(San Francisco)

The market fell in a big way yesterday. The root cause? Apple. Apple has cut its iPhone sales guidance, and it now seems a recession is coming to the whole Apple universe. The numerous companies that make their living supplying Apple seem set for a severe correction and are paring their estimates back sharply. Investors didn’t seem ready for this slowdown in the iPhone, perhaps misguided by the hype that has recently surrounded new models. The fact is that the iPhone is now a mature product, and maintaining the kind of growth it once had is likely untenable, a fact that even Wall Street analysts are starting to admit.

FINSUM: Apple’s business is changing and it seems to be doing a good job managing that transition, though everyone hopes it will have a new dynamite product. That said, a general recession surrounding the iPhone universe seems likely.

(New York)

Everyone is watching the BBB bond market with a very close eye. The bottom fringe of the investment grade market, it saw an extraordinary jump in issuance over the last few years. Now, with rates rising, it looks very vulnerable. However, all that suspicion hasn’t amounted to much as investors have kept the area afloat. Ratings agencies and the IMF have both warned about the startling growth of BBB issuance, but so far, the sector is holding up.

FINSUM: Don’t be fooled. There is a massive amount of BBB debt and when a recession finally arrives alongside much higher rates, there seems bound to be a reckoning. That said, there are pockets of the market, like utilities credits, that seem like they will hold up better.

(Seattle)

Amazon has seen some significant volatility lately. A weak earnings report sent the stock plummeting, and weaker top line growth is making some worry. The stock is down 17% since the beginning of October. However, the company’s bottom line seems likely to grow strongly as it starts to benefit from its massive scale. A Nomura analyst summarized the situation best (and interestingly), saying “AMZN’s size and scale are eclipsing its ability to suppress margins … Put simply, it seems AMZN sales and GP [gross profit] dollars are growing faster than their ability to spend”.

FINSUM: We don’t think Amazon is in trouble by any means. The company is just transitioning into a more mature state where topline growth will slow, but margins will rise.

(Houston)

Oil is in the middle of a fit. The commodity just recently entered a bear market and it is has been swinging up and down based on confusion over whether it will be over- or undersupplied in coming years. The market is plunging today as OPEC announced yesterday that it sees a slowdown in oil demand coming as well as oversupply. According to OPEC, “The recent downward revision to the global economic growth forecast and associated uncertainties confirms the emerging pressure on oil demand observed in recent months”.

FINSUM: The oil market seems to be trying to get ahead of a recession. OPEC’s demand forecast has slumped considerably, which in our opinion is one of the major drivers of the bear market.

(San Francisco)

In what seems like a dramatic development considering all the other news that comes out on self-driving cars, people close to the situation say Waymo, Google’s self-driving car subsidiary, will launch an autonomous car service next month. The service is supposed to compete directly with Uber and Lyft.

FINSUM: Doesn’t this seem a little soon considering how recently fatal accidents were occurring? This could be a frivolous headline, but it could also be a major technological moment and potentially a good time to buy Alphabet.

(Washington)

One aspect of last week’s midterms that is not being discussed much, but has critical relevance for the wealth management industry is that fact that statehouses across the country swung from red to blue. Democrats won control of several state legislatures and governor seats across the nation. The impact on advisors could be large, as many more states are now much less constrained in their ability to urge for, and issue, their own fiduciary rules.

FINSUM: The massive “blue wave” did not materialize, but the gains were substantial enough that they could create some serious headaches for advisors that are in swing states. Perhaps even more concerning is how the blue House might push for a renewed federal fiduciary rule.

(New York)

As analysts and the market try to sort out how the new division in Congress will play out in markets, one beneficiary is becoming increasingly clear. Aerospace analyst Ron Epstein of Merrill Lynch had this to say the day before last week’s election, “The change to Democratic control of the House is the best scenario for defense spending. It points to upside in the defense budget. Gridlock keeps budgets intact, and defense is a bipartisan issue”. That argument is a bedrock of the new view that defense stocks are likely going to surge in the new Congressional environment. Epstein points out that aerospace companies are simultaneously seeing commercial and defense businesses growing strongly.

FINSUM: Earnings seem like they will stay in very good shape for the defense sector, and because budget changes look unlikely, the whole industry seems to be in for smooth sailing.

(New York)

One of the best indicators of stock market performance is actually in bonds. Because they trade based on fundamentals, high yield bonds tend to be strong leading indicators of stock performance. With markets swinging all over the place, now might be a good time to see what junk bonds are doing. The answer is that the sector looks to be in good shape, with spreads holding steady and no real sign of concern.

FINSUM: Junk is probably not going to really worry until we get very near, or into an inverted yield curve, as a recession would be rough on the high yield market.

(Houston)

Oil lost big time over the last few weeks and entered a bear market late last week. However, it is surging today as new hope of an OPEC output cut has come to light. Saudi Arabia, the leader of OPEC, says OPEC is willing to consider another round of output cuts as a measure to keep prices high. The last time OPEC agreed to a round of cuts, the market was pulled out of its deep bear market and more than doubled in price.

FINSUM: We used to be skeptical that OPEC could pull off a coordinated cut because of the competing interests of members. But the success it saw last time around means no one should doubt it.

(New York)

Here is a mundane but important question: what is the best single fund to track the whole market? There is now a wealth of options, from Fidelity’s free index tracker all the way to popular, but more costly SPY. The answer to this question is not as straightforward as one might think, as each of the funds has its own characteristics. For instance, while Vanguard’s VTI is popular, it has a quirky structure that can boost unrealized gains. It is also harder to trade without fees. Fidelity’s zero fee index mutual fund is a good choice, but only available on its own platform. Blackrock’s ITOT might be the best choice overall when considering fees, performance, and availability.

FINSUM: For being considered “vanilla”, there certainly are a lot of different flavors of index tracker these days.