In this 07-30-21 issue of “Market Rally Continues As Earnings Beat Estimates.”
- Market Rally Continues
- The Mirage Of Strong Earnings
- GDP Eclipses Pandemic Level
- Portfolio Positioning
- Sector & Market Analysis
- 401k Plan Manager
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Market Rally Continues
Last week, we discussed that as the market hit new highs, further upside was likely limited. To wit:
“While the upside remains somewhat limited, given the already substantial advance this year, the rally will alleviate downside concerns momentarily. However, with that said, the extremely low level of volatility this year is reminiscent of 2017. The reason is that “stability” is fragile. In other words, stability ultimately leads to instability.“
For more information on the “instability of instability,” read “The Next Minsky Moment.”
Not surprisingly, the market didn’t make much headway this past week, given the current extended and overbought conditions. For now, “buy signals” remain intact, which likely limits the downside over the next week. However, a retest of the 50-dma is certainly not out of the question.
With that said, we are entering into the two weakest trading months of the year. Stocktrader’s Almanac had a good note on why the rally could experience a “pause” over the next two months.
“For the past 33 years from 1988-2020 August and September are the worst two months of the year for DJIA, S&P 500, and NASDAQ. August is the worst for DJIA and S&P 500 and September is worst for NASDAQ.
Despite the persistence and resilience of this bull rally market internals and technicals are showing some signs of fatigue.“
- Advancing issues have barely outpaced decliners in recent weeks.
- New highs have been shrinking while new lows remain high.
- Technical indicators are struggling to break through resistance.
- Relative Strength, Stochastics and MACD are breaking down again.
“The timing of a pause coincides with the weak seasonal patterns mentioned above during the worst months of the year August and September (not to mention Octoberphobia) as well as the 4-Year Presidential Election Cycle.”
6-Month Advances Are Rare
Given the bullish bias currently remains unfettered, and the Fed is still applying $120 billion a month in liquidity, there is no reason to be overly “bearish” at this juncture. Thus, while we are carrying slightly reduced exposure currently and have increased our “risk hedges” as of late, we remain nearly fully invested.
With our “money flow buy signals” triggered, such suggests there is support for stocks currently. Such means two things over the next week or so: 1) there is not a great deal of downside, and 2) there is not much upside either. Thus, a sideways consolidation and a pickup in volatility are likely. One concern is the “negative divergence” of money flows (bottom panel) against an advancing market. Such corresponds with the technical weakness we will discuss momentarily.
Therefore, given this backdrop, we increased portfolio hedges.
An additional “red flag” is the S&P 500 has had positive returns for 6-straight months. As shown in the 10-year monthly chart below, such streaks are a rarity, and when they do occur, they are usually met by a month, or more, of negative returns.
(It is also worth noting that when the 12-Month RSI is this overbought, larger corrective processes have occurred.)
While prices have advanced sharply, the bullish mantra remains that “earnings” support the increase. While that “rationalization” may seem to have merit, investors are paying more today for the same expected earnings from January of 2020.
The Mirage Of Strong Earnings
The second-quarter earnings season started with a bang, with several companies reporting earnings “knocking the cover off the ball.”
“Overall, 24% of the companies in the S&P 500 have reported earnings to date for the second quarter. Of these companies, 88% have reported actual EPS above the mean EPS estimate. Another 1% have reported actual EPS equal to the mean EPS estimate, and 11% have reported actual EPS below the mean EPS estimate. The percentage of companies reporting EPS above the mean EPS estimate is above the 1-year (83%) average and above the 5-year (75%) average.” – FactSet
It is not surprising that stocks are rallying to new highs again this week with those kinds of numbers.
However, the longer-term problem for investors is that while the earnings were strong, they are only getting back to levels where they were supposed to be at the beginning of 2020. As shown, in January of 2020, the earnings estimate for the end of 2021 was $171/share. Currently, before estimates get downwardly revised, it is presently estimated that earnings will be just $174/share at the end of 2021.
As noted, the problem for investors comes down to valuations. For example, in January of 2020, investors were paying 19x for 2-year forward earnings. Today, they are paying 25x earnings for essentially the same dollar amount of earnings.
While it gets lost in the daily media, the reality is the price of the market is outpacing actual earnings growth. More importantly, when looking back historically, we see that earnings growth isn’t as strong as headlines suggest.
We certainly understand that valuations have very little importance in the short term. For now, all that matters is price momentum. However, as investors, it is essential to remember that valuations have great importance longer-term.
Sales Are Worse
Of course, such doesn’t even come close to premiums paid for each dollar of “actual sales” generated by the underlying companies. As we noted in “Priced For Perfection,” sales will decline this quarter, driving the price-to-sales ratio to historical levels. To wit:
“Investors should not dismiss the above quickly. Revenue is what happens at the top line. Secondly, revenue CAN NOT grow faster than the economy. Such is because revenue comes from consumers, and consumption makes up 70% of the GDP calculation. Earnings, however, are what happens at the bottom line and are subject to accounting gimmicks, wage suppression, buybacks, and other manipulations.“
Currently, the price-to-sales (revenue) ratio is at the highest level ever. As shown, the historical correlation suggests outcomes for investors will not be kind.
Currently, there are more than 70 companies in the S&P 500 trading above 10x sales. That is 14% of the entire index, one of the highest levels ever on record. (How many of these companies do you own?)
A Lesson From 2000
Why is that important? For that answer, let’s revisit what Scott McNealy, then CEO of Sun Microsystems, said in 2000.
“At 10-times revenues, to give you a 10-year payback, I have to pay you 100% of revenues for 10-straight years in dividends. That assumes I can get that by my shareholders. It also assumes I have zero cost of goods sold, which is very hard for a computer company.
That assumes zero expenses, which is hard with 39,000 employees. That assumes I pay no taxes, which is very hard. And that expects you pay no taxes on your dividends, which is kind of illegal. And that assumes with zero R&D for the next 10-years, I can maintain the current revenue run rate.
Now, having done that, would any of you like to buy my stock at $64? Do you realize how ridiculous those underlying assumptions are? You don’t need any transparency. You don’t need any footnotes.
What were you thinking?”
Of course, much of this is “forgotten history,” as many investors today were either a) not alive in 1999 or b) still too young to invest. However, for the newer generation of investors, the lack of “experience” provides no basis for the importance of “valuations” to future outcomes.
That is something only learned through experience.
In Case You Missed It
GDP Eclipses Pre-Pandemic Level
On Thursday, CNBC ran the following headline:
To wit:
“The U.S. economy is now larger than it was before the pandemic, but its growth rate may have peaked this year at a much slower pace than expected.” – Patti Dom, CNBC
Patti is correct; economic growth just peaked.
The problem with the 6.5% annualized rate is that it was more than 50% lower than the original estimates of 13.5%. More troubling was the report was even lower than the Atlanta Fed’s much-reduced 7.6% estimate.
What was missed by the mainstream media are two very critical factors.
- The sharp decline in expected GDP growth rates suggests that “deflationary” pressures are present; and,
- Given the relationship between economic growth and earnings, current estimates will be revised lower.
Over the next two quarters and fully into 2022, economic growth rates will decline back to 2% or less.
More importantly, the weaker than expected GDP report pushed the Market Capitalization / GDP ratio (inflation-adjusted) to a record high. But, again, given that revenues are a function of consumption (70% of the GDP calculation), earnings growth will weaken by default.
Lastly, while the economy is indeed larger than pre-pandemic, such is of little consolation. When you realize it took $8 Trillion in monetary stimulus (40% of the economy) to create $406 billion in growth from Q1-2020, it is a little underwhelming.
Next year, the fiscal impulse will become a drag.
Such will make it much harder to justify current valuations in a much slower economic growth environment.
Portfolio Update (Party On Garth)
For now, as noted above, the markets remain bullishly biased, and there seems little to derail that mentality currently. The weaker than expected economic growth rate gave the markets reassurance the Fed won’t “taper” anytime soon.
In the meantime, we continue to maintain nearly full equity exposure in our portfolio models. However, the one change we have been quietly making over the last two months is increasing the duration of our bond portfolios. Such is because the recent peak in interest rates is more telling about the economy’s outlook and markets than many would like to admit. (See Why Bonds Aren’t Overvalued.)
While the markets are indeed in “Party On Garth” mode, the current extended, overbought, and bullish conditions provide the necessary backdrop for a short-term correction.
As discussed over the last couple of weeks, August and September tend to be weaker performance months. Therefore, with the bulk of earnings soon behind us, the focus will turn back to the economy and the Fed.
In the near term, the most significant risk for the market comes from the Federal Reserve at the Jackson Hole Summit this summer. If there is a change in their outlook to a more “hawkish” stance or more detailed “taper” discussions, the markets may react negatively.
Another immediate risk could be a failure to pass additional stimulus in Congress or a movement to “lockdowns” due to the virus.
In conclusion, it is simple enough to say “I have no idea” what could derail the markets. Such is why we analyze the risk each week and try to make prudent and informed decisions about portfolio exposures and risk management.
It’s the best we can do for you and our clients.
Have a great weekend.
By Lance Roberts, CIO
Market & Sector Analysis
Analysis & Stock Screens Exclusively For RIAPro Members
S&P 500 Tear Sheet
Performance Analysis
Technical Composite
The technical overbought/sold gauge comprises several price indicators (RSI, Williams %R, etc.), measured using “weekly” closing price data. Readings above “80” are considered overbought, and below “20” are oversold. The current reading is 85.79 out of a possible 100.
Portfolio Positioning “Fear / Greed” Gauge
The “Fear/Greed” gauge is how individual and professional investors are “positioning” themselves in the market based on their equity exposure. From a contrarian position, the higher the allocation to equities, to more likely the market is closer to a correction than not. The gauge uses weekly closing data.
NOTE: The Fear/Greed Index measures risk from 0-100. It is a rarity that it reaches levels above 90. The current reading is 83.58 out of a possible 100.
Sector Model Analysis & Risk Ranges
How To Read This Table
- The table compares each sector and market to the S&P 500 index on relative performance.
- “MA XVER” is determined by whether the short-term weekly moving average crosses positively or negatively with the long-term weekly moving average.
- The risk range is a function of the month-end closing price and the “beta” of the sector or market.
- Table shows the price deviation above and below the weekly moving averages.
Weekly Stock Screens
Currently, there are four different stock screens for you to review. The first is S&P 500 based companies with a “Growth” focus, the second is a “Value” screen on the entire universe of stocks, and the last are stocks that are “Technically” strong and breaking above their respective 50-dma.
We have provided the yield of each security and a Piotroski Score ranking to help you find fundamentally strong companies on each screen. (For more on the Piotroski Score – read this report.)
S&P 500 Growth Screen
Low P/B, High-Value Score, High Dividend Screen
Fundamental Growth Screen
Aggressive Growth Strategy
Portfolio / Client Update
There isn’t much to update this week, as there was no need to make any changes. However, we did add one equity position for earnings season in the technology space (NVDA). We also increased the duration of our bond holdings by adding to our TLT position in both models.
Currently, the markets are significantly overvalued, extended, and deviated from long-term means. However, the psychology of the market remains exceedingly bullish, which trumps “logic” at this juncture.
As such, our job remains to create the necessary performance to meet your retirement goals. However, we must also be responsible and responsive to the underlying risk that could derail those goals. It is a tricky balancing act, and we work extremely hard at achieving those goals every day.
There will be a point where markets will change. But be assured that when they do, we will do the same as well.
Portfolio Changes
During the past week, we made minor changes to portfolios. In addition, we post all trades in real-time at RIAPRO.NET.
*** Trading Update – Equity and Sector Models ***
“We are continuing to increase the duration of our bond portfolio in increments when we get pullbacks to support on 10-year Treasury Rates. This morning we added 1.5% to our position in TLT in both models, bringing it to 5%. We reduced our position in SHY to 7.5% to make room for the additional exposure in the fixed income sleeve.
We also initiated a 2% position in NVDA in the Equity Model. Both models are now around 50% equity exposure.” – 07/29/21
Equity Model
- Initiate at 2% position in NVDA
- Add 1.5% of the portfolio into TLT
ETF Model
- Add 1.5% of the portfolio into TLT
As always, our short-term concern remains the protection of your portfolio. Accordingly, we have shifted our focus from the election back to the economic recovery and where we go from here.
Lance Roberts, CIO
THE REAL 401k PLAN MANAGER
A Conservative Strategy For Long-Term Investors
If you need help after reading the alert, do not hesitate to contact me.
401k Model Performance Analysis
Model performance is a two-asset model of stocks and bonds relative to the weighting changes made each week in the newsletter. Such is strictly for informational and educational purposes only, and one should not rely on it for any reason. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Use at your own risk and peril.
Have a great week!
Lance Roberts is a Chief Portfolio Strategist/Economist for RIA Advisors. He is also the host of “The Lance Roberts Podcast” and Chief Editor of the “Real Investment Advice” website and author of “Real Investment Daily” blog and “Real Investment Report“. Follow Lance on Facebook, Twitter, Linked-In and YouTube
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