Global Multi-Asset Investment Strategist, True Insights

Jeroen Blokland

Global Multi-Asset Investment Strategist

Build Well-Diversified Multi-Asset Portfolios

True Insights

Our research helps investors build well-diversified multi-asset portfolios and profit from market developments. In addition, our unique and proven Macro – Sentiment – Valuation (MSV) investment framework ensures a consistent flow of new investment opportunities. Together with our market views, these opportunities will be reflected in our live ETF-based Global Multi-Asset Portfolios.

Macroeconomics

<ul>
<li>Geopolitical risks are building, not only because of the developments in the Middle East. Semiconductor companies, including ASML and NVIDIA, got a clear warning this week that their growth ambitions in China are at risk. </li>
<li>Chinese property developers show ‘Crypto-like’ declines, and downside risks for Commodities appear.</li>
<li>Bond yields keep pushing higher, but our fair value estimate for the 10-year US Treasury yield points to a peak.</li>
</ul>


Geopolitical risks are building, not only because of the developments in the Middle East. Semiconductor companies, including ASML and NVIDIA, got a clear warning this week that their growth ambitions in China are at risk. 
Chinese property developers show ‘Crypto-like’ declines, and downside risks for Commodities appear.
Bond yields keep pushing higher, but our fair value estimate for the 10-year US Treasury yield points to a peak.


The Weekly Market Monitor – Where’s the Plunge Protection Team?

Pan-Asia Index Rebalances/ Events/ Delta One, Periscope Analytics

Brian Freitas

Pan-Asia Index Rebalances/ Events/ Delta One

Periscope Analytics

Periscope Analytics focuses on event-driven trades across Asia Pacific and provides comprehensive, timely and systematic coverage of index changes to major Asia Pacific indices in a structured manner.

The analysis includes forecasted inclusions and exclusions to all major Asian indices that have significant amount of tracking assets, including estimates of passive buy/sell flow on the stocks. The service also provides commentary and impact of market consultations, ground rule changes, and other events (IPOs, spin-offs, M&A) that could lead to index changes and passive flow.

Periscope Analytics works with multi-strategy hedge funds, proprietary trading firms, stat arb trading groups and long-only investors that invest and trade in the Asia Pacific region with the data being used to trade index rebalances, avoid pre-positioning and passive flow, and to time entry into and exit from stocks.

Event-Driven Trades Across Asia Pacific

Event-Driven

<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/newcrest-mining-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:691:1" rel="noopener">Newcrest Mining (NCM AU)</a> shares stop trading after the close on 26 October and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/newmont-mining-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:14503:1" rel="noopener">Newmont Mining (NEM US)</a> CDIs will start trading from the open on 27 October.</li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/newmont-mining-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:14503:1" rel="noopener">Newmont Mining (NEM US)</a> CDIs should replace <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/newcrest-mining-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:691:1" rel="noopener">Newcrest Mining (NCM AU)</a> in the S&amp;P/ASX indices from 27 October. But there could be index changes at the subsequent rebalances.</li>
<li>Based on the case of <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/block-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:35684:1" rel="noopener">Block (SQ2 AU)</a>, we could see <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/newmont-mining-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:14503:1" rel="noopener">Newmont Mining (NEM US)</a> CDIs deleted from the ASX20 Index in December and from the ASX50 Index in March/June.</li>
</ul>



Newcrest Mining (NCM AU) shares stop trading after the close on 26 October and Newmont Mining (NEM US) CDIs will start trading from the open on 27 October.

Newmont Mining (NEM US) CDIs should replace Newcrest Mining (NCM AU) in the S&amp;P/ASX indices from 27 October. But there could be index changes at the subsequent rebalances.
Based on the case of Block (SQ2 AU), we could see Newmont Mining (NEM US) CDIs deleted from the ASX20 Index in December and from the ASX50 Index in March/June.


Newcrest/Newmont & Potential S&P/ASX Changes

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

<ul>
<li>Expectations since late-September remain unchanged; if $SPX is above 4165-4200/200-day MA, we're bullish, as most signs point to this being a normal pullback within the ongoing bullish trend in SPX.</li>
<li>As discussed last week (10/11/23), we have growing confidence that lows are likely in on the SPX, which made a low at 4216 (with 4200 hit exactly overnight 10/4/23).</li>
<li>We also discussed Russell 2000 breadth bottoming last week, and this has continued with bullish breadth divergences on Russell 2000 % of stocks above their 50- and 200-day MAs</li>
</ul>


Expectations since late-September remain unchanged; if $SPX is above 4165-4200/200-day MA, we're bullish, as most signs point to this being a normal pullback within the ongoing bullish trend in SPX.
As discussed last week (10/11/23), we have growing confidence that lows are likely in on the SPX, which made a low at 4216 (with 4200 hit exactly overnight 10/4/23).
We also discussed Russell 2000 breadth bottoming last week, and this has continued with bullish breadth divergences on Russell 2000 % of stocks above their 50- and 200-day MAs


Russell 2000 With Bullish Breadth Divergences; Buys in Insurance and Health Care Distributors

<ul>
<li>All our forward-looking EPS indicators have shown improvement over the past few months. Nevertheless, our aggregated bellwether EPS indicator points to negative earnings growth, while investors anticipate the opposite. </li>
<li>Developed Market earnings per share are well above the long-term trend. One must make a compelling case for earnings to structurally grow faster to sustain this trend. </li>
<li>Big Tech’s earnings superiority has vanished. With a significant concentration of expensive stocks in Big Tech, earnings expectations must be exceptionally (perhaps unreasonably) high.</li>
</ul>


All our forward-looking EPS indicators have shown improvement over the past few months. Nevertheless, our aggregated bellwether EPS indicator points to negative earnings growth, while investors anticipate the opposite. 
Developed Market earnings per share are well above the long-term trend. One must make a compelling case for earnings to structurally grow faster to sustain this trend. 
Big Tech’s earnings superiority has vanished. With a significant concentration of expensive stocks in Big Tech, earnings expectations must be exceptionally (perhaps unreasonably) high.


Make or Break? A Close Examination of Company Earnings as We Head into Q3 Earnings Season

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 style="list-style-type: disc;"><li>Despite the turmoil in the Middle East, the MSCI World Index gained 0.36%, while the S&amp;P 500 rose 0.94%.</li><li>The Russell 2000 underperformed again, losing 1.58%, while the NASDAQ climbed 2.35%. YTD, the Russell 2000 is -2.35%, the S&amp;P 500 is +12.83, and NASDAQ is +28.10%.</li><li>This is surprising, as small caps typically lead off a bear market bottom. However, during this cycle, large tech is leading the way.</li></ul>

Despite the turmoil in the Middle East, the MSCI World Index gained 0.36%, while the S&amp;P 500 rose 0.94%.The Russell 2000 underperformed again, losing 1.58%, while the NASDAQ climbed 2.35%. YTD, the Russell 2000 is -2.35%, the S&amp;P 500 is +12.83, and NASDAQ is +28.10%.This is surprising, as small caps typically lead off a bear market bottom. However, during this cycle, large tech is leading the way.

The Highlights - Cannabis News for the Week Ending October 13, 2023

United States

The S&P 500® is widely regarded as the best single gauge of large-cap U.S. equities and serves as the foundation for a wide range of investment products. The index includes 500 leading companies and captures approximately 80% coverage of available market capitalization.

S&P 500 INDEX (SPX INDEX)

The Weekly Market Monitor – Where’s the Plunge Protection Team?

China's National Team seems absent as Chinese stocks tumble, geopolitics take center stage, but still, Sentiment is not depressed enough.

Jeroen Blokland

Newcrest/Newmont & Potential S&P/ASX Changes

Newmont CDIs should replace Newcrest in the ASX indices. Using Block as a precedent, a decrease in the number of CDIs held in Oz could lead to...

Brian Freitas

Russell 2000 With Bullish Breadth Divergences; Buys in Insurance and Health Care Distributors

Our view since late Sept remains unchanged: if $SPX is above 4165-4200 and the 200-day MA, we are bullish, as most signs point to this being a...

Vermilion Research

Make or Break? A Close Examination of Company Earnings as We Head into Q3 Earnings Season

Our forward-looking EPS indicators have improved. Yet, our aggregated bellwether EPS indicator points to negative earnings growth, while investors...

Jeroen Blokland

The Highlights - Cannabis News for the Week Ending October 13, 2023

The Russell 2000 underperformed again, losing 1.58%, while the NASDAQ climbed 2.35%. YTD, the Russell 2000 is -2.35%, the S&P 500 is +12.83, and...

Water Tower Research