Head of Research and Global Chief Strategist, Steno Research

Andreas Steno

Head of Research and Global Chief Strategist

Macro and Geopolitical Research House

Steno Research

Steno Research is a new macro and geopolitical research house. We are based out of Copenhagen, Denmark, but have an international team and a strong network of sources and partners around the world. The team is lead by Andreas Steno, previous global head of strategy at Nordea Bank, and Mikkel Rosenvold, former chief consultant in the Danish Ministry of Finance.

Cross Asset Strategy

<ul>
<li>Hello everyone, and welcome back to our weekly positioning overview.</li>
<li>We’ve been working on some new ways to look at positioning data across asset classes, and we’ll share some of the inaugural charts in today’s piece and will extend them, week by week.</li>
<li>Markets have more or less traded sideways since the start of the year, as the risk-on party has taken a bit of a breather it seems, despite rate cut expectations becoming even more embedded after the hawkish US CPI surprise last Thursday – strange move, and we’ll be surprised if probabilities don’t reverse within the next couple of price data points.</li>
</ul>


Hello everyone, and welcome back to our weekly positioning overview.
We’ve been working on some new ways to look at positioning data across asset classes, and we’ll share some of the inaugural charts in today’s piece and will extend them, week by week.
Markets have more or less traded sideways since the start of the year, as the risk-on party has taken a bit of a breather it seems, despite rate cut expectations becoming even more embedded after the hawkish US CPI surprise last Thursday – strange move, and we’ll be surprised if probabilities don’t reverse within the next couple of price data points.


Positioning Watch – Where to Find Value Currently

Research from Value Investing, Value Investing

Value Investing

Research from Value Investing

I am a value investor. "Value", as defined in Value Investing, is simply the act of buying something for less than its worth. I treat my equity investment as a loan to the business - where the priority is to get back my principal in full, rather than achieving maximum yield. I consider my equity investment as a slightly higher risk loan extended to the business with slightly more accommodative loan covenants - hence justifying a slightly higher yield. While I identify as a value investor and cover all stocks and macro topics indiscriminately, most of my research will have an ASEAN bent as that’s where I’m geographically located.

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<ul><li>The red &amp; blue arrows highlight the apples-to-apples comparisons to be made between the respective bars (more details below)</li><li>Around this time last year , I did a portfolio performance review based on all the stocks I had written about in 2022.</li><li>This article is a repeat of that for all the stocks I had written about in 2023.</li></ul>

The red &amp; blue arrows highlight the apples-to-apples comparisons to be made between the respective bars (more details below)Around this time last year , I did a portfolio performance review based on all the stocks I had written about in 2022.This article is a repeat of that for all the stocks I had written about in 2023.

Value Investing Substack Portfolio Review | Annual Letter 2023

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

<ul><li>WTR-CMI in 2023. With the majority of stocks in our index finishing the year in positive territory, the WTR-CMI Index managed to keep pace with the Russell 2000, appreciating 15%.</li><li>However, both indexes fell well short of the 24% growth of the S&amp;P 500 in 2023, with the WTR- CMI Index dragged down by four companies that lost more than 50% in value during the year.</li><li>Weak demand and destocking. Looking back at 2023, several themes are emerging as we head into 2024, such as declining commodity prices and weakening end-market demand, with Y/Y volume comps affected by destocking across several end-markets since mid-year, as supply chain constraints, which characterized 2022, are resolved and companies go back to just-in-time inventory management.</li></ul>

WTR-CMI in 2023. With the majority of stocks in our index finishing the year in positive territory, the WTR-CMI Index managed to keep pace with the Russell 2000, appreciating 15%.However, both indexes fell well short of the 24% growth of the S&amp;P 500 in 2023, with the WTR- CMI Index dragged down by four companies that lost more than 50% in value during the year.Weak demand and destocking. Looking back at 2023, several themes are emerging as we head into 2024, such as declining commodity prices and weakening end-market demand, with Y/Y volume comps affected by destocking across several end-markets since mid-year, as supply chain constraints, which characterized 2022, are resolved and companies go back to just-in-time inventory management.

Industry Report - Chemicals & Materials Technology

Macroeconomics

<ul><li>The latter half of 2023 was all about the soft (perfect) landing narrative, which made markets party like there was no tomorrow.</li><li>It almost looked like people forgot about risks, but positioning data has turned a bit at the end of December / start of January, which hints at a risk aversion comeback.</li><li>Could 2024 be the year when asset prices are no longer determined based on interest rates alone?</li></ul>

The latter half of 2023 was all about the soft (perfect) landing narrative, which made markets party like there was no tomorrow.It almost looked like people forgot about risks, but positioning data has turned a bit at the end of December / start of January, which hints at a risk aversion comeback.Could 2024 be the year when asset prices are no longer determined based on interest rates alone?

Positioning Watch – Risk aversion is back?

<ul><li>The year has generally speaking been a forecasting challenge for most to say the least, and not a lot of people forecasted the ending that we’re left with, but how does the current price action and massive inflows into both equities and bonds leave us for 2024?</li><li>Sentiment has been EXTREMELY bullish in Q3 and Q4 based on our z-score sentiment model but almost solely built on equity momentum, which is rarely a good sign.</li><li>Both option ratios, credit-spreads and market breadth have turned bearish in Q4, which should leave markets vulnerable after the boost from positive liquidity trends dwindles during Q1 2024.</li></ul>

The year has generally speaking been a forecasting challenge for most to say the least, and not a lot of people forecasted the ending that we’re left with, but how does the current price action and massive inflows into both equities and bonds leave us for 2024?Sentiment has been EXTREMELY bullish in Q3 and Q4 based on our z-score sentiment model but almost solely built on equity momentum, which is rarely a good sign.Both option ratios, credit-spreads and market breadth have turned bearish in Q4, which should leave markets vulnerable after the boost from positive liquidity trends dwindles during Q1 2024.

Positioning Watch – How are markets positioned ahead of a turbulent 2024?

United States

SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust is an exchange-traded fund incorporated in the USA. The ETF tracks the S&P 500 Index. The Trust consists of a portfolio representing all 500 stocks in the S&P 500 Index. It holds predominantly large-cap U.S. stocks. This ETF is structured as a Unit Investment Trust and pays dividends on a quarterly basis. The holdings are weighted by market capitalization.

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SPDR S&P 500 (SPY US)

Positioning Watch – Where to Find Value Currently

Markets have more or less traded sideways since the start of the year, as the risk-on party has taken a bit of a breather it seems, despite rate...

Steno Research

Value Investing Substack Portfolio Review | Annual Letter 2023

Around this time last year , I did a portfolio performance review based on all the stocks I had written about in 2022. This article is a repeat of...

Value Investing

Industry Report - Chemicals & Materials Technology

WTR-CMI in 2023. With the majority of stocks in our index finishing the year in positive territory, the WTR-CMI Index managed to keep pace with the...

Water Tower Research

Positioning Watch – Risk aversion is back?

The latter half of 2023 was all about the soft (perfect) landing narrative, which made markets party like there was no tomorrow. It almost looked...

Steno Research

Positioning Watch – How are markets positioned ahead of a turbulent 2024?

Hello everyone. We hope you have enjoyed the holiday season and are slowly but surely getting ready for New Years and the new year ahead of you in...

Steno Research

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