split decision (President Biden with a GOP Senate), we’re preparing for intense legal battles in the courts, and also analyzing the market-related policies under control of the Executive Branch that Presidents can implement on their own without legislative approval: energy policy, some healthcare changes, China trade policy, immigration, Iran, antitrust policies and net neutrality.

US vs Google, Europe vs COVID

We’ve all been focused on the election recently, but there are other topics worth covering since they will affect markets regardless of the election’s outcome: The United States vs Google, Europe vs COVID, and China vs US COVID aftermath.

Buckle Up

The problem with states that do not allow pre-election processing of absentee ballots; a COVID Rorschach test; Trump and Biden deficit explosions, equity market impacts and trends that are being priced in as Democratic Sweep odds rise; Vaccine timing & virus-sensitive businesses.

Election 2020 - Praying for Time

The election as referendum on America: how well does the “system” work, and for whom?

The Needle and the Damage Done

The cost of engineering a US recovery as the world waits for a vaccine; Biden agenda on taxes/spending; Tech stocks (2020 vs 1999); COVID and The Fountainhead; US election rules, dates and process in light of derogatory comments on mail-in voting by the President and Attorney General

COVID Charts of the week

Michael Cembalest, Chairman of Market and Investment Strategy, shares weekly insight and analyses on data covering the impacts COVID-19.

Blinded by science

Prospects for further US employment and profits growth are improving, but the US is now running the 3rd highest infection rate in the world. In infection hotspot states, governors are relying on falling mortality as the reason to make only minor policy adjustments. This week, we look at why mortality is diverging from infections and hospitalizations, and more broadly, at whether a US scientific trust gap has played a role in the recent infection surge.

The Bounce

The US recovery; The flood of money and market returns; Globalization lives; Reducing COVID mortality through vascular treatments; Realistic timetables for never-been-done before vaccines; Sweden’s COVID experiment is not what you think

Zoom Room

In this week’s Eye on the Market, we review topics from our recent client Zoom calls. Topics include: risk of inflation, second waves of infection, the effectiveness of lockdowns and Biden’s taxation and spending agenda.

The Day After

Tracking the rebirth of the US consumer with real time data as a function of infection levels and state policy. Additional topics: no evidence yet of material second waves of COVID infection, and a round-up of the latest news on vaccine trials (Moderna, Oxford, Sinovac) and anticoagulants.

Ready or Not: The US prepares to reopen

An update on the COVID-19 crisis as the US prepares to reopen despite having one of the highest infection rates in the world. Additional topics: monoclonal antibodies and anti-viral trials; the growing gap between markets and the economy; S&P 500 earnings haves and have-nots; regional equity performance (Europe loses again) and leveraged loans at a time of rising bankruptcies.

State's Rights

In this week’s note, we discuss the latest news on US infection trends and reopening plans, Remdesivir trial results and whether US fiscal stimulus is “enough”.

Are we there yet?

Lockdown relaxation and economic reawakening…are we there yet?

COVID and culture

In this week's note, we take a close look at country and regional virus data, and examine the pitfalls of over-extrapolating trends that often reverse.

The equity rally and herd immunity

After the equity rally, P/E multiples are back at around 16x 2021 consensus earnings.

Man vs Nature Part II

Virus trends and head-fakes, convalescent plasma and U.S. vs. China lockdowns.

Man vs Nature: what the government can and cannot fix

There are things the government can try and fix during a pandemic and other things which it can't.

John Stuart Mill and the road from ruin to recovery

There are some difficult days ahead as quarantines and lockdowns grow. I want to share something with you from John Stuart Mill as we head into the unknown.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) research compilation

Michael Cembalest, Chairman of Market and Investment Strategy, has compiled his extensive research on coronavirus.

The pandemic gap

A lot of data is being made available on the coronavirus, but most of it requires careful analysis before drawing conclusions.

Berning Man

Confounding almost every forecast we saw last week, Senator Biden appears to have emerged from Super Tuesday with a sizeable delegate lead. Why might the night have turned out so differently from what was expected just a few days ago?

COVID-19 update

A Coronavirus update: severity, consequences and implications for investors.

Millions and Trillions

Answers to questions on the coronavirus, US megacap stocks, the cost of Democratic Healthcare plans, the Iowa caucus and the problem with the student loan system.

Rotten Tomatoes

Consensus reactions to the Phase I US-China deal are very skeptical, but may be missing the broader point. A brief note on what happened, and the alternatives.

Ghosts of Christmas Past

After a very positive year for investors in 2019, we expect lower positive returns on financial assets in 2020 as some Ghosts of Christmas Past reappear.

War of the Worlds

How a discussion about China and Hong Kong morphed into a chart war about Trump, Hoover, Taft, Rachel Maddow and Anderson Cooper.

The Armageddonists

While recessions and bear markets are a fact of life, something peculiar happened after the Global Financial Crisis: the rise of the Armageddonists.

Warren Peace

A close look at the Progressive Agenda, China’s deteriorating welcome mat in DC and US Tech IPOs.

Active Management and QE-distorted markets

Michael Cembalest analyzes the performance of over 6,700 domestic and international active equity managers and discusses the challenges they face.

Cold Turkey

A brief comment on a proposal from leading Presidential candidates to ban hydraulic fracturing everywhere, immediately.

So long Yellow Brick Road

It was a long, hot summer at the Heritage Foundation. An update from the front lines of the Trade War.

Food Fights at the Fed and in the Leveraged Loan Market

The food fight between the President and the Fed Chair could result in too much easing, and the expansion of valuations beyond sustainable levels.

Lost in Space: The Search for Democratic Socialism in the Real World

Michael went on a search for Democratic Socialism in the real world, and ended up halfway around the globe from where he began.

Listen when people tell you who they are

Michael discusses how he should have taken Trump at his word on tariffs, and the impact of the widening trade war on global growth and equity markets as proposed tariffs approach pre-war levels.

Smoot Hardly

The US-China trade war, prescription drug price legislation and the 2020 election.

Energy Outlook 2019: Mountains and Molehills

Topics: unattainable objectives of the Green New Deal; overview of the world’s decarbonization challenges; Germany’s energy transition; Trump’s War on Science.

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Annual Outlooks Energy Outlooks

Annual Outlooks

Outlook 2019: The Decline of Western Centralization, Part II

For the first time in 20 years, markets will have to survive without support from central banks.

Outlook 2018: The Decline of Western Centralization

There’s a global recovery under way that is broadening across regions.

Outlook 2017: True Believers

Prepare for another single digit portfolio return year in 2017.

Outlook 2016: Planet of the Aches

Some aches and pains are constraining the global economy, with more severe strains occurring in the emerging world.

Outlook 2014: The Great Race

Thanks to extra fuel from the Fed, the U.S. is running at a steady pace and should accelerate modestly in 2014.

Outlook 2011: The Printing Press

As we head into 2011, global profits are rising, U.S. household incomes and debt burdens are improving and global services are starting to rebound.

Energy Outlooks

Energy Outlook 2019: Mountains and Molehills

This year's paper gets into the details of where energy comes from, how it’s used, and the de-carbonization challenges facing the world’s industrialized and emerging economies.

Energy Outlook 2018: Pascal's Wager

This year’s topics: examples of how energy transitions are gradual rather than sudden, defying the expectations of futurists: climate goals, natural gas, electric vehicles.

Energy Outlook 2017: Many Rivers to Cross

The cost of solar, wind and storage continues to fall, improving cost-emissions tradeoffs for electricity grids. Yet there are still many rivers to cross on the road to decarbonization.

Energy Outlook 2016: Sentimental Journey

The journey to a renewable energy future is taking longer than many analysts and agencies expected.

Energy Outlook 2015: A Brave New World

We look at how the individual components of the energy grid fit together in a system dominated by renewable energy, with a focus on cost and CO2 emissions.

Energy Outlook 2014: The Arc of History

This year’s topics: the eventual transition to renewable energy; renewable energy stocks; US energy independence, wind, solar and energy/electricity storage.

Energy Outlook 2013: Reality Check

This year’s topics: U.S. energy independence, growing cottage industry, liquified natural gas, coal and Japan's reconsideration of nuclear generation.

Energy Outlook 2012: How countries are planning for Independence Day

The most important energy developments of 2012: Energy independence initiatives in the US, Europe and Japan; geopolitical implications of rising Chinese oil demand; and another rough year for the electric car.

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Latest: Coronavirus (COVID-19) research compilation

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