A roundup of what The Globe and Mail’s market strategist Scott Barlow is reading today on the Web
Citi U.S. equity strategist Tobias Levkovich, recognizing that it’s easy for investors to get overwhelmed by market research, provides one-stop analytical shopping with a bear market checklist,
“Many clients seem overwhelmed by the amount of information that comes in from sell-side research, not to mention financial and social media feeds, as well as blogs. Separating signal from the noise can be challenging and, in our opinion, requires some discipline… one has to see both amber and red signals combined readings above 50% to become very worried about an imminent bear market, and we are showing 20% currently with no red signals. Thus, we just do not see the fundamentals indicating a substantive equity index downturn. As such, it seems premature to get off the market horse, and overshoots to the upside still appear plausible”
“@SBarlow_ROB Citi bear market checklist” – (full table) Twitter
Citi’s checklist implies that the coast is clear for investors to put money to work in the market but the global economy is suffering,
“The global economy’s sharp loss of speed through 2018 has left the pace of expansion the weakest since the global financial crisis a decade ago, according to Bloomberg Economics… Its new GDP tracker puts world growth at 2.1 percent on a quarter-on-quarter annualized basis, down from about 4 percent in the middle of last year. While there’s a chance that the economy may find a foothold and arrest the slowdown, “the risk is that downward momentum will be self-sustaining,” say economists Dan Hanson and Tom Orlik… “We are still seeing robust economic growth, although it’s less strong than before,” Executive Board member Benoit Coeure said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera published Monday. “It will take longer for inflation to reach our objective, but it will get there.”
“Global Economy Hits Its Weakest Spell Since Financial Crisis” – Bloomberg
“ @SBarlow_ROB Morgan Stanley’s Sheets: “We think the market is too confident in a central scenario where growth stabilises” – (research excerpt) Twitter
***
Citi’s Global Theme Machine is among the few thematic investing processes that I watch closely. The analysis team recently published the top performing investment themes for the past three months and one year,
“The Climate Change portfolio performed strongly over 3 months as the market focused on accommodative policy newsflow in China… Mining Capex may have some cyclical risk appetite rebound but the bigger picture is how demanding Shareholders are these days for returns in this space post the Commodity boom collapse. Wearable Technology (a newly mapped theme) also catches the eye – perhaps part of the market’s focus on broader Consumer Health & Wellness … Bringing up the 3 month pack is Generics & Biosimilars … Over 12 months it’s interesting to note Cloud Computing +8%, performing the strongest: fundamentally Walter Pritchard, Mark May & team remain very bullish. Strong 12 month showings from DNA/Genetics & Healthcare IT both align with our fundamental views. “
“@SBarlow_ROB C: Top performing investment themes” – (research excerpt) Twitter
***
Tweet of the Day:
Diversion: “Famously Scathing Reviews of Classic Books From The [New York] Times’s Archive” – New York Times