Tag: US Dollar

November 12th, 2022 | Zero earnings growth for 2023: is this week’s rally short-lived? | $META $FTNT $THO $KSS $GLD $SLV $MP $GILD $AIG $GL $USB $ORI $AJRD $NEM $FCX $DIS

Weekly summary in a paragraph

A mildly positive inflation data point on Wednesday was all it took to send the global stock markets higher and induce weakness in the US dollar. I don’t want to be the Cassandra of the situation here, but one month on month data point does not seem enough to justify a reversal of the general trend though technical analysis would suggest further strength ahead at least in the short term.

It was an even stronger week for the European stock market which was further amplified by strength in the Euro.

Asset classes weekly performance

This week the Dow gained +4.1% (-7.2% YTD) while the S&P500 went +5.6% higher (-16.2% YTD, we are 1x short), the Nasdaq skyrocketed +8.0% (-29.0% YTD, we have a 3x inverse position) and the Russell 2000 gained +4.6% (-16.7% YTD, we are 1x short). $Gold rose +5.2% (-4.4% YTD) while silver finished +3.6% higher (-7.2% YTD). $Oil gave up -4.0% (+18.3% YTD). The 20-y recovered +3.9% this week (-33.7% YTD). The European stock market outperformed the US market indices and finished +9.6% higher (-19.2% YTD). The Euro recovered as much as +4.0% relative to the USD (-11.5% YTD).

Weekly pitch

As most of the S&P500 companies have reported Q3 earnings, there is now sufficient data to update earnings forecasts. This week Goldman Sachs revised their S&P500 earnings forecast to the downside ($224 USD) to conclude that they now expect zero earnings growth for 2023. Because stocks follow earnings and earnings expectations, investors will now have to look to 2024 (current estimate is $237 hence +6% compared to ’22 and ‘23) to justify staying invested on the long side.

Weekly Portfolio Update

We initiated three new positions on $NEM, $KSS, and $USB which are already profitable trades. We have also increased our position in gold: if dollar continues its weakness this will send its price higher. Cash, precious metals and hedges were reduced to 37% in our portfolio which rose +2.77% this week.

Top 5 Weekly Portfolio Performers

$META +24.49% (Technology-Social Media)

$FTNT +19.17% (Technology-Software-Security)

$THO +17.38% (Building-Mobile Manufacturing/RV)

$DUE.DE +15.52% (Industrial – Germany)

$KSS +15.24% (Consumer-Dept. Stores)

Portfolio Asset Allocation

– Long stock positions 63% (increased)

– Hedges 9%, though equal to 14% considering leveraged ETFs (unchanged)

– Silver + Gold 4% (increased)

– Cash 24% (decreased)

YTD Portfolio Performance

Our currency-adjusted YTD portfolio performance is -2.2% (excl. dividends) vs the European market loss of -7.7% (+5.5% market beat).

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Responsible Investor Portfolio Update, August 22th, 2020 | $TCEHY $NEM $BK $SYF $CLIX $GRUB $PCG $LVMUY $LRLCY $PEUGF $ELC.MI $WBD.MI

This is a market of contrasts. On the one hand we have increasing Covid-19 numbers all over the world and particularly in Europe where infection cases are going back to April-May levels, and on the other several bullish signals, the most recent one to note being the existing house sales in the US which grew by 25% in July – a rate not seen since 2006.

In the meantime the candidacies of Joe Biden and of his prospective VP Kamala Harris have been formalised at the Democratic Convention and the US stock market did not have a negative reaction. In the past there used to be many articles about how a Democratic government would be unwelcome for corporate America whereas positions seems to be more open to a leadership alternative to Trump of late.

It was a mixed week for the stock market: the MSCI World was flat, Europe was down 1.8% (with Italy loosing 2.42% and the Nasdaq Copenhagen a meager 0.12%) and the US indices were up with the S&P500 growing by 0.7% and the Nasdaq by a whopping 2.7%, whereas the Dow ended the week flat. The Dollar recovered about 0.58% over the Euro.

We have made one purchase on the RI portfolio this week, a relatively new ETF which invests in e-commerce while shorting the bricks & mortar sector. It is basically a combination of two other ETFs I have watched (and still own in another portfolio), $IBUY and $EMTY, and goes by the ticker of $CLIX. Thanks to its long and short positions it adds a lot of alpha to a signle investment: it is up 87% YTD, widely outperforming all the US stock market indices.

Our $SQQQ position hit the SL price at the beginning of the week but I expect that it is more of an arrivederci for this hedge. $TCEHY gapped 7% higher and looks like a break-out is around the corner. With gold recovering most of last week’s losses, $NEM was up 2.7%. On our watchlist we have stocks like $HUBS, $JD and $CSGP.

The table below summarises the portfolio performance since inception.

2000821 RIP

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Responsible Investor Portfolio Update, August 15th, 2020 | $TCEHY $NEM $BK $SYF $GILD $GRUB $SQQQ $SCO $PCG $LVMUY $LRLCY $PEUGF $ELC.MI $WBD.MI

Another positive week for the global stock markets with Europe over-performing the US. The Italian stock market jumped almost 5% while the Stoxx index gapped 2.77% higher. The Dow and the S&P500 were up 2 and 1%, respectively. The Nasdaq was very quiet and closed marginally higher.

There are increasing calls from investment banks for a potential future over-performance of the Stoxx versus the US Stock Markets which have run a lot: YTD, the S&P500 is up 4.7% while the Stoxx index is down 10% and the FTSE MIB lags behind with a -13,82%. There are exceptions within Europe: for example the Danish stock market being up 15% YTD and currently has a P/E of 31. With our portfolio consisting of European stocks for 68% at present, we are geared to benefit from a possible mid-term rise of the European stocks.

We have had 3 winners this week as $SYF , WeBuild and Elica rose between 5% and 7%. This week’s sell off in gold has negatively impacted on $NEM , down 7%, however this precious metal is expected to rise further in the near future.

$TCEHY continues to be hit by anti-China US policies and, more recently, by the dispute between $AAPL and $GOOG vs Epic Games, the company behind popular video game Fortnite in which Tencent has a stake.

Two of our positions hit the SL price, namely $SCO and $GILD. For the latter it might have just been bad timing as the fundamentals and the valuation remains strong: we might get back in if the earnings continue to grow and the technicals suggest an entry point.

The table below summarises the portfolio performance since inception.

2000814 RIP

If you don’t want to miss my alerts, please subscribe to Responsible Investor or follow me on Twitter. I also run an eToro portfolio which currently has 25 positions and can be accessed via this link.