Chart for the Week
GDP growth is slowing, while US corporate profits (before tax) are also declining as a percentage of GDP.
Yet the S&P 500 and other major indices are rising, lifted by Fed liquidity injections in the repo market. The red line shows total assets on the Fed’s balance sheet.
The Long Game
We play the long game — reducing exposure to equities when market risks are high and staying on the defensive until normality is restored — even if this means sitting on cash while equities rise. The only alternative, unless you trust your ability to accurately identify exact market tops and bottoms, is to hang on to your positions no matter what happens. But there are few individuals who can withstand the stress and make rational decisions during a major market draw-down.
Updates for Market Analysis Subscribers
- S&P 500: Stocks lift but jobs and profits a red flag
- ASX 200 breakout
- Australia: Bearish apart from mining
- Gold bearish on imminent phase 1 deal
Best wishes for the New Year. It promises to be an eventful one.
Colin Twiggs is a former investment banker with almost 40 years of experience in financial markets. He founded PVT Capital (AFSL number 546090), which provides income and growth strategies to wholesale clients.
Colin also co-founded Incredible Charts and writes the popular Patient Investor newsletter.
Using a top-down approach, Colin identifies macro trends in the global economy and then combines fundamental and technical analysis to evaluate opportunities in sectors that stand to benefit.
Focusing on interest rates and financial market liquidity as primary drivers of the economic cycle, he warned of the 2008/2009 and 2020 bear markets well ahead of actual events.