Investors have a lot of questions right now. With sentiment and at some of the most pessimistic levels in history, what will it take for some of these trends to change in the second half of the year? I believe some major trends are already changing.
The Playbook takes a step back and looks at things from a more Structural perspective. If you're specifically looking for more tactical opportunities, you can check out this week's Live Mid-Month Conference Call.
Here's what we'll be discussing in our Q3 Playbook:
No one likes a bear market, except for the bears of course.
They haze the uninitiated, test market veterans, and remind everyone that assets can go to zero.
Not fun for most!
When we take a step back and assess all the data in front of us today, the outlook remains dismal for the overall market.
The New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq have posted more new lows than new highs for 31 weeks and counting. Leadership groups carry a defensive tone. Topping patterns continue to resolve lower. Support levels are being ignored and violated. Long story short, it's ugly out here.
And it's not only stocks... Bitcoin just booked its worst month and quarter in over a decade and bonds are having one of their worst years in history.
No wonder investor sentiment is in the dumps. It’s clear we are in the midst of a bear market.
They’ve replaced the comical “stocks only go up” memes with images of the grim reaper coming for our favorite names. Even memes aren’t as funny in a bear market!
From the desk of Steven Strazza @Sstrazza and Ian Culley @Ianculley
Bonds are off to their worst start in the past 40 years, possibly ever!
It’s not even close.
As we near the end of Q2, the US Treasury Bond ETF $TLT is down almost 22% year to date. And that’s after its recent bounce higher.
There's been nowhere to hide, as these traditional safe-haven assets have been an absolute dumpster fire along with stocks.
But we’re starting to see some of those flames extinguished.
Some of the worst-performing stocks tipped the bond market’s hand ahead of the recent lows. That’s right: Those Big Tech names and Chinese internet stocks stopped going down months ago and now bonds are following higher.
Believe it or not, bonds and high-duration equities have a lot in common. The Growth $IWF versus Value $IWD ratio really tells the story.
Let’s take a look.
Here’s an overlay chart of the TLT and the IWF/IWD ratio:
And don’t worry: Plenty of banter surrounding the yield curve will take center stage during all this recession talk.
Somehow, an inverted yield curve has become synonymous with recession even though the historical record supporting this narrative leaves room for plenty of interpretation.
The purpose of this post is not to present an argument on whether we’re already in a recession or if one is imminent. We’ll leave that up to the talking heads and economists.
Instead, we'll simply share where the yield curve is today and assess the likelihood of potential inversion.
Let’s take a look…
Here’s a triple-pane chart of the US 30-year, 10-year, and 5-year yields:
