Inflation, Dollars and Interest Rates Cooling,
Stocks Up Big. What's Next?
5 Steps You Should Take to Position Yourself

---

By Keith Schneider and Donn Goodman

Readers of our Market Outlook and followers of MarketGauge will now be referred to as our Gaugers.

Hope you are having a good weekend Gaugers. For any and all Veterans that we count among our readers, Thank You for your service as we keep Veterans in our thoughts and prayers.

This past week saw the CPI numbers come out indicating that inflation has begun to cool. On Thursday morning (8:30 EST) the release of October's CPI was expected to come out at 0.6%. When released the number was actually 0.4% and the market took off like a rocket ship. Year-over-year inflation went from 8.2% in September to 7.7% and investors celebrated a possible slowing (pivot) of future Fed interest rates (also covered in last week's Market Outlook).

Our take: folks 7.7% is still a very hot number, and don't count on Chairman Powell and company slowing down the pace of interest rate hikes anytime soon. They have made their opinion (and hawkish posture) very apparent. They have renumerated numerous times that they will not stop raising rates until inflation is trending towards 2% YoY. We do not believe they have any reason to pivot as yet.

However, the market had a different take and the dollar had it's biggest two day decline (Thursday-Friday) since 2009.  10-year interest rates had a significant retracement and rates eased with the new information. We went from a 4 print on the 10-year to a 3 print by day's end on Friday. See charts of the US Dollar (DXY) and the TNX (10-year rates below):

The Dollar (DXY) Chart broke its steep trendline this past week:

The ETF that trades the US dollar (UUP) had quite the fall. See the graph for UUP and TNX (10-year Treasury Rates) having fairly big price drops below:

-
The "Cooling Off" of the Dollar and Interest Rates was a welcome sign that the economy is indeed "slowing down". 

The lower October CPI print motivated traders to cover shorts and put new money to work. It was the 15^th best daily return on the SPY in history.

At week's end, the Nasdaq was up 8.4% in just two trading days (Thursday & Friday). It was Nasdaq's biggest gain since December 2008 . However positive that news is, it is important to note that just like in December 2008, we are still in a bear market. See the Nasdaq Composite chart for the past two months below:

This week saw a real turn of events as 2022's best areas underperformed and those areas hardest hit this year had huge rallies. See chart below:

For a long time now (since early 2022) Mish has been commenting on the metals (Gold, Silver, Copper). Her most recent comments a week or so ago when she last appeared on Fox Business News can be watched here.

Mish has told many readers and watchers of her TV appearance to "watch the Dollar".   She has long held the opinion that when the US Dollar breaks its steep incline (see above) that the metals could move dramatically.

Gold was up over $100 an ounce this past week. Copper soared even higher on a % price move. The metals made these moves higher as a result of the US Dollar and interest rates beginning to "cool off" as Mish has been continuing to suggest through her national TV appearances. See the Gold charts below:

The following chart shows the relationship of Gold to UUP (the US Dollar ETF). One of our favorite technical indicators produced by Decision Point, is the PMO (Price Momentum Oscillator). We are about to get a significant crossover on that indicator, suggesting that Gold (GLD) has momentum and could rally further. It has been among the best performers currently in Mish's Premium Trading Portfolio.

-
Trouble in Crypto Land

We also would like to point out that this past week the Cryptocurrency platform FTX imploded (went bankrupt) and resulted in huge losses of investor capital as well as users of their platform. It may change the blockchain technology business in the short term with positive and negative ramifications.

Many pointed out that this was a "Bear Stearns" type of meltdown and could have long-term effects on the emerging blockchain technology industry. We would like to point out that when events like this occur, they tend to make non-paper assets like gold, copper, and silver 00000attractive assets. This may have also fueled the rally in gold this past week.

FTX was a large sponsor of major league sports as well as possessing the naming rights of the Miami Heat arena and a long-term sponsor of MLB Umpires. You may want to read about the dramatic and significant effect the collapse of FTX may have on the sports world here.

Seasonality and the Election Cycle

Last week we discussed seasonality and the favorable 4-year cycle that portends some tailwind for investors. You can read last week's issue here.

The midterm election has passed and some of the following charts may kick in. Similar to our article last week, we caution you NOT to go "all in" by implementing these historical conclusions. History may not always repeat, but it usually does rhyme in some way.

We likely have a different market environment this year, given the continuing high inflation narrative and the Fed's persistence on their hawkish path.

Additionally, we really don't have election conclusions at this time as several of the states have not yet decided who they will be sending to Washington.

After reading all this, you may be inclined to want to get aggressive and put more capital to work. Again, we caution you that BEAR MARKET rallies are often mistaken for NEW BULL Markets. They are not.

We may have a long way to go yet. Why? We have not seen the effect of recently announced job layoffs and the expected contraction in revenue, profit margins, and inevitably declining earnings that may be forthcoming.

Recently Goldman Sachs and other Wall Street houses began to lower their earnings expectations for 2023. As you are all aware, the market (S&P 500) factors in the earnings expectations 12-24 months out. Given Goldman's (and other's) expectations for 2023 earnings of approximately $220 a share, it was a bit surprising to see the huge market rally this past week. That is why it is a bear market rally-shorts running for cover.

Let us give you a rough estimate of what market valuations based on Goldman's per-share earnings expectations might look like in the near term.

If earnings of $220-$230 (consensus opinion) is the actual earnings per share number in 2023, (numbers listed are for the fair value of the S&P 500), assigning different Price to Earnings ratios can provide an S&P 500 number for valuation. Remember that in the latter part of 2023, the market will begin to factor in 2024's earnings.

While we have no idea how dramatic the effect of higher interest rates are having on the economy and, therefore, what P/E we should use. Historically, coming out of an economic slowdown (and if we actually see a recession) P/E's tend to be low to mid-teens. Past recessions have seen these P/E ratios get to 12 or less before beginning to recover and head higher.

This is also why the range for the S&P from Wall Street firms from Morgan Stanley to Bank of America, Wells Fargo, UBS and others are anywhere from 2800 to 4100 on the S&P 500 index for early next year. Much of it will depend on how high interest rates go and if earnings continue to grow.

Today, earnings are expected to grow by approximately 5% in 2023. Don't count on it. We believe that there will not be any earnings growth next year and perhaps even a contraction of 5-10%.

The same reason Warren Buffet is still not buying stocks

The legendary investor is still on the sidelines. He is considered a "value" Investor. According to the metrics that he and his staff of analytical money managers use, stocks are not in the "value zone" and "at this time do not present good valuation prospects."

The combined market capitalization of the universe of U.S. stocks as constructed by the Wilshire 5000 index totaled $38 trillion as of this week's close. That amounts to 148% of the 25.7 trillion value of U.S. gross domestic product at the end of the third quarter.

The ratio is now at levels that prevailed in the run-up to the first wave of the pandemic when hardly anyone would have thought stocks offered true value.

From previous comments Buffet has delivered, he said that he likes stocks when the percentage in the above chart is in the 80% area. While his holding company, Berkshire Hathaway is still making acquisitions, the company's cash pile at the end of September was $109 billion, compared with $105.4 in June. In other words, he and his staff are NOT currently finding any value in the market of stocks.

Moreover, for all the time we spend writing about the decimation of wealth from 2022's stock market decline, the price-to-book ratio for the S&P is still VERY high at 3.8x and even more punitive at 5.8x for the Nasdaq 100. With 2-year Treasuries offering a yield of 4.5% and below average dividends on the S&P of 2%, we still have an expensive market no matter what exuberant analysts and prognosticators might tell you. See the chart below:

5 Steps to Position Yourself

1. Heed caution. If you put on trades make sure that your positions implement stops and targets. Be ready to take a quick profit if warranted.
2. Watch our Risk Gauges and check with Big View often for market summary information.
3. Eliminate some of the noise. I have spoken with several subscribers this week who read and listen to multiple sources for market information. They are paralyzed because they don't know what to do. Try and hone down the experts and advisors to just a couple, if that many. We want you to rely on us. Let us know what you need from us to make good or better decisions.
4. Stop watching the market so closely. Unless you are actively trading, it might be better to "tune it out." This past Wednesday the market fell hard (The Dow down more than 500 points) and you may have been concerned we would go lower the remainder of the week. Then Thursday, the market was up more 1,000 points and you would have not only been shocked and surprised but felt the opposite in emotions. Why put yourself through this?
5. Get ready. Things will improve. Make sure you have the strategies that you need to make $ in the upcoming positive and better market. Click here to reach out to Rob Quinn our Chief Strategy Officer to make sure that you have the trading tools and investment strategies that will help propel your portfolio higher in 2023.

 

Here are this week's investment summary points taken from Big View. 

Risk On

• Market Internals remain strong according to the McClellan Oscillator for both the SPY and Nasdaq Composite. (+) but there is a divergence with price …so this needs to be watched daily
• The New High / New Low ratio regained strength this week and is back in gear for the major indices. (+)
• The Volatility Ratio (VIX / VXX) continues to gain strength and is breaking out higher. (+)
• Every sector was up this week with some of the strongest leaders being the most speculative sectors such as Semiconductors (SMH) +15.4% and Technology (XLK) +10%. Homebuilders (XHB) was also up +12.1% thanks to mortgage rights backing off from their recent spike. (+)
• Interest rates look like they may have bottomed out which is the main reason for this week's market rally, and the 7-10 year (TLT) looks poised to take out its 50-day moving average (+)
• Value stocks (VTV) are still outperforming Growth (VUG) over the long term, but Growth stocks significantly outperformed this week and are on the comeback. VTV closed back above its 200-dma, while VUG is now back above its 50-dma. (+)
• With the exception of Latin America, foreign equities improved across the board and even outperformed US equities this week. (+)
• Copper (COPX) is on a tear and looks poised to test the 200-day / 50-week moving averages, a risk-on indication for the economy. (+)
• The US Dollar (UUP) got smoked as a result of lower rates, allowing stocks and metals as well as foreign currencies to rebound strongly. The thing to be wary about here is that the selloff in the dollar looks to be oversold on both price and momentum and could come to an abrupt stop. (+)

Neutral

• All major indices improved their market phases this week, with IWM and DIA both closing above their 200-day moving averages and SPY & IWM above their 50-day moving averages, however, the SPY, and QQQ are all overbought on price and momentum according to Real Motion and may be subject to mean reversion next week. (=)
• Volume Analysis has slowed a bit and is now showing neutral readings over the past 2 weeks across all the indices, showing that volume still needs to confirm the move on price from this week. (=)
• Market hotspots led by Precious Metals represented by Gold Miners (GDX) +13.4% were especially strong on easing interest rates, while softer commodities and Latin countries (ILF) sold off. (=)
• Risk Gauges remain neutral across the board. (=)
• The number of stocks within the S&P 500 that are above their respective 200-day moving averages has risen above 50% after rallying from extremely oversold levels in October, a potentially bullish indication. (=)
• Gold (GLD) had an explosive move this week and steadily regained its 200-week moving average. (=)
• Mish's Modern Family members are outperforming the market across the board however, most of them with the exception of Biotech (IBB) looks to be a bit overbought on both price and momentum. (=)

Risk Off

•  Despite treasuries clearly recovering in price, the Yield Curve remains inverted. (-)