(London)

US market valuations are eye-watering. By several measures the S&P 500 is as richly valued as it has ever been. With that in mind, overseas stocks, especially in Europe, appear to be a good bet. For example, while US stocks are now well ahead of their pre-COVID peaks, the Stoxx Europe 600 is still down 9.2% since its high in February. Since March, the S&P 500 has rebounded by 60% while the Stoxx Europe 600 has only seen a 40% rise.

FINSUM: So European benchmarks are more exposed to the banks and industrials, which were more hurt by COVID than US tech companies, which dominate American benchmarks. That said, now that a vaccine is in site, there is a big chance for appreciation in Europe that seems much less likely to occur in the US.

(New York)

Starting with the huge gains of tech shares over the summer, and now the whole index, investors have grown increasingly uneasy with market valuations. By some metrics, markets are as stretched valuation-wise as they have ever been. Take for instance Robert Shiller’s famed CAPE ratio. As it stands now the S&P 500 has a CAPE valuation of 33.4x. That is the highest it has been since 1929 and almost double the long-term average of 17x. ”There are great expectations built into this market … We are in the seventh inning of Federal Reserve-supported equity markets”, says the CIO of CIBC Private Wealth Management.

FINSUM: As scary as the valuations are, they are not entirely irrational given the level of stimulus and the way the economy has held up.

(New York)

One of the big annual market traditions has begun: banks and their analysts put of their year-ahead forecasts. This year has seen a wide range of forecasts, but one thing is becoming apparent—analysts are bullish, and more so than usual. Jefferies has the most aggressive forecast, saying the S&P 500 will close 2021 at 4,250; it is at 3,662 now. Analysts are bullish because of the coming vaccine and central banks which will continue to be accommodative. However, Barclays adds a third consideration—that the economy is doing much better than anyone thought it would be at this point. According to Barclays “with central banks set to remain accommodative for several years, a likely drop in global trade tensions, and unappetizing fixed income returns, we remain overweight risk assets over core bonds”.

FINSUM: Yes valuations are high, but given the overall economic position the US is in (including the vaccine), it is hard not to be optimistic.

(New York)

There has been a lot of talk about stocks this year, and a great deal of consternation about rates and bond prices. Yet despite all this, or maybe because of it, a middle-ground asset class has become one of the best performing of the year. Convertible securities are having a banner year. The $325 bn sector has returned over 36% through the end of November. A big portion of the gains has come from the outperformance of Tesla, which accounts for about 10% of the convertibles market. But there have been other nice victories too, such as “reopening” stocks like Carnival, Southwest Airlines, Lyft, American Airlines, and Dick’s Sporting Goods.

FINSUM: Converts do a good job capturing upside while protecting against upside, and this year has been a perfect storm for them.

(New York)

With markets at all-time highs, but COVID restrictions tightening and the potential for a blue Senate looming, many advisors are feeling that now might be a good time to retreat into value stocks. Lower priced stocks have done very well over the last couple of months, showing good momentum on top of their theoretical valuation insulation. With that in mind, here are three very highly ranked large cap value mutual funds. The first is American Funds’ Washington Mutual Investors Fund Class A (AWSHX), sporting an expense ratio of 0.59% and an average three-year return of 9.7%. The second is the MFS Equity Income Fund Class A (EQNAX), which holds a more diversified group of securities, including some international stocks and convertibles. Finally, check out the Fidelity Equity-Income Fund (FEQIX), which tends to focus on income-producing securities.

FINSUM: A nice hybrid between appreciation and income is a good approach for right now, so the latter two seem look good buys. More broadly, value stocks appear a smart choice given the particular moment in markets.