Words from the (investment) wise for the week that was (May 4

One of the definitions of “stress” offered by the Merriam-Webster dictionary is “bodily or mental tension resulting from factors that tend to alter an existent equilibrium”. Well, any bodily or mental tension investors might have been suffering from as a result of financial factors were shrugged off on Thursday with the announcement by US regulators that ten of the nation’s largest banks had to add a total of “only” $74.6 billion in equity following the completion of stress tests. However, whether this will indeed restore the equilibrium remains to be seen.

Source: Walt Handelsman

The diagram below, courtesy of the Financial Times, summarizes the stress test results in a nutshell. Click here or on the image below for a larger graphic.

Source: Financial Times

As investors welcomed the less-than-feared stress-test results and their hopes for an early economic recovery mounted, they drove up the prices of risky assets such as equities, oil and commodities, precious metals, emerging-market bonds and currencies, and high-yielding corporate bonds. On the other hand, traditional safe havens like developed-market government bonds and the US dollar experienced selling pressure.

With investors’ confidence being buoyed up, the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) declined by 9.2% during the week to 32.1 – a far cry from more than 80 in October and a sign that markets are returning to more normal behavior.

The performance of the major asset classes is summarized by the chart below.

Source: StockCharts.com

Marking nine straight weeks of gains, the MSCI World Index surged by 6.4% (YTD +3.6%) on the week, the MSCI Emerging Markets Index by 9.4% (YTD +27.9%) and the S&P 500 Index by 5.9% (YTD +2.9%). Serving as a reminder of the severity of the bear market, these indices are still down by 43.3%, 45.8% and 40.6% respectively since the October 2007 bull market highs.

With the exception of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the UK FTSE 100 Index, most major global stock markets have now moved into positive territory for the year to date.

Click here or on the table below for a larger image.

Returns around the world ranged from top performers Ukraine (+20.5%), Serbia (+20.0%), Kazakhstan (+19.4%), Peru (+17.9%) and Singapore (+16.6%) to Barbados (-4.1%), Slovakia (-2.3%), Bangladesh (-2.0%), Pakistan (-1.0%) and Tunisia (-0.9%) which experienced headwinds. (Click here to access a complete list of global stock market movements, as supplied by Emerginvest.)

With only a handful of US companies still to report first-quarter earnings, 62% of the companies that have reported have beaten analysts’ earnings expectations. According to Bespoke, this earnings season will be the first quarter-over-quarter increase in the “beat rate” since the third quarter of 2006. “When the ‘beat rate’ started to decline in 2007, it was definitely a warning signal for the market, and this quarter’s increase is hopefully the start of a new positive trend. As long as analysts remain behind the curve, and companies exceed expectations, stocks will have a solid foundation to build on,” said Bespoke.

Source: Bespoke

As far as leadership since the start of the nine-week-old rally is concerned, the surging Financial SPDR (XLF) is by far the top performer among the economic sector exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Interestingly, cyclical sectors such as the Industrial SPDR (XLI), Consumer Discretionary SPDR (XLY) and Materials SPDR (XLB) all outperformed the S&P 500, whereas the traditional defensive sectors like Consumer Staples SPDR (XLP), Health Care SPDR (XLV) and Utilities SPDR (XLU) all lagged the broader market. This is the type of pattern one would expect typically to emerge during a market base formation development.

Source: StockCharts.com

John Nyaradi (Wall Street Sector Selector) reports that the strongest ETFs on the week were KBW Bank (KBE) (+34.8%), PowerShares FTSE RAFI Financial (PRFF) (+30.6%) and Rydex S&P Equal Weight Financial (RYF) (+26.5%). On the other end of the performance scale ProShares Short Financial (SEF) (-15.9%), iShares Goldman Sachs Semiconductor (IGW) (‑4.0%) and Vanguard Extended Duration Treasury (EDV) (-3.3%) were underwater.

On the credit front, the TED spread (i.e. three-month dollar LIBOR less three-month Treasury Bills – a measure of perceived credit risk in the economy) narrowed by 10 basis points during the past week. Since the TED spread’s peak of 4.65% on October 10 the measure has eased to an 11-month low of 0.76% – still well above the 38-point spread it averaged in the 12 months prior to the start of the crisis, but nevertheless a strong move in the right direction.

Source: Fullermoney

Also, the cost of buying credit insurance for US and European companies eased sharply during last week’s trading, as shown by the narrower spreads for both the CDX (North American, investment-grade) Index (down from 163 to 143) and the Markit iTraxx Europe Index (down from 139 to 124).

CDX (North America, investment-grade) Index

Source: Markit

Two important trend reversals deserve mention, namely US 10-year Treasury Notes having breached their key 200-day moving average, and likewise the US dollar. Treasuries fell out of favor as a result of a poorly received $14 billion auction of 30-year bonds on Thursday, with 10-year Notes and 30-year Bonds rising to 3.29% (+17 bps) and 4.27% (+23 bps) respectively on the week. As massive issuance overhangs the sovereign bond market, investors speculated about the Fed’s pain threshold for long-term rates. According to Reuters, PIMCO’s Bill Gross said: “In order to maintain a 4% agency mortgage rate, the Fed will likely have to step up its daily purchases of Treasuries and focus on the longer end of the curve.”

Source: StockCharts.com

As far as the greenback is concerned, Richard Russell (Dow Theory Letters) said: “I don’t think most people understand the importance of the whole dollar, bond, interest rate syndrome. First, the US is creating and spending fiat dollars in the trillions. This wild creation of dollars is putting pressure on the dollar – after all, too much of anything will dilute its value. Dollar down = bonds down.”

Source: StockCharts.com

The quote du jour relates to whether the stress tests were “stressful” enough and belongs to Barry Ritholtz (The Big Picture), who remarked: “… the 25-to-1 leverage [Tier 1 capital equal to 4% of risk-weighted assets] is absurd, as is the worst case scenario of 9.5% unemployment. Odd, in my opinion, to show such largesse to those very same reckless banks that caused the entire financial mess.”

“Far be it for me to call the stress tests a charade, a dupe, a con game or an exercise in manipulation – I’ll leave that to others, like the Wall Street Journal, which noted this morning that the banks managed to browbeat the Fed into accepting much lower capital needs than the tests should have required. [For example, a decrease in required capital of 48.3% was negotiated by Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Fifth Third Bancorp and Citigroup when added together.] The entire exercise is turning out to be one giant joke – and the laugh is on the taxpayers.”

Next, a quick textual analysis of my week’s reading. No surprises here, with the word “banks” dominating the media. Strikingly, “bonds” is increasingly prominent as investors are becoming more concerned about the rise in government bond yields. (And after only one week, notice how “swine flu” shines in its absence.)

Back to the stock market. As shown in the table below, the major US indices have moved to within spitting distance of the important 200-day moving averages and the early January highs. On the downside, the levels from where the nascent rally commenced on March 9 should hold in order for the upward trend to remain intact.

The Bullish Percent Index, showing the percentage of S&P 500 constituents that are currently in bullish mode as a result of point-and-figure buy signals, has increased from 1.6% in October to 12.8% in March to the current figure of 74.8% – a positive, albeit short-term overbought, figure.

The number of S&P 500 stocks trading above their respective 200-day moving averages has increased to 47.8% from almost zero in October. This is a lagging indicator, but for a primary uptrend to be confirmed the bulk of the index constituents need to trade above their 200-day averages. (The 50-day reading is now 91.0% – the highest since October 2006 and calling for at least some consolidation of the recent gains.)

Adam Hewison of INO.com prepared a short technical analysis of the S&P 500’s most likely direction and important chart levels. Click here to access the video presentation.

On the question of whether this is a suckers’ rally or the real deal, Société Générale’s co-chief strategist James Montier weighed in on the subject in his latest investment newsletter (as discussed by FT Alphaville). He said he didn’t have a clue and was therefore buying insurance to protect on the downside. “Two methods of insurance stand out. Either I could buy index puts (relatively cheap at the moment) or I could construct individual short positions,” added Montier.

“Be careful about jumping into the stock market with both feet after this monumental rally. Consider whether or not it would be more appropriate to take advantage of the run-up to reduce equity exposure,” Merrill Lynch’s chief North American economist, David Rosenberg, wrote in his final missive (as reported by Barron’s) ahead of his previously announced departure from the firm.

Jeremy Grantham’s (GMO) take on the stock market outlook is summarized in his recent quarterly newsletter, in which he says: “The current stimulus is so extensive globally that surely it will kick up the economies of at least some of the larger countries, including the US and China, by late this year or early next year. (This seems about 80% probable to me, anyway.) Anticipating this, we should expect a stock market recovery – which normally leads economic recovery by six months, plus or minus two – sometime between two months ago and, say, August, which the astute reader will realize implies that this rally may already be it.”

In my assessment, and as written in a post last week, the thawing of credit markets and the return of confidence augur well for the outlook for equities and provide further evidence that US stock markets are mapping out a base development formation. The early-January highs and 200-day moving averages are the next important targets and a break above these levels would signal the completion of the base formation and a secular bottom (as has already been seen in leading markets such as China and Brazil). Only then will the corpse of the bear be put to rest.

Meanwhile, the speed and sheer magnitude of the rally argue for markets to either consolidate or retrace some of the past nine weeks’ gains prior to moving higher.

For more discussion about the direction of stock markets, also see my recent posts “Video-o-rama: Stress tests ad nauseum“, “Gold bullion: Regaining its shine?“, “Jeremy Grantham: The last hurrah and seven lean years“, “Parting thoughts from David Rosenberg“, “Technical talk: Stellar market internals” and “Picture du Jour: Stock markets – it’s all about confidence“. (And also make a point of listening to Donald Coxe’s webcast of May 8, which can be accessed from the sidebar of the Investment Postcards site.)

Economy
“Global business confidence has taken on a brighter hue in recent weeks. Sentiment notably improved in the US last week to its best level since early November. Expectations regarding the outlook six months from now – a good leading indicator – have risen meaningfully since hitting a record low at the very end of last year,” said the latest Survey of Business Confidence of the World conducted by Moody’s Economy.com.

Source: Moody’s Economy.com

Further to the official Chinese Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) reported on last week, the CLSA China Manufacturing PMI also increased strongly to 50.1 in April from 44.8 in March – any reading over 50 indicates that the manufacturing sector is growing. “China’s government has been extremely successful in stimulating investment and, combined with a sharp improvement in export orders, this has pushed the PMI back into positive territory,” wrote CLSA’s head of economic research, Eric Fishwick.

Source: EconomPic Data

Rebecca Wilder (News N Economics) summarized the global economic picture as follows: “The signs of hope remain mostly in the soft data – US and China Purchasing Managers surveys posting consecutive monthly growth – while the hard data – export growth, inflation, and unemployment – continue to deteriorate. Going forward, the story that ‘economies are declining less quickly’ is gaining some momentum. And for some, a turning point may be on the horizon.”

In an article entitled “Green shots or dandelion weeds”, John Mauldin (Thoughts from the Frontline) said: “So many bullish analysts talk about the second derivative of growth, by which they mean that we are slowing our descent into recession. But it is not the second derivative that is important. What is important is that the first derivative, actual growth, return. Until that time, unemployment will continue to rise, which is going to put pressure on incomes and consumer spending, and thus corporate profits.”

Testimony that the coast is not yet clear came from the European Central Bank (ECB), cutting its main interest rate by 25 basis points to a record low of 1%, and announcing plans to buy €60 billion of covered bonds (backed by mortgage or public sector loans.) Across the Channel, the Bank of England (BoE) kept rates at 0.5% and said it would pump a further £50 billion into the UK economy by means of “quantitative easing”.

Turning to the US, a snapshot of the week’s economic data is provided below. (Click on the dates to see Northern Trust’s assessment of the various data releases.)

May 08, 2009
• April employment report – details point to positive developments

May 07, 2009
• Initial Jobless Claims – leading indicator!
• Productivity – gains in Q1

May 06, 2009
• Challenger Report and ISM Employment Index – more encouraging news about employment conditions

May 05, 2009
• Bernanke mentions positive factors with caveats
• ISM Non-Manufacturing Survey sends an upbeat signal

May 04, 2009
• Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey – credit conditions have improved
• Pending Home Sales Index posts second consecutive monthly advance
• Public Sector and Non-residential Construction Outlays lift overall construction spending

Also, almost 21.8% of US homeowners owed more than their properties were worth as of March 31, Zillow.com said in a report (via Bloomberg). At the end of the fourth quarter 17.6% of homeowners were underwater, while 14.3% had negative equity three months earlier.

In his testimony before the Joint Economic Committee in Washington on Tuesday, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke noted that “the pace of contraction may be slowing … some tentative signs that final demand, especially demand by households, may be stabilizing”. Although he expected the economic cycle to bottom out later in 2009, he also added that “a number of factors are likely to continue to weigh on consumer spending, among them weak a labor market and the declines in equity and housing wealth that households have experienced over the past two years”.

Jeremy Grantham is not assured of an enduring recovery and reasoned as follows: “Although the economy is likely to kick up in the next 12 months (although far from a near certainty), I believe it is likely that the longer-term health of the economy will be exaggerated. In time – perhaps a year into the recovery – the economy will slow once again and stay disappointingly below the standards to which we have become accustomed over the last several decades.

“… what I’m proposing could be known as a VL recovery (or very long), in which the stimulus causes a fairly quick but superficial recovery, followed by a second decline, followed in turn by a long, drawn-out period of sub-normal growth as the basic underlying economic and financial problems are corrected.”

Week’s economic reports
Click here for the week’s economy in pictures, courtesy of Jake of EconomPic Data.

Date	Time (ET)	Statistic	For	Actual	Briefing Forecast	Market Expects	Prior
May 4	10:00 AM	Construction Spending	Mar	0.3%	-1.7%	-1.6%	-1.0%
May 4	10:00 AM	Pending Home Sales	Mar	3.2%	0.0%	0.0%	2.0%
May 5	10:00 AM	ISM Services	Apr	43.7	43.0	42.2	40.8
May 6	8:15 AM	ADP Employment Change	Apr	-491K	-620K	-645K	-708K
May 6	10:30 AM	Crude Inventories	05/01	+605K	NA	NA	+4053K
May 7	8:30 AM	Initial Claims	05/02	601K	620K	635K	635K
May 7	8:30 AM	Productivity -Preliminary	Q1	0.8%	0.9%	0.6%	-0.6%
May 7	8:30 AM	Unit Labor Costs	Q1	3.3%	2.5%	2.7%	5.7%
May 7	3:00 PM	Consumer Credit	Mar	-$11.1B	-$1.0B	-$4.0B	-$8.1B
May 8	8:30 AM	Average Workweek	Apr	33.2	33.2	33.2	33.2
May 8	8:30 AM	Hourly Earnings	Apr	0.1%	0.2%	0.2%	0.2%
May 8	8:30 AM	Non-farm Payrolls	Apr	-539K	-590K	-600K	-699K
May 8	8:30 AM	Unemployment Rate	Apr	8.9%	8.9%	8.9%	8.5%
May 8	10:00 AM	Wholesale Inventories	Mar	-1.6%	-0.9%	-1.0%	-1.7%

Source: Yahoo Finance, May 8, 2009.

In addition to a speech on the financial crisis by Fed Chairman Bernanke (Tuesday, 12 May), the US economic highlights for the week include the following: Retail Sales (Wednesday, 13 May), PPI (Thursday, 14 May) and CPI, Industrial Production and Michigan Consumer Confidence (Friday, 15 May).

Click here for a summary of Wachovia’s weekly economic and financial commentary.

Markets
The performance chart obtained from the Wall Street Journal Online shows how different global financial markets performed during the past week.

Source: Wall Street Journal Online, May 8, 2009.

“The best investors are like socialites. They always know where the next party is going to be held. They arrive early and make sure that they depart well before the end, leaving the mob to swill the last tasteless dregs. Good money managers understand that. Investment is all about change and anticipating it,” said The Economist in 1986 (hat tip: Charles Kirk). Hopefully the “Words from the Wise” reviews will assist Investment Postcards readers in staying abreast of change in the investment markets.

On Mother’s Day, wishing all the mothers a day that’s just as special as you are.

That’s the way it looks from Cape Town (where we are enjoying balmy autumn days).