Eq: Large Cap
(New York)
Treasury yields have risen significantly over the last few weeks. So much so that equities have been absolutely hammered. This has stoked a lot more interested in bonds generally because yields are rising back to more palatable levels. However, thus far, corporate bonds have been getting wounded during the Treasury yield surge. Top bond indexes, like the SPDR Bloomberg Barclays High Yield Bond ETF and the iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF, have each seen major selloffs, with over 1% losses in a single day. Many analysts think that the rise in yields may curtail some corporate debt issuance.
FINSUM: So the immediate view for corporate debt is bearish, but in the medium term it is much brighter. As yields stabilize at higher levels there will be stronger investor demand, and coupled with less issuance, you will have a tight market.
Two junk bond indices, Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Corporate High Yield Index and ICE BofA US High Index Yield, hit record lows both dipping to about 4%...view the full story on our partner Magnifi's site
(New York)
The annual next-year forecast cycle for Wall Street’s investment banks is in and some of the findings are interesting. As usual, banks are fairly bullish. However, that was certainly not automatic this year given the huge tumult in markets in 2020. One particular forecast stood out—Goldman Sachs. The bank’s research team, led by David Kostin, has its official 2021 S&P 500 price target as 4,200, or just about 14% ahead of today. Interestingly, the bank also thinks gold is going to rise strongly, from the mid 1,800s today to 2,300. According to Kostin, “On absolute metrics like price/earnings...the market is very expensive relative to its history, in the 90th percentile or greater … But relative to interest rates, the stock market is somewhat attractively valued. Those are two different stories—absolute valuation versus relative valuation”.
FINSUM: As tough as it is to swallow on a historical basis, we think the interest-rates measured basis for current valuations makes a great deal of sense.
More...
(New York)
Goldman Sachs went on the record with a bold call last week. They told investors that despite all the fears in the market, a big correction WAS NOT coming. Alessio Rizzi and his team at Goldman say that many indicators are showing a bullish outlook, and that big losses don’t seem likely. According to Rizzi, “more moderate risky asset returns are likely from here, rather than an imminent risk of a sizable correction”. One indicator Goldman cited as very bullish was the ratio between puts and calls. Right now the market is deeply favoring calls, with the ratio nearing the limits of its normal distribution.
FINSUM: So bulls look at this and say “aha, I’m right, the market will rise”; and bears say “exactly as expected, this is a contrarian indicator”! In our opinion, on the whole, there is plenty to be optimistic about.
(New York)
New jobless data was released this morning and it took the market by surprise. Economists had been calling for new jobless claims to stay around the level of recent weeks—something around 695,00. But what happened was quite eye-opening: they came in at 853,000. The losses show that the economy is starting to feel renewed impacts of the surge in COVID cases. According to a job market expert, “Job destruction has not come to an end … We might be gaining jobs overall, but thousands of people are losing their jobs every week because demand has not returned”. Markets dipped on the release.
FINSUM: This is worrying for the economy. Hard to say if this trend will continue, but certainly not the direction markets have been predicting the economy would be heading.
(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.