1Q24 Earnings: Off to a solid start
During the first quarter, U.S. equities shrugged off ever-changing expectations for monetary policy with relative ease, climbing 10.6% despite a sharp hawkish repricing in policy expectations.
Simplify the complex with our timely and thought-provoking insights on market events and outlook and make informed investment decisions more confidently.
During the first quarter, U.S. equities shrugged off ever-changing expectations for monetary policy with relative ease, climbing 10.6% despite a sharp hawkish repricing in policy expectations.
At its May meeting, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) voted to leave the Federal funds rate unchanged at a target range of 5.25%-5.50%.
Investors should consider trimming decade-long international equity underweights – and Asia is the key place to look for opportunities.
Private equity has been surprisingly resilient throughout the Fed hiking cycle. In 2022, PE only declined by 2%, but is now 3.2% higher than the end of 2021, compared to U.S. small cap stocks, which were 7% lower.
It’s well understood that consumption is the largest contributor to economic growth in the United States accounting for just under 70% of GDP. Therefore, to a large extent, any outlook on the economy hinges on the health of the consumer.
Investors should recognize that while geopolitical headlines have the ability to capture market attention, the shocks to sentiment are often short-lived.
Well-positioned investors could take advantage of the new era unfolding in healthcare transformation.
We expect yields to stabilize in the near term and for spreads to remain tight given still healthy credit fundamentals and strong economic activity.
2023’s so-called “everything rally” was confusing to many market watchers, given the pessimistic macro outlook at the beginning of last year. Now, a quarter into 2024, the rally has clearly continued.
The S&P 500 notched 24 new all-time highs in Q1, up 10.6%, with 2.7%-points from earnings, 7.4% from multiple expansion, and 0.4% from dividends.
While we don’t expect a recession this year, whenever one occurs, the lack of private sector imbalances suggest that it is unlikely to be a severe one.
Investors should focus on EM regions and sectors that benefit from structural, as well cyclical, tailwinds.
As widely anticipated, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) voted to leave the Federal funds rate unchanged at a target range of 5.25%-5.50% at its March meeting.
Cryptocurrency investments should be made cautiously, and only as part of a much larger diversified portfolio of stocks and bonds. For investors with a long time horizon, traditional asset allocation remains an effective strategy.
For investors looking to diversify concentration to U.S. tech names or to lean into underappreciated AI opportunities, Asian high-quality technology stocks could provide an attractive opportunity set.
Despite causing some short-term profit taking, gradual Yen strength can be digested by equities. Japan finally deserves to retake its place as a strategic allocation in global equity portfolios.
The financial future for women looks promising, but for individual investors, a strong financial plan will be key in seizing the opportunity.
After a significant pricing reset, private real estate could be on the verge of a rebound due to a few key drivers.
With monetary policy still at the forefront of the macro landscape in 2024, investors are left wondering how the election might influence Fed policymakers.
Investors should recognize that the challenging backdrop presents an opportunity for alpha generation, both through traditional security selection and through active tax management
For over a year, investors have been hyper-focused on the performance of just seven U.S. companies, nicknamed the “Magnificent 7”*, and rightfully so, given their outsized returns, earnings growth, and long-term tailwinds.
Over the last 30 years, cash has been unable to keep up with the creep of inflation. By contrast, other investments have been much better places to park capital.
Presidential candidates will be campaigning on various policy proposals throughout the year, but one policy item that must be addressed during the next administration is whether to sunset or extend tax cuts from the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
The S&P 500 has reached a new milestone: crossing 5000. It is up 5.4% year-to-date, compared to the equal weight S&P 500, up just 0.7%.
While recession risks in the US have receded, geopolitical risk, election risk and restrictive monetary policy all threaten the current rally.
As the Year of the Dragon is about to begin in China, investors wonder: Are Chinese equity valuations cheap enough to bring good fortune ahead? What will turn investor sentiment around? Equity valuations already reflect a lot of uncertainty about the short-term and long-term path, suggesting a tactical rebound may be in the cards.
At the first Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting of the year, the FOMC voted to leave the Federal funds rate unchanged at a target range of 5.25%-5.50%.
Markets achieved a trifecta of good news in 2023: an economy that not only avoided recession but reaccelerated, meaningful progress on disinflation, and the Fed pivot markets had been trying to manifest for over a year.
Geopolitical uncertainty and an impending U.S. presidential election, coupled with the divergence in performance across assets in January, help to underline the importance of diversification in a fundamentally uncertain world.
Much has been said about the “Magnificent 7” stocks that dominated market returns last year, ending 2023 up 107% and accounting for around two-thirds of the S&P 500’s performance.
After an impressive equity rally in 2023 and new all-time highs to start 2024, investors are evaluating their equity allocations, which includes where to position along the market cap spectrum.
International equities are likely to benefit this year from positive structural changes, a weaker dollar, and exciting governance changes.
Presidential elections always add an extra element of uncertainty to investing, and after a halcyon 2023 in equity markets, could come as a shock to investors. On top of assessing the path of the Federal Reserve, the stability of profits and the consumer, and navigating economic resilience vs. recession, investors will have to grapple with the barrage of headlines about the 2024 election.
A spike in oil prices could lead to higher prices at the pump, further disrupting the broad disinflationary trend.
The December CPI report showed an unexpected bounce in inflation with headline CPI rising 0.3% m/m (consensus 0.2%) and the year-over-year rate rising to 3.4% (consensus 3.2%).
Although investors may be tempted to invest based on who they think will win the election and how certain policies may be implemented, macro forces often dwarf policy agendas when it comes to sector performance.
For investors, should fundamentals remain solid we would expect the Fed to begin gradually reducing rates by the middle of this year and for long-term rates to stabilize at current levels, before grinding lower over the balance of the year.
Many investors wonder if they can tweak their existing exposures to be either more defensive against volatility or more opportunistic if certain sectors face future policy tailwinds.
We cannot predict what theme will dominate the markets in 2024, but we can control how we react to positive and negative surprises by having a measured approach to portfolios.
Deficits are financed through Treasury issuance, and it is likely this significant increase in Treasury bond supply relative to estimates contributed to the move higher in bond yields this year.
At its final meeting of 2023, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) voted to leave the Federal funds rate unchanged at a target range of 5.25%-5.50% and strongly hinted it is finished hiking interest rates this cycle.
In many ways, 2023 can be used as evidence that asset allocators must learn to “expect the unexpected”: the U.S. economy avoided a recession, the Federal Reserve pushed interest rates higher, growth equity continued to outperform relative to value and the international recovery was largely lackluster.
The macro landscape has shifted dramatically over the last three years, and in 2024 uncertainty lingers as to whether the economy will experience resilience or recession.
Japan has long been a disappointing market for global investors, with annualized 15-year returns of 6.4% (in U.S. dollars) versus 13.7% in the U.S. Slow growth, negative interest rates, lack of focus on shareholders, and better opportunities elsewhere in Asia kept investment dollars away from Japan.
For investors, large caps may be better insulated from higher rates than small caps, and falling net interest costs can assist decelerating input costs and wages in supporting stabilizing margins.
The big story for U.S. equity markets this year has been the remarkable performance of the largest seven technology stocks or the “magnificent 7.” These handful of stocks account for nearly 100% of S&P 500 YTD returns and are up over 72% this year.
Many investors are comfortable with the concept of fundamental analysis but are less confident in the technical aspects of market forecasting. As a result, they may wonder: does technical analysis matter?
Active stock selection remains of the utmost importance, as investors should look toward attractively priced companies with strong balance sheets and resilient profits.
For markets, disinflation could pose an earnings headwind for certain industries like autos, hotels and airlines while the Fed’s “higher for longer” mantra could instill continued volatility in bond markets.
While many of the traditional sources of diversification have been challenged by market conditions, alternative investments can enhance diversification.
Coming into 2023, the rallying cry from the asset management community was “Bonds are Back! ”. There were several reasonable assumptions behind this call.
While a reacceleration in growth and/or inflation could prompt another rate hike either in December or early next year, short-term bumps in a downward trending economy likely keep the Fed on hold well into 2024.
Historically, Chinese market recoveries can be fast and furious, highlighting the risk of being too underweight China when pessimism is already elevated.
At the start of the year, investors and economists were confident that 2023 would be a challenging year for the economy, markets and corporate profits. In the event, however, growth has been better than expected, equity markets are higher, and earnings have surprised to the upside.
The secondary market can often relieve liquidity issues for investors in private equity by offering the opportunity to sell existing investments to another buyer.
At first glance, the jump in energy equities may seem like a temporary phenomenon, but a variety of economic factors could support the sector’s performance over the longer-term.
Given the shifting characteristics in the bond market and uncertainty around the path of rates from here, investors should engage in an active approach with proven managers in their fixed income allocations.
The question for investors, however, is which measure of earnings has the highest correlation with stock market returns.
With two FOMC meetings before year end, investors and policymakers are closely monitoring the totality of incoming data to determine whether the committee will lift rates again or go on an extended pause.
Despite many looming threats to the economy, 3Q23 earnings season should hopefully represent a relative bright spot in the landscape.
As rates have moved higher risk assets have found themselves under pressure, with the S&P 500 down more than 7% from its July 31st high of 4,589. To an extent, this price action has been driven by a shift in investor psychology whereby “good news” is now “bad news.”
It is still a close call on whether the economy will enter a recession or not, but we do believe slow growth is the most likely outcome, while risks for a mild recession remain.
If automobile production decreases, prices for vehicles, particularly used ones, may increase once more, unwinding some of recent disinflation and putting renewed upward pressure on “super-core” CPI.
After well over a year of anxiously anticipating an economic recession, the U.S. economy continues to look sound. However, as we enter the “fall of worry” there are several risks on the horizon this autumn: impacts from the UAW strike, rising oil prices, the resumption of student loan payments, and the potential for a government shutdown.
As widely anticipated, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) voted to leave the Federal funds rate unchanged at a target range of 5.25%-5.50% at its September meeting.
Last quarter, 40% of S&P 500 companies mentioned artificial intelligence (AI) in their earnings calls – more than double from a year earlier – and their collective investments in AI are exploding.
With the possibility of tighter financial conditions going forward, investors may be well served by looking for any signs that tighter conditions are beginning to weigh on activity.
Over the long run, duration will be an investor’s friend for both asset classes: not only will lower rates push bond prices higher, but a lower opportunity cost of owning equities and easy monetary policy should allow valuations and earnings expectations to move higher.
While what happens in China will continue to influence growth, sentiment, and performance in the broader EM universe, powerful structural and cyclical themes can lead to differentiated performance.
We expect a slower growth and cooling inflation environment will allow the Fed to gradually reduce rates next year, thus stabilizing real yields and potentially biasing them lower.
With many parents (and investors!) taking the end of summer to be with their families and go to the beach one last time, kids are not the only ones who need a refresher before they head back to the classroom; in today’s blog, we try to help parents get ready to go “back to school.”
2023 has seen more office conversion activity – while sometimes this can be easier said than done, it does suggest that there is an evolving opportunity in the office space for investors who can deploy additional capital.
India’s smaller share in global manufacturing exports and its lower dependence on the China reopening story helps to explain its strength versus other export-oriented Asian economies’ struggles.
While the probability of a soft landing has risen given the generally strong incoming data, the concern is that most leading indicators continue to point to recession.
The rally in corporate credit may have caught some investors by surprise given the consensus that a recession would materialize this year, a historically bad environment for credit spreads.
Looking back at the past six U.S. stock market declines greater than 10%, international has not always sold off more. In some instances, it has performed in line or even better.
This combination of resilient growth, better than expected profits and enthusiasm around artificial intelligence has led to a strong rally in U.S. equities so far this year.
The likely cause for declining oil prices is increased U.S. production, which is expected to reach an all-time high in 2023.
While the Fed may need some more convincing over the next two meetings, it seems reasonable to expect this tightening cycle will end this year.
It would not be surprising to see a more notable re-rating in valuations later this year or in early 2024; this, in turn, will create opportunity for both primary and secondary market investors.
Beneath the surface are two market dynamics: the megacap tech stocks, which account for the lion’s share of positive market performance year-to-date, and everything else.
The combination of slower economic growth, higher interest rates and tightening credit conditions are likely to weigh on CapEx and could be the thing that tips the U.S. economy into a mild recession.
Fundamentals differ significantly at the sector level. For example, office remains the weakest sector, as vacancy rates remain elevated, and firms struggle to fully exit remote working.
Today’s announcement made it clear that the committee still needs more compelling evidence that inflation is under control and could very well tighten at least once more this summer.
While labor market conditions may have had some effect on pushing up services prices, we think its impact is overstated. Over the last 4 months, more than half of the year-over-year gain in core services ex-shelter inflation has come from transportation services alone.
Core infrastructure continues to represent a way to generate income without taking on more equity risk, while proactively hedging portfolios from the chance that inflation is harder to tame than many currently expect.
Although rates have risen across the curve in recent weeks due to debt ceiling uncertainty, more hawkish Fed expectations, and resilient economic data, the overall macro landscape is one of slowing growth and receding inflation.
In real estate, industrial asset valuations have barely flinched given low vacancy rates and rising rents, whereas the office space has seen (and is expected to see) further pain as we determine what the future of work will look like.
Given the rapid tightening from the Federal Reserve, property values are likely to be marked down in the quarters ahead impacting loan values on bank balance sheets.
This combination of lower rates, higher equity valuations, and declining earnings – with a potential recession on the horizon – leaves us cautious on the equity market at current levels.
A pause from the Fed is certainly welcome from a broader macro perspective, but the challenges facing local and regional banks in particular, are still prevalent.
For Americans planning for retirement, the obvious implication is to save and invest more. Beyond this, it has become increasingly necessary to have some assets outside of traditional 401(k)s and IRAs.
The U.S. reached its debt limit of USD 31.4 trillion on January 19th and has since been relying on funds in the Treasury General Account (TGA) and so-called “extraordinary measures” to fund its obligations.
As we emerge from this pandemic with inflation now rising at its fastest pace since the 1980s, the biggest question for investors is whether some of this inflation will prove “sticky”.
While many changes are likely to emerge, one clear trend, with far-reaching macro and market implications, is the increase in leverage, says Azzarello.
The remainder of 2021 should see an acceleration in economic activity, rising inflation, and higher interest rates. In general, this dynamic should support the outperformance of value relative to growth, with attractive relative valuations acting as an additional tailwind for value outperformance.
In the context of COVID-19, we reassess some of the challenges and potential solutions of the multiemployer pension system.
The S&P 500 has marched steadily higher from its March 23rd low against a backdrop of investor skepticism. In previous posts, we have discussed how this rally is being driven by three things.
The balance sheet of the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) has increased by 2.9 trillion USD since the start of March, meaning that in just over eleven weeks it has grown more than it did in the five years following the Financial Crisis.
Year-to-date, emerging market (EM) equities are down -17.6%, as a combination of the COVID-19 recession and the oil price shock has led to downward revisions to earnings expectations, as well as weaker currencies relative to the U.S. dollar.
The next president will necessarily have a different policy agenda now given the events that have unfolded than he would have at the beginning of the year.
What to expect from the construction sector amidst COVID-19 and beyond?
Infrastructure resiliency during the COVID-19 crisis
Global markets have roiled in the face of COVID-19 and social distancing, and many investors are looking to “pick up the pieces,” eagerly hunting for the next big opportunity.
Earlier this week, oil prices turned negative for the first time in history, with WTI trading as low as -$37 a barrel.
This paper, written by Chaoping Zhu, discussed the performance and outlook of Chinese economy, policies amid the global pandemic and implication for investors.
Over the past two months investors have digested the COVID-19 shock: the fast spread of the virus around the world, the social distancing measures implemented and the resulting economic and earnings recession.
1Q20 earnings season will provide an important first look at how the ongoing pause in global activity is impacting corporate earnings.
The industries most impacted by social distancing account for 20% of payroll employment, and consumer spending across those industries account for 20% of GDP.
Today’s objectively complicated credit market may be an excellent source of future portfolio growth, says Dryden.
Ultimately, how high the unemployment rate gets is dependent on one key question: will American small business fire its workers, says Manley.
Initial claims for unemployment insurance surged to the highest level ever: 3,283,000, spiking from a slightly revised 282,000 last week.
This paper, written by Dr. David Kelly, reviews the U.S> relief bill and its investment implications.
The U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) has pulled out its alphabet bazooka in an effort to ensure sufficient liquidity and the smooth functioning of financial markets, while also providing credit to businesses that are affected by the spread of COVID-19 and the stall in global economic activity.
As economists continue to revise down their 2020 GDP estimates, a lot of clients have been asking us about the potential impact on earnings.
This past Sunday, the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) fired a last desperate salvo in an attempt to stabilize financial conditions, the second emergency inter-meeting cut in two weeks.
Coming into this year, we expected an improvement in global economic growth, as 2019’s policy uncertainty clouds dissipated.
The COVID-19 crisis confirms, once again, the value of a diversified portfolio, says David Kelly.
There is not a clear answer. However, what we can provide perspective on, is where we are finding value, according to David Lebovitz.
Former Vice President Joe Biden made a surprise comeback during the Super Tuesday contests, paving the way for a two-person race to the Democratic nomination.
Equity investors spend a lot time looking for where earnings growth will be strong; what doesn't get as much attention is what happens after they're generated.
"Equity investors spend a lot time looking for where earnings growth will be strong; what doesn't get as much attention is what happens after they're generated."
Taken at face value, the fall in job openings is concerning and warrants careful monitoring.
Financial markets have fallen sharply on concerns of the coronavirus, a respiratory illness first identified in Wuhan, China, spreading globally.
Equity market valuations have risen substantially in recent months, with the forward P/E ratio of the S&P 500 now at a level of 18.6x.
Investors are now asking whether inflation could return, threatening the rally in financial markets.
Buying the dip - the coveted strategy (almost) all investors like to employ.
Rising geopolitical tensions with Iran have led to some fears over potential oil supply shocks out of the Middle East.
Rising geopolitical tensions with Iran have led to some fears over potential oil supply shocks out of the Middle East.
Chief Global Strategist
Global Market Strategist
Chief Market Strategist, Americas
Global Market Strategist
Global Market Strategist
Global Market Strategist
Chief Global Strategist
Global Market Strategist
Chief Market Strategist, Americas
Global Market Strategist
Global Market Strategist
Global Market Strategist