Research from Water Tower Research, Water Tower Research

Water Tower Research

Research from Water Tower Research

Water Tower Research is a leading equity research firm that provides research on micro, small and mid cap companies.

Water Tower Research was founded by Wall Street veterans after witnessing a fundamental shift in the investment research industry with the result being a declining knowledge base among investors, a lack of awareness and a shrinking pool of fundamental research being conducted on companies across the small-cap and micro-cap spectrum. The same issues are now increasingly occurring in the mid-cap space. This sea change within the investment community is impacting not only the companies themselves but also current shareholders and potential investors. With significantly less active sell-side sponsorship by Wall Street, a substantial information gap has developed between companies and various constituents in the financial community. The net result is fewer channels for insight and information to flow between companies and investors.

Equity Research Firm

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<ul><li>After a strong 1H23, global equities were down this week. The MSCI World Index fell 1.42%, while the S&amp;P 500 dropped 1.06%.</li><li>The decline was driven by strongerthan-expected labor market data and concerns that this may make the Fed less accommodating.</li><li>The Russell 2000 finished the week down 1.32%, while the NASDAQ declined 0.92%.</li></ul>

After a strong 1H23, global equities were down this week. The MSCI World Index fell 1.42%, while the S&amp;P 500 dropped 1.06%.The decline was driven by strongerthan-expected labor market data and concerns that this may make the Fed less accommodating.The Russell 2000 finished the week down 1.32%, while the NASDAQ declined 0.92%.

<ul style="list-style-type: disc;"><li>WTR-CMI last week. In an up-week for the market, our WTR-CMI index of 30 chemical and material technology companies appreciated 4.8%, surpassing both the S&amp;P 500 and Russell 2000 returns of 2.3% and 3.7%, respectively.</li><li>FUL’s 13.2% appreciation led our index, as the company delivered strong margins in 2QFY23 (May- 23) and provided solid EBITDA guidance for the year.</li><li>The stock was also helped by FUL’s announcement of two bolt- on acquisitions, Adhezion Biomedical, a privately held medical adhesives company, and XCHEM International, a UAE specialty adhesives manufacturer with a strong position in MENA. </li></ul>

WTR-CMI last week. In an up-week for the market, our WTR-CMI index of 30 chemical and material technology companies appreciated 4.8%, surpassing both the S&amp;P 500 and Russell 2000 returns of 2.3% and 3.7%, respectively.FUL’s 13.2% appreciation led our index, as the company delivered strong margins in 2QFY23 (May- 23) and provided solid EBITDA guidance for the year.The stock was also helped by FUL’s announcement of two bolt- on acquisitions, Adhezion Biomedical, a privately held medical adhesives company, and XCHEM International, a UAE specialty adhesives manufacturer with a strong position in MENA. 

Mat-Chem Notes For the Week Ended June 30, 2023

Technical Analyst, Vermilion Research

Joe Jasper

Technical Analyst

Technical and Quantitative Research

Vermilion Research

Vermilion’s objective is to deliver timely, actionable, and unique technical research to professional investors through the application of our various technical indicators.

Our research strategists seek to highlight securities which we believe are at major inflection points, based on our various technical and quantitative indicators, and offer asymmetric risk/return profiles. Our unique research methodology, centered on relative strength, enables our strategists to deliver superior investment recommendations.

Our process begins by organizing the universe of actively traded stocks into discrete sectors, then into industry groups. We then apply our technical and quantitative tools to identify developing price trends. Once attractive trends are identified within a selected sector or group, we screen for individual stocks which we believe offer the best risk/reward profile. We provide a historical perspective that often reveals, through our long-term charts, how price patterns often repeat themselves over time.

Technical Analysis

iShares Russell 2000 ETF / Technical Analysis

<ul>
<li>We discussed last week how consolidation was likely, so far that has played out with the SPX back testing the 4300-4325 area which we anticipated would cap upside for 2023.</li>
<li>We continue to watch short-term support at 4300, and we cannot be bearish if the S&amp;P 500 is above 4300.</li>
<li>The Russell 2000 (IWM) is back to test support at $180; we would expect to see this hold as support, but a failure to hold would mean a trip to $170
</li>
</ul>


We discussed last week how consolidation was likely, so far that has played out with the SPX back testing the 4300-4325 area which we anticipated would cap upside for 2023.
We continue to watch short-term support at 4300, and we cannot be bearish if the S&amp;P 500 is above 4300.
The Russell 2000 (IWM) is back to test support at $180; we would expect to see this hold as support, but a failure to hold would mean a trip to $170



Russell 2000 (IWM) Testing $180 Support; Breadth Remains Constructive; Construction/Engineering Buys

<ul><li>WTR-CMI last week. As the markets continue to recover from the 2022 doldrums, both the S&amp;P 500 and the Russell 2000 posted weekly gains of 3.1% and 0.5%, respectively.</li><li>Our WTR-CMI index of 30 chemicals and materials technology stocks appreciated 1.4% over the last week.</li><li>YTD, our index is up 8.1%, above the Russell 2000’s 7.3% appreciation, but below the large-cap S&amp;P 500’s 15.3% recovery.</li></ul>

WTR-CMI last week. As the markets continue to recover from the 2022 doldrums, both the S&amp;P 500 and the Russell 2000 posted weekly gains of 3.1% and 0.5%, respectively.Our WTR-CMI index of 30 chemicals and materials technology stocks appreciated 1.4% over the last week.YTD, our index is up 8.1%, above the Russell 2000’s 7.3% appreciation, but below the large-cap S&amp;P 500’s 15.3% recovery.

Mat-Chem Notes For the Week Ended June 16, 2023

<ul>
<li>The S&amp;P 500 is 1% above the 4300-4325 area which we anticipated would cap upside for 2023.</li>
<li>Our view since our 5/30/23 ETF Pathfinder is that we cannot be bearish if the SPX is above 4050, and we subsequently moved that line-in-the-sand up to 4165-4200 on 6/6/23.</li>
<li>We are moving that threshold up to 4300, which is short-term support to watch; a break below it could bring selling pressure.</li>
</ul>


The S&amp;P 500 is 1% above the 4300-4325 area which we anticipated would cap upside for 2023.
Our view since our 5/30/23 ETF Pathfinder is that we cannot be bearish if the SPX is above 4050, and we subsequently moved that line-in-the-sand up to 4165-4200 on 6/6/23.
We are moving that threshold up to 4300, which is short-term support to watch; a break below it could bring selling pressure.


Consolidation Likely, But Little Reason to Be Bearish; Buys Within Biotech, Latin American Banks

United States

The Russell 2000 Index is comprised of the smallest 2000 companies in the Russell 3000 Index, representing approximately 8% of the Russell 3000 total market capitalization. The index was developed with a base value of 135.00 as of December 31, 1986.

Russell 2000 Index (RTY INDEX)

Industry Report - Cannabis

The decline was driven by strongerthan-expected labor market data and concerns that this may make the Fed less accommodating. The Russell 2000...

Water Tower Research

Mat-Chem Notes For the Week Ended June 30, 2023

FUL’s 13.2% appreciation led our index, as the company delivered strong margins in 2QFY23 (May- 23) and provided solid EBITDA guidance for the year.

Water Tower Research

Russell 2000 (IWM) Testing $180 Support; Breadth Remains Constructive; Construction/Engineering Buys

Russell 2000 $IWM Testing $180 Support; $RTY $SPX Breadth Remains Constructive; Highlighting buy ideas in Services (Research/Consulting &...

Vermilion Research

Mat-Chem Notes For the Week Ended June 16, 2023

WTR-CMI last week. As the markets continue to recover from the 2022 doldrums, both the S&P 500 and the Russell 2000 posted weekly gains of 3.1% and...

Water Tower Research

Consolidation Likely, But Little Reason to Be Bearish; Buys Within Biotech, Latin American Banks

$SPX is 1% above 4300-4325 which we anticipated would cap upside for 2023. Our view since May 30 (ETF Pathfinder) is we cannot be bearish if SPX is...

Vermilion Research