Asset Allocation Bi-Weekly
Confluence Investment Management offers various asset allocation products which are managed using “top down,” or macro, analysis. We publish asset allocation thoughts on a bi-weekly basis, updating the piece every other Monday.
Asset Allocation Weekly (October 25, 2019)
by Asset Allocation Committee For nearly two years, the energy sector has dramatically underperformed the overall equity market and oil prices. This chart shows our S&P energy sector model. We regress the overall S&P 500 and oil prices against the energy sector. For most of the index’s history, these two variables explained much of the behavior… Read More »
Asset Allocation Weekly (October 18, 2019)
by Asset Allocation Committee In 2017, we introduced an indicator of the basic health of the economy and added it to the many charts we monitor to gauge market conditions. The indicator is constructed using commodity prices, initial claims and consumer confidence. The thesis behind this indicator is that these three components should offer a simple… Read More »
Asset Allocation Weekly (October 11, 2019)
by Asset Allocation Committee The financial markets have been roiled recently by the apparent shortage of liquidity in the repo markets. Our take is that the problem is twofold—there are regulatory problems that mean the banking system requires more in reserves than it did prior to the Great Financial Crisis, and there are likely industry concentration… Read More »
Asset Allocation Weekly (October 4, 2019)
by Asset Allocation Committee Although the convention for measuring earnings is compared to shares, Standard and Poor’s also calculates the level of operating earnings for all the stocks in the S&P 500. The per-share value is calculated by dividing this number by the S&P divisor. The advantage of this number versus the per-share data is that… Read More »
Asset Allocation Weekly (September 27, 2019)
by Asset Allocation Committee Over the past few months, we have been on “recession watch.” Our position is that the odds of a downturn are elevated but it is too soon to fully position for a downturn. The inversion of yield curves is a reliable recession warning. On the other hand, the economic data continues to… Read More »
Asset Allocation Weekly (September 20, 2019)
by Asset Allocation Committee Interest rates have increased since early September. The 10-year T-note yield dipped to 1.45% in early September but has risen strongly since then. What has prompted this rise? Some of the rise appears to be caused by a revaluation of the path of monetary policy. The chart on the left shows the… Read More »
Asset Allocation Weekly (September 13, 2019)
by Asset Allocation Committee In recent reports, we have discussed the yield curve and its value in signaling the business cycle. One of the problems for investors with using the various permutations of the yield curve as a signaling device is that it gives such early warnings that it may not be all that useful. This… Read More »
Asset Allocation Weekly (September 6, 2019)
by Asset Allocation Committee In 2017, we introduced an indicator of the basic health of the economy and added it to the many charts we monitor to gauge market conditions. The indicator is constructed using commodity prices, initial claims and consumer confidence. The thesis behind this indicator is that these three components should offer a simple… Read More »
Asset Allocation Weekly (August 30, 2019)
by Asset Allocation Committee As various permutations of the yield curve invert, projections of recession are increasing. One of our favorites, the 10-year T-note/fed funds yield curve, has been inverted for three months. This chart shows the history of this yield curve; since 1960, every recession was preceded by an inversion of this indicator. However, that… Read More »