There is a big theme going on right now - and that's the inability for important indexes to get above their 2021 highs.
You're seeing it at the individual stock level, you're seeing it across specific sectors and industry groups, and you're definitely seeing it in the S&P500 and Nasdaq100 Equally-weighted.
These indexes below eliminate the excessive weightings in certain stocks and sectors and equally-weight all of its components.
Look at both of them still stuck below their 2021 highs:
The NYSE Oil Index includes the leading companies involved in the exploration, production, and development of petroleum.
This index dates back to 1984 so it's got some history to it.
It also includes a lot of Energy stocks headquartered outside the United States, giving investors a much more global perspective, as the NYSE tends to do.
On Friday, this index closed at the highest price ever.
We held our April Monthly Strategy Session earlier this week. Premium Members can access and rewatch it here.
Non-members can get a quick recap of the call simply by reading this post each month.
By focusing on long-term, monthly charts, the idea is to take a step back and put things into the context of their structural trends. This is easily one of our most valuable exercises as it forces us to put aside the day-to-day noise and simply examine markets from a “big-picture” point of view.
With that as our backdrop, let’s dive right in and discuss three of the most important charts and/or themes from this month’s call.
How I learned it more than a couple of decades ago was that there were 3 asset classes: Stocks, Bonds AND Commodities.
But a funny thing happened throughout the 2010s. Commodities did so poorly, particularly when you compare their performance to Stocks and Bonds, that investors completely forgot that Commodities were an asset class.
Many newer investors never even knew in the first place.
But yes folks, there are 3 asset classes. And that 3rd one that everyone conveniently forgot about is the one that is dominating returns this cycle.
Here is a ratio of Commodities to Bonds in a strong uptrend as everyone keeps telling me that interest rates are falling.
It's actually the exact opposite. Interest rates keep going up, as Commodities rip higher and bonds keep falling apart.
You didn't fall for those lies about falling interest rates did you?
At this point, it's 2024.
We know for a fact that Wall Street banks are not here to help you or tell you the truth. That's not the business they're in.
The Financial Media has never been in the business of telling you the truth, so that's nothing new.
But the fact that they've been telling you all year that interest rates are going lower is hilarious.
None of these groups of people are here to help you. They're only here to help themselves.
And that's fine. There's nothing wrong with a Bank trying to profit for their shareholders. Just like there's nothing wrong with a media business trying to profit for their respective parent companies.
Profits are good.
Just don't think for one second that they're going to put your needs ahead of theirs lol.