The TSX Composite is peaking its head out above resistance and into the fresh air of all-time highs, but can the recent strength continue?
Today we're looking for answers in two sectors that matter, Financials and Energy, which account for roughly 50% of the index's weighting.
First off, here's the TSX Composite Index breaking to new all-time highs, slightly exceeding its former highs of 16,650. Momentum has yet to get overbought, but if prices are above that level then we need to be erring on the long side with an upside objective of 18,300 over the next 6-12 months.
Since not a lot has changed at the TSX Composite or TSX 60 level, we want to take another look two months later to see what's developed under the surface and where there are opportunities to profit.
On May 1st, we wrote an update called "Canada or Cantada" going through the major sectors/indexes to provide a view on how we wanted to approach Canadian Equities.
As we can see, there are more uptrends than downtrends from a structural perspective. Tactically however, most of these are not at levels where we want to be initiating new positions or have a lot of conviction. After strong moves since December, they need some consolidation to digest those gains and set up for a sustained move higher.
Another thing to note is that the more defensive areas of the market like REITs and Staples have the clearest structural uptrends of the group. They make up a smaller portion of the market, but I think it's still an interesting signal about market participants' risk appetite and outlook for Interest Rates.
Additionally Energy and Materials account for roughly 30% of the index and remain a headwind, so without rotation into those names I think it'll be tough for the TSX Composite to break out to the upside.
Canada, like a few other Major Indexes from around the globe, continues to churn around all-time highs. So which way will it resolve?
Let's go sector by sector and see what the weight of the evidence suggests, just like JC did for US Stocks.
First, let's start with the TSX Composite, which continues to hover near its 2018 highs as momentum diverges. After a ~20% rally off the December lows and the presence of a flat 200-day, it would be healthy to see some consolidation at current levels before breaking out
I'm in New York this week for the annual CMT Association Symposium. I always learn so much at this event, not just from the presentations, but from the attendees themselves. A lot of smart folks in one room is a win for all of us.
Tuesday I was up at the Nasdaq to chat with Catherine Murray about the S&P500, my favorite Semiconductor names and where we are in Canadian Equities and Crude Oil.
It's been a frustrating period for stocks in Canada over the past decade. Up just 7% since their 2008 highs, Canadian equities have been consistently underperforming for almost 10 years. But are things now finally changing?
In late November we wrote about the best long and short setups in the TSX 60, and our winners offset those trades that were quickly proven incorrect. In today's environment we're seeing potential for mean reversion in several areas of Canada's stock market, so we're going to focus on the best reward/risk setups on the long side.
First let's start with the sectors and indexes to identify what areas of the market we're likely to find individual stock ideas.
At the broader-market level, the Equal-Weight TSX 60 is attempting to confirm a failed breakdown and bullish momentum divergence by closing above 135.05, which would signal potential upside toward 143.25.
While updating our Canadian Chartbooks this weekend, I noticed a few that stood out as offering well-defined opportunities where the reward/risk is skewed in our favor. This short post will outline these names and levels, but members can view all of our Canadian Universe by clicking here.
There aren't many stocks in Canada hitting all-time highs right now, but Rogers Communications is one of them. It's a leading stock in a strong sector, so as long as it's above 68.70, we want to be long with an upside objective of 95.25.
The TSX Composite is down roughly 6.75% year-to-date, with stocks getting hit hard since their July 13th, 2018 high. Only one sector is positive over that time period, but I think its recent action gives us a really good perspective on the type of market environment we're in.
Marijuana stocks have never been that HIGH on our list of areas to look at given their smaller market-cap, average trading volume, and short price history often inhibits larger players from participating in them, however, the strong performance as of late has drum up interest in the space and increased the number of stocks that meet our criteria to analyze them. This post will be a quick update on what we're seeing from a price perspective.
A major part of the thesis for higher prices in Canada was the breakout in Financials (and REITS) which represent roughly a third of the TSX Composite, however, over the last few weeks we've seen failed breakouts in many of these leading stocks.
In this post I'll highlight some charts identified during my Chartbook update that describe the type of environment we're in for Canadian stocks and why a more neutral stance appears appropriate. Given the correlation between equity markets around the world, I'd also encourage you to read some of our other free pieces about the US here, here, here, and here.