Based on successful Russell 2000 VLT BUY signals, 1982-forward, the index had gained an average of 23% eight months later—and none had a losing position. Since the VLT BUY on January 31st (eight months ago), the Russell 2000 has dropped 3.9%. Furthermore, Small Caps bottomed 15 months ago, and in a normal cyclical bull market, the Russell 2000 would be up 50-70% by this time.

Option collar strategies provide a defined outcome on the date of maturity, but the value from inception to maturity varies. In the case of an extreme market move either direction, a collar strategy will not capture the fullness of the fluctuation early in its lifecycle, but should reach its cap/floor value as maturity nears.

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An outstanding second half for Q2-23 earnings pushed the S&P 500 bottom-up EPS estimate from $51.30 to $54.92. Amazon and Nvidia were the two largest contributors to the August surge. With the entire index nearly done reporting, our current EPS estimate will end 11% below its high watermark ($61.56).

Despite skyrocketing investor enthusiasm, buy-write strategies are complicated investments with skewed payoff structures that muddle the interpretation of past performance, because returns depend on market conditions.

Read this week's Major Trend.

Read this week's Major Trend. 

Latest numbers are in line with expectations. There are several indicators that start to paint a more muddled picture on inflation going forward. The latest update of our inflation scorecard shows a Neutral reading of 50.

Read the latest MTI update.

All the talk has been about mega-cap growth stocks, but equities with low-quality characteristics have fared even better. High beta, negative earnings, and those with high short interest have trounced the rest of our universe.

The market broadened enough in July for the NYSE Daily A/D Line to “confirm” new SPX highs—a statistical positive: When the A/D Line made a concurrent 12-month high during July, the average return for August-December was +6.5% versus -1.1% when breadth didn’t confirm the index.

As we’ve noted, none of the major indexes has kept pace with the typical path traced out during past cyclical upswings. It has since occurred to us that this nearly ten-month stock rally is being compared to an unrealistically high standard: The current advance doesn’t have the advantages enjoyed by bulls that launched out of recessionary conditions.

If today’s stock market is indeed a new bull, its vital signs advise that it is more in need of a coffin than a cradle. Monetary policies, both in terms of rate hikes and the inverted curve, have never been more hostile at this stage of a major stock market upswing.

The active/passive performance derby experienced a severe case of whiplash the last three months. Through the end of the first quarter, market conditions were advantageous for active managers, now the second quarter has revealed a massive shift in favor of passive styles.

Many investors appreciate the benefit of covered-call strategies, but we wonder how many truly understand the opportunity costs of buy-write funds over time—or under differing conditions. On the surface, these approaches are simple, but they have complicated payoff patterns relative to stock and bond funds.

Q2-23 reporting is about halfway complete for firms in the S&P 500. Bottom-up operating EPS estimates for Q2 are once again sliding lower as we wade farther into earnings season. This attrition is not uncommon but it is certainly a break from Q1 announcements, where EPS estimates rose 5% over the course of reporting. Q1’s action was a bullish talking point for many who touted the end of higher-than-normal erosion in forward EPS estimates over the past year. Since peaking in April 2022 at $61.56, Q2’s EPS estimate has shrunk nearly 17% (Chart 1).

Read this week's Major Trend.

Read this week's Major Trend.  

After years of wandering in the wilderness, Japanese stocks are leading the world’s developed markets higher in what has been a robust opening half of the year. The table shows Japan leading the world’s ten largest developed markets (as measured by the MSCI family of international indexes) with a 24% local currency return through June, easily outpacing the pack. Even as the MSCI USA index gained 17% by successfully “fighting the Fed” this year, Japan surged another 7% beyond that outstanding result.  We were curious to understand the nature of Japan’s spectacular run in 2023, looking to identify the drivers of this strong and relatively quick jump higher.

Read this week's Major Trend.