Judy Woodruff from PBS with Warren Buffett in a wide-ranging interview:
Buffett on Wells Fargo: “It was a terrible mistake. They incentivized bad behavior. Incentives work. But they work in either direction.”
The S&P 500 is experiencing warns of medium-term selling pressure, signaled by bearish divergence on Twiggs Money Flow. The last correction was shallow, typical of stage III in a bull market, and this one is likely to be too. Respect of support at 2400 would signal another primary advance. A correction to test primary support at 2300 is unlikely, but would warn that investors are jumpy and taking profits. This would signal stage III is closer to a top.
Elliot Clarke at Westpac recently highlighted the importance of investment in sustaining economic growth:
The importance of sustained investment in an economy cannot be understated. Done well, investment in real capacity begets greater production volume and employment as well as a productivity dividend. Its absence in recent years is a key factor behind sustained soft wage inflation and the US economy’s inability to consistently grow at an above-trend pace despite the economy being at full-employment and household balance sheets having more than fully recovered post GFC.
The graph below highlights declining US investment in new equipment post GFC.
source: Westpac
There are three factors that may influence this:
source: Westpac
Net capital formation (the increase in physical assets owned by nonfinancial corporations) declined between 2015 and 2017. While this is partly attributable to the falling oil price curtailing investment in the Energy sector, continuation of the decline would spell long-term trouble for the economy.
The cycle becomes self-reinforcing. Low growth in personal consumption leads to low levels of capital investment ….which in turn leads to low employment growth…..leading to further low growth in personal consumption.
Major infrastructure investment is needed to break the cycle. In effect you need to “prime the pump” in order to create a new virtuous cycle, with higher investment leading to higher growth.
It is obviously important that infrastructure investment target productive assets, that generate income, else taxpayers are left with increased debt and no income to service it. Or assets that can be sold to repay the debt. But the importance of infrastructure investment should be evident to both sides of politics and any attempt to obstruct or delay this would be putting political ahead of national interests.
Australia is in a worse position, with a dramatic fall in investment following the mining boom.
source: RBA
If we examine the components of business investment, it is not just Engineering that has fallen. Investment in Machinery & Equipment has been declining for the last decade. And now Building Investment is also starting to slow.
source: RBA
You’ve got to prime the pump…. You’ve got to put something in before you can get anything out.
~ Zig Ziglar
Bob Doll highlighted the disconnect between long-term and short-term rates in his latest review. The chart below plots the 3-month T-bill rate against 10-year Treasury yields.
At this stage, the disconnect is not significant. But a disconnect as in 2004 – 2005 is far more serious. Large Chinese purchases of Treasuries prevented long-term rates from rising in response to Fed tightening, limiting the Fed’s ability to contain the housing bubble.
Interesting review of Bob Doll’s ten predictions for the year. They highlight the hazards of making predictions: you can be right for the wrong reasons or wrong for the right reasons.
1 ❓ U.S. and global economic growth improves modestly as the dollar strengthens and reaches parity with the euro.
First quarter U.S. gross domestic product growth was relatively slow at 1.2%, but we think second quarter growth could approach 3%. We are on the wrong side of this second prediction, as the euro has advanced against the dollar.
2 ✔ Unemployment drops to its lowest level in 17 years as wages increase at the fastest pace since the Great Recession.
The first half of this prediction came true in May, when unemployment hit 4.3%, lower than the 4.4% reached in May 2007. Wage growth has remained stubbornly slow, but we expect wages will rise.
[Unemployment fell as expected but I would rate this a “?” as wage growth impacts on inflation and is an important part of the overall scenario.]
3 ❓ Treasury yields move higher for a third consecutive year for the first time in 36 years as the Fed raises rates at least twice.
In June, the Fed raised interest rates for the second time this year. Treasury yields, however, are lower now than at the start of the year.
[“X” IMO. A disconnect between long-term and short-term rates, as in 2004-2005, limits the Fed’s ability to control asset bubbles and inflation.]
4 ❓ Stocks hit their 2017 highs in the first half of the year as earnings rise but price/earnings multiples fall.
Equity markets hover close to their all-time highs, but the momentum that dominated the first part of the year has faded. Earnings have improved dramatically: S&P 500 earnings were up almost 14% in the first quarter, although multiples have risen.
[Stocks rising faster than earnings is typical of a stage III bull market]
5 ❓ Stocks outperform bonds for the sixth year in a row for the first time in 20 years while volatility rises.
Stocks are currently comfortably ahead of bonds. While volatility has actually fallen this year, we expect it to pick up in the coming months.
[Volatility is close to record lows and likely to stay there if no major geo-political surprises.]
6 ❌ Small caps, cyclical sectors and value styles beat large caps, defensive and growth areas.
We are on the wrong side of all three components of this prediction. We expect economic growth to rebound this year, which should lead investors to bid up cyclical and value sectors.
[Large caps and defensive stocks are overpriced because of low yields. Growth stocks are typical of stage III but normally joined by small caps.]
7 ✔ The financials, health care and information technology sectors outperform energy, utilities and materials.
A basket of our favored sectors (up 14.0%) is comfortably outperforming a basket of our least-favored ones (up 2.5%).
[Good call.]
8 ✔ Active managers’ performance improves as flows into equities rise.
Last year, only 19% of U.S. large cap active equity managers beat their benchmarks. As of May, 52% are ahead. The pace of equity fund outflows has also slowed this year.
[I would rate this a “?”.]
9 ✔ Nationalist and protectionist trends rise as pro-domestic policies are pursued globally.
President Trump announced a withdrawal from the Paris climate change accords, has reconsidered trade deals and questioned fellow NATO member states. In Europe, Brexit negotiations are ongoing, although the French presidential election provided a nod back toward globalization.
[Nationalism still dominates.]
10 ✔ Initial optimism about the Trump agenda fades in light of slow legislative progress.
It is almost hard to remember the high level of political optimism when we made this prediction six months ago. Now the pendulum may have swung too far in the opposite direction.
[Good call. Little has been achieved on infrastructure and tax reform.]
[Conclusion: Secular trends, as in #7, make the most reliable predictions, while it’s hard to beat a 50% success rate with shorter cycles.]
The S&P 500 hesitated at 2450, short of its target of 2500*. Bearish divergence on Twiggs Money Flow warns of medium-term selling pressure. Expect stronger resistance at 2500.
Tech stocks are advancing at a rapid pace, with the Nasdaq 100 approaching 6000 after only breaking 5000 in January. Rising troughs on Twiggs Money Flow signal strong buying pressure. No signs of a ‘blow-off’ yet.
Stage III of a bull market can last several years.
The TSX 60 continues to test support at 900 after a breakout in December 2016. Follow-through below 890 would confirm a primary down-trend. Falling crude oil prices and exposure of banks to precarious housing prices are driving selling pressure.
The S&P 500 continues to advance, with a short-term target of 2500*. Bearish divergence on Twiggs Money Flow warns of rising selling pressure. While secondary (medium-term) in nature we should expect stronger resistance at 2500.
Bellwether transport stock Fedex is advancing strongly after breaking out above $200, signaling rising economic activity in the economy.
Stage III of a bull market can last for several years.
From Lance Roberts at RIA:
While the idea of passive indexing works while all prices are rising, the reverse is also true. The problem is that once prices begin to fall the previously “passive indexer” becomes an “active panic seller.” With the flood of money into “passive index” and “yield funds,” the tables are once again set for a dramatic and damaging ending.
WASHINGTON—The Trump administration proposed a wide-ranging rethink of the rules governing the U.S. financial sector in a report that makes scores of recommendations that have been on the banking industry’s wish list for years.
….If Mr. Trump’s regulatory appointees eventually implement them, the recommendations would neuter or pare back restrictions from the Obama administration, which argued the rules were necessary to guard against excessive risk taking and a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis.
Seems to me like the exact opposite of ‘draining the swamp’. The new administration proposes removing or limiting the rules intended to reduce risk-taking in the financial sector.
This could end badly.
Especially with bank capital at current low levels.
Source: Trump Team Proposes Broad Rethink of Financial Rulebook – WSJ
