From the desk of Willie Delwiche.

Last week, I wrote about how stillness can be the riskiest decision. 

This week, I want to discuss how periods of stillness can be part of the best approach. 

This idea brings to mind my favorite bird: the Great Blue Heron. If I have a spirit animal, this would be it.

From the desk of Willie Delwiche.

Key Takeaway: Bullish sentiment is on the rise. The bears may be reluctant to leave the party, but the bulls squarely outnumber their counterparts. The AAII survey shows bulls exceeding bears by two-to-one, and the II bull-bear spread is back within a high optimism zone. At the same time, options markets reveal that volatility and fear are being replaced by complacency. Though optimism has risen sharply during the past few weeks, current levels do not present risk. However, problems may arise when the lofty expectations associated with the sentiment backdrop are not met.

Sentiment Report Chart of the Week: Risk On Buffett Lacking Calories

While risk appetite has returned (NASDAQ and CBOE equity options volume have turned sharply higher), this is not translating into clear strength from higher risk (e.g. risk on) parts of the market. To the extent that our risk on / risk off ratio has been moving higher, it has more to do with risk off weakness than because of risk on...

From the desk of Willie Delwiche.

Key Takeaways:

• Inflation pressures surge and market is looking for more
• Bonds pricing in rate hikes but real yields remain buried in negative territory
• Gold finally taking a shine to favorable fundamentals as price action improves

Fed Chair Powell has referred favorably to the Trimmed Mean PCE Price Index, published by the Dallas Fed, as a gauge of inflation that does a good job of tuning out noise and distilling the trend. Looking at this index, there have been a couple periods over the past decade when price pressures softened and inflation unexpectedly fell short of the Fed’s 2% goal. Even still, inflation bottomed in the immediate wake of the Great Recession and has been trending higher since. In the months prior to COVID, the Fed was hitting its inflation goal and the 12-month change in this index was edging up to its highest level in over a decade. Inflation has intensified over the...

From the desk of Willie Delwiche.

Key Takeaway: Inflation remains hot as narratives shift. Yields perk up as the bond market takes notice of price pressure. Gold catches a bid as real rates remain negative. Breadth trends point to US leadership.

• Recent leaders have become near-term laggards, with Energy and Financials dropping to the bottom of the shorter-term relative strength rankings. Energy remains strong overall across the rankings and our industry group heat map. The cooling in Financials could be more significant.
• Materials is gaining strength from a sector ranking perspective and is seeing improving trends in our industry group work. We are also seeing pockets of strength within Industrials (Capital Goods and Transportation) and Tech (Semiconductors).

From the desk of Willie Delwiche.

I’m no crypto expert - I don’t even play one on TV. But every week seems to bring a new story about ways in which cryptocurrencies will not only stick around but see wider usage in the economy and as financial instruments. I have no idea if this will be the case, but new highs this week in Ethereum (and others) suggest the market is looking in that direction. Whether it is an investing fad, gold for a new generation of investors or an entirely new asset class remains to be seen. A survey published by Pew Research this week shows that while nearly half (43%) of males 18-29 have invested/traded/used cryptocurrencies, only about one-sixth of the overall US adult population has done so. So if it is sticking around, it could very well still be early days for this space. We’ve dipped our toes in this water, using ETHE to gain exposure in our Tactical Opportunity Portfolio. It’s been volatile this year, but the trend (which we are following) has been up and to the right. Regardless...

This is the video recording of the November 11th Weekly Town Hall w/ Willie Delwiche

11/11/21 3PM ET

From the desk of Willie Delwiche.

After my daughter’s flight landed in Minneapolis, she had to hurry through the terminal to catch a bus for the ride that would complete the final leg of her trip back to college. She did a great job of navigating uncertainties and asking for directions. She went where she was told and saw people, but no bus. "Just wait here," she was told, "the bus shows up, you get on, and it leaves right away."

A couple of buses came, some people got on, the buses left. Meanwhile, her ride was still a no-show. 

But people who appeared to be in-the-know said she was in the right spot. 

So she waited.

From the desk of Willie Delwiche.

Key Takeaway: The bulls are back as more and more investors begin to reach for risk. Optimism is expanding across investor surveys and active equity managers have increased their exposure to levels not seen since the beginning of the year. This fresh bout of risk-seeking behavior comes as both momentum and price trends have turned bullish. Also, participation beneath the surface is expanding as the major indexes reach record highs. Combine this backdrop with a healthy number of stubborn bears and we have an environment that supports the next leg higher.

Sentiment Report Chart of the Week: Appetite For Risk Returns

Investors are not just feeling more optimistic, they are doing something about it. NASDAQ trading volume, which fell by nearly 30% from March to October, has turned higher in recent weeks and is 20% higher than it was this time last year. Equity call option activity has also expanded as investors are stepping back up to the ‘risk on’ buffet after a multi-month...

From the desk of Willie Delwiche.

Key Takeaways:

• Despite macro concerns, evidence tilts toward opportunity
• Energy sector strength benefitting active asset allocators  
• Country-level leadership favors dirty energy over clean plays.

A recently published article in the Wall Street Journal reviews "5 reasons why stocks might be weaker in 2022." Mostly it's a list of macro concerns, from liquidity constraints to slowing profit growth to elevated valuations. I am sympathetic to a number of them - to a greater or lesser extent they factor into my consideration of the weight evidence. We need to balance our thinking about various things that could happen against an assessment of what is happening. As any sailor might attest, there can be a big difference between risks on the horizon and conditions that need to be navigated. You don't make much progress if you drop the sail the moment there are storm clouds in the distance. There may be a time to reckon with some (or all) of those clouds at some point, but as we have been discussing in recent...

From the desk of Willie Delwiche.

Key Takeaway: Small-caps leading the way higher. No breadth thrusts (yet) but rally participation is improving. Looking for copper & bonds to confirm risk on messages from the equity market.

• Energy and Information Technology are at the top of the relative strength rankings. The industry group heat map confirms this strength with Energy and Semiconductor groups (up and down the cap scale) accounting for five of the top ten spots in the industry group rankings.
• Relative weakness can be found in Utilities, Consumer Staples and Health Care, trends that are echoed in both our sector rankings and the industry group heat map. 

From the desk of Willie Delwiche.

We’ve been on the lookout for evidence of breadth improvement and the new high lists this week have given us plenty of it. The 63-day (3-month) new high lists for small-caps and mid-caps have heated up after being dormant for most of the summer and that is starting to stretch into new highs on a 126-day (6-month) and 252-day (1-year) basis as well. On the NASDAQ we have now seen the most 52-week highs since March. I’ll let pundits talk about the impact that a drop in bond yields might be having on this and just note that new highs expanding is one of the most bullish things we can see from the stock market. When they stop expanding and start to contract is when we start to see trouble.

This is the video recording of the November 4th Weekly Town Hall w/ Willie Delwiche & JC Parets

11/04/21 3PM ET