16 Feb WHAT WILL BE THE IMPACT IF 2021 GROWTH IS THE GREATEST SINCE 1984?

Posted at 14:52h in Market Commentary by
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Last week I commented that several bulge bracket firms are warning about the difference in valuations between the mega sized companies and the rest of the market. Bank of America joined the crowd stating that one of their primary indicators—the so-called Bull & Bear indicator—is approaching levels of extreme bullishness which can trigger a sell signal that has not been set off since January 2018.

The markets swooned in February of that year. BofA noted that since 2000 there have been 12 such signals producing an average loss of 9%.

Bloomberg is comparing today’s unrelenting advance in the NASDAQ to the era of September 1999-March 2000.  In that era, the NASDAQ surged by an incredible 85% as valuations were utterly ignored and then plunged about 80% bottoming in October 2002.

Both BofA and Bloomberg have referenced hyper retail call option buying in the mega sized technology firms as a potential reason for this unrelenting surge in the largest capitalized issues.

According to Deutsche Bank “call volume as a percentage of market cap of the largest 50 capitalized issues has risen at an unprecedented rate, now representing over 250% of their market capitalization.” It has been steadily rising since March rising from about 50% of market capitalization to now at “historic hyperbolic proportions.”

As previously noted massive call buying is intrinsically bullish, equivalent to eating a sugary opioid, but when the buying ends, volatility can massively increase.

I have consistently argued higher interest rates—the result of stronger than expected economic activity and massive fiscal and monetary stimulus—could be the catalyst that could threaten the values of these mega sized growth issues.

Interest rates are the largest component of valuation formulas and any increase will have an outsized effect on overvalued companies. As noted many times the S & P 500 is priced at 32.2x earnings, nominally lower than the record achieved in 2000.

As stated last week, the indices which are skewed by the largest companies are overvalued but the typical company is not.

Partially because of the $1.8 trillion stimulus, 2021 GDP growth is now projected to rise by the greatest amount since 1984 according to a survey of 76 economists. Because of broken supply lines and political pressure to increase the minimum wage, both demand pull (product) and cost push (wage) inflation is expected in increase.

As widely noted, the overnight rate is expected to remain around 0.00% until the end of 2022. Will inflationary pressures become “unanchored?”

Historically in periods of rising inflation and economic activity, “hard asset companies” or companies that manufacture products out perform as such typically have pricing power.

What will happen this week? The economic calendar is comprised of an inflation index, retail sales, several manufacturing and housing statistics and the Minutes from the recent FOMC meeting.

Last night the foreign markets were up. London was up 0.24%, Paris up 0.04% and Frankfurt up 0.03%. China was up 1.43%, Japan up 1.28% and Hang Seng up 1.90%.

The Dow should open nominally higher as optimism over the economy coupled by declining COVID cases amplified by rising vaccination rates. The 10-year is off 16/32 to yield 1.26%. Oil is almost $60/barrel, the highest price in 13 months.

 

The views expressed herein are those of Kent Engelke and do not necessarily reflect those of Capitol Securities Management. The information contained herein has been compiled from sources believed to be reliable; however, there is no guarantee of its accuracy or completeness. Any opinions expressed are statements of judgment on this date and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those currently anticipated or projected. Any future dividends, interest, yields and event dates listed may be subject to change. An investor cannot invest in an index, and its returns are not indicative of the performance of any specific investment. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The material provided in Daily Market Commentaries or on this website should be used for informational purposes only and in no way should be relied upon for financial advice. Please be sure to consult your own financial advisor when making decisions regarding your financial management. Members of FINRA and SIPC, Capitol Securities Management is a privately owned full-service retail brokerage and investment advisory firm headquartered in Richmond, Virginia. For nearly 30 years, we have been serving the needs of our investors. Today, more than 200 Capitol Securities Management investment professionals and support staff serve approximately 18,000 customer accounts from Southern Florida to the New England coast.