Rarefied Air

Scouring through 100’s of charts it becomes obvious investors have a clear idea on which companies they expect to benefit from the current political climate. One that immediately jumped out at me can be seen below in the chart of the Aerospace and Defense ETF, ITA. As you can it has broken out to new highs after consolidating for 6 months and using the 200 day moving average as a trampoline to propel higher. With RSI momentum unwinding during the consolidation, it appears to have a lot of room to move higher before investors need concern themselves with being overbought and expecting a pullback

The pattern’s (rectangle) target is still some $12 higher than where we closed yesterday. Keep in mind targets don’t mean a whole lot when stocks have entered rarefied air (new, all-time highs). As such, I expect ITA to likely ignore and blow right through it as long as this bull market has legs.

Funnymentals

Bull Market 
noun \ˈbu̇l ˈmär-kət\ 
Random market movements causing investors to mistake themselves as financial geniuses.

In spite of my continual poking fun at anyone putting too much confidence into fundamental only analysis, I do fully admit they should be a part of an investment process.  My problem with them is that they really only become obvious when looking in the rear-view mirror. They are horrible for making decisions on timing because once the information is known, the market has already reacted and it’s too late. In spite of that, I do find them useful and include them in my investment process as one element among many. They are of similar value that longer-term charts are. Directions and trends are more easily discernible and so they help to make short term decisions better but only when used with a weight-of-the-evidence approach. 

From a fundamental standpoint we know that, in theory, stock prices are directly correlated to corporate earnings growth. Stock prices move higher along with earnings and vice versa, Below is a chart of a 6 quarter look-back and 4 quarter look-ahead of the SP500 indexes earnings growth.

For the sake of argument if we take the estimated data at face value (don’t get me started on estimations and the ability to predict the future), the chart is telling us we will see a peak in earnings this quarter (Trump tax and policy changes) followed by a significant rollback to the long-term average. While I do believe the future growth numbers provided will be wrong, I am certain earnings will mean revert lower. Bottom line is the chart is telling an accurate tale. The when, how fast and how much will only be known in the future though. What equity investors need to determine is what impact will earnings mean reversion have on stock prices in the future knowing their strong correlation?

Seasonality 2x

It’s not the first time I have mentioned September being one of the year’s weakest months for stock returns. It should come as no surprise then that Septembers of the Presidential cycle are the weakest. What is interesting, is September in the second year has historically been the weakest month in the 4-year cycle.

It is theorized

• In years one and two of a presidential term, the President exits campaign mode and works hard to fulfill campaign promises before the next election begins. It is theorized that because of these circumstances surrounding the President's work, the first year after their election is the weakest of the presidential term, with the second year being not much better.

• This trend of initial economic weakness was thought to be true because campaign promises in the first half of the presidency are not typically aimed at strengthening the economy. Instead, political interests, such as tax law changes and social welfare issues tend to be highest priority.

• In years three and four of a Presidential term, it is thought that the President goes back into campaign mode and works hard to strengthen the economy in an effort to earn votes with economic stimulus, such as tax cuts and job creation. As such, the third year had often been the strongest of the four-year term and the fourth year, the second-strongest year of the term.

Seems like Trump may throw a monkey wrench in this theory as he seems to have gotten it backwards.  I have been on both sides of seasonality patterns and have found that other than the rare fat tail, a 1.43% average loss is well within normal acceptable market monthly wiggle. This is especially true when you look at the historical patterns that follow September’s weakness… A big rally. Market draw-downs are both normal and healthy so if September turns out to be one, it’s time to put on our big-boy pants and suck it up --- we’re in an uptrend.

August 2018 Charts on the Move Video

August was a barn-burner for stocks, specifically US stocks. The Nasdaq popped almost 6% and the rest of US stocks moved higher while most of the rest of the world equities fell.  Its a great time to be an investor in the current US market strength. As the pro's and big money come back from summer vacation will September follow August's lead and continue higher or will it offer something more challenging?  While we wait for this question to unfold, have a look at this months Charts on the Move video at the link below.....

https://youtu.be/6gf-MD3llM4

July 2018 Charts on the Move Video

US stock markets are leading the rest of the world higher.  The intermediate term rally in the dollar has either reversed or put the case for over-weighting foreign investments on hold. I think we muddle through the summer/autumn months and then rally into year-end.  Anyone thinking the same? 

July's Charts on the Move video can be viewed at the link below

https://youtu.be/lmdfJ5p16es