Yes, the stock market rally has been very narrow. And yes, since the last stimulus check went out/inflation surged (March 15), inflation has beaten nearly all stocks.
Yes, this is worrisome, and "muddies" the signal of a strong economy.
97% of stocks were >200d MA in mid-April. While the overall SPX climbed and stayed well above its own 200d MA, the pct of stocks above their 200d MA steadily declined.
This is a sign that the rally through most of the year was being led by fewer and fewer stocks.
3/8
The following chart breaks the S&P 500 into ten deciles by mkt cap starting on March 15 (Last stimmy check, inflation takes off).
The 10th decile (largest), provided the best returns over this period. The smallest (decile 1) actually lost money the last 9 1/2 months.
4/8
The 5 largest stocks in green (AAPL, GOOG, MSFT, TSLA, NVDA), the return of the other 495 stocks (brown) and the equal-weighted S&P 500 index (cyan).
Take out the five stocks and the other 495 underperform the index by 550 bps! This is massive!
5/8
Moving beyond the S&P 500, the picture changes dramatically.
The MSCI ACWI ex-US (purple), the Midcap Index (green), and the Russell 2000 Small-Cap Index (brown) all failed to match the rise of inflation since March 15, with the Russell 2000 losing money over this period.
6/8
Since March 15, the RTY underperformed the SPX by 24.95% (top panel). This is the 2nd worst 210-day period since the index’s inception in 1978.
Only the underperformance in late 1998, following the sharp sell-off in stocks around the failure of LTCM, was larger.
7/8
These charts show a stk mkt driven by a handful of the largest stocks.
The smallest SPX, midcap, small-cap, and the world ex-US all failed to beat inflation.
Many say stocks are a good inflation hedge. This year, that has only been the case for a small number of stocks.
8/8
Others proclaim the big rally in stocks signals a strong economy. However, the most economically sensitive of the indices, the smallcap Russell 2000, has lost money in the last 9 1/2 months (since stimmy checks).
When viewed this way, the market’s message gets very muddied.
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It is correct that the new home premium (green) above existing home prices (blue) has collapsed from 38% in 2013 to below zero today (the lowest in 54 years).
Why?
See new home prices (orange), they stalled.
3/7
Here is the average home price (orange) and the home's size (blue). The reason prices are falling is that builders are constructing smaller homes.
But as the bottom panel shows (green), the price per square foot is as high as ever.
I assume Marks is referring to the 1-year forward P/E ratio for the S&P 500, the standard Wall Street valuation metric (which is closer to 25 now, but was 23 a few weeks ago).
Here is a long-term proxy for that ... the Shiller Cyclically Adjusted Price/Earnings (CAPE) ratio back to 1881. It is a 10-year average of P/E/ ratios.
At 40, it is one of the highest readings ever, even higher than 1929.
It shows the NEXT (future) 1-year REAL (after inflation) return of the stock market on the y-axis.
The CAPE on the x-axis.
The red box is the returns when the CAPE is above 34. It's a mixed bag of positive and negative returns.
Restated, valuation is NOT a good timing tool.
3/4
But if the y-axis is extended to the NEXT (future) 5-year REAL (after inflation) return, then THERE IS NO EXAMPLE, OVER THE LAST 150 YEARS, OF THE STOCK MARKET BEATING INFLATION OVER THE NEXT 5-YEARS WHEN THE CAPE IS ABOVE 34.
Restated, valuation is an expectation tool. Unless one makes the case that corporate earnings are going to have their most significant surge in history, the stock market is destined to disappoint over the next several years.
The preliminary November University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Survey was released this morning (blue). The "current conditions" measure of this survey set a new ALL-TIME LOW.
Before 2020 (COVID), the stock market (red) was the primary driver of the public's economic outlook. These two series moved up and down together. Since COVID, this relationship has completely disconnected.
This leads to some uncomfortable explanations.
Half of the country owns no assets and lives paycheck to paycheck. Have they now moved to being angry at a booming stock market that worsens inequality? Is this why socialists are getting elected? Do they want their agenda to knock the market down? Is a bear market now the goal, not the concern?
2/6
Why the anger?
Since the COVID recession ended in April 2020, cumulative price increases (orange) have outpaced cumulative wage increases (blue).
This devastates the bottom 50% of wage earners (and especially the bottom 30%) who own no assets and live paycheck-to-paycheck. They are having to do with less.
3/6
For comparison, the opposite happened in the 2010s. The cumulative gain in wages (blue) beat the cumulative rise in prices (orange).
In this scenario, the bottom 50% of wage earners were able to make ends meet and maybe get a little ahead, as their paychecks bought a bit more each year.
JP Morgan has identified 41 AI-related stocks, 8% of the S&P 500. These stocks now account for 47% of the Index's market capitalization, a new record.
The other 459 stocks, 92% of the S&P 500, are 53% of the Index's market capitalization.
2/5
The list of the AI-related stocks
3/5
ChatGPT was released on November 29, 2022.
Since this date, these 41 stocks have accounted for 74% of the S&P 500's total increase (blue). The other 25% came from the remaining 459 stocks (orange).