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Gavekal Research
Tan Kai Xian
Jul 23rd 2020
Living With Hard Times
Even as the Covid-19 outbreak materially worsens in the US, the pricing of financial assets remains benign. Is this equanimity justified or are we just waiting for the next shoe to drop? Myself and Will Denyer have been in the constructive camp on US equities, even if we are now squeamish about valuations, and continue to think that markets have it about right.
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Gavekal Research
Tan Kai Xian
Jul 13th 2020
Beyond Second Quarter Earnings
The US 2Q20 reporting season gets into its stride this week, and for all but a fortunate few the earnings numbers will be abysmal. But abysmal numbers will come as no surprise to investors, and will have little impact on the market. A reasonable prospect of upside earnings surprises in 2H and upward revisions in earnings estimates will help support equities.
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Gavekal Research
Tan Kai Xian
Jul 07th 2020
Learning To Transact Through Covid
The Covid-19 flare-up in the southern and western United States threatens to slow the country’s recovery, but it is unlikely to be a rerun of the severe economic contraction seen in March and April. Since Americans are learning to maintain economic activity during Covid-19, a Nike swoosh or “stairstep” recovery seems more likely than the feared W-shaped outcome.
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Gavekal Research
Arthur Kroeber, Will Denyer, Louis Gave, Andrew Batson
Jun 30th 2020
Webinar: Global Investment Roundtable, June 2020
Yesterday Louis Gave, Will Denyer and Andrew Batson joined Arthur Kroeber at the Global Investment Roundtable. They discussed the economic growth and market situation in the US, the state of the Chinese recovery, and what a post-Covid-19 world might look like.
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Gavekal Research
Will Denyer, Tan Kai Xian
Jun 29th 2020
From Bullish To Neutral
There has been a lot of talk about how the rally in US markets has been driven entirely by irrational sentiment. We disagree, and have since late March argued that the rebound in risk assets was rational. Our assessment rested on four financial and economic pillars. Today a reexamination of these pillars suggests a moderation of our bullish stance.
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Gavekal Research
Will Denyer
Jun 26th 2020
What's US$1.6trn More Or Less?
As three months ago, the prime case for holding US risk assets is the liquidity support provided by policymakers. But while liquidity conditions remain extraordinarily easy, and will continue to do so as long as inflation expectations remain depressed, in one respect at least the potential of surplus liquidity to push asset markets higher may have been exaggerated.
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Gavekal Research
Will Denyer, Tan Kai Xian
Jun 17th 2020
The US Consumer Has Legs
Another day, another upside surprise from the US data. For investors, the key question is whether this recovery will continue, or whether May’s bounce-back in consumption will prove a one-off flash in the pan, extinguished by a second wave of infections and long term unemployment. Happily, there are good reasons to expect the consumption recovery to have legs.
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Gavekal Research
Tan Kai Xian
Jun 15th 2020
Rotating Into US Small Caps
Despite some states seeing a worrying rise in Covid-19 cases, a US economic recovery is gaining strength as lockdowns are lifted. Barring unforeseen setbacks, there are reasons to think that the US recovery sustains itself and the equity rally continues. There is, however, a solid macro argument for rotating to a different class of US stocks.
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Gavekal Research
Will Denyer
Jun 09th 2020
A Fed Reality Check
Ahead of the FOMC meeting that concludes Wednesday, there has been a growing volume of chatter that the Federal Reserve is moving to scale back its easing measures. The talk has been further amplified by May’s surprisingly strong employment report, with some commentators even warning of an imminent taper tantrum in the markets.
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Gavekal Research
Tan Kai Xian
Jun 08th 2020
What US Payrolls Do And Do Not Mean
May’s US payrolls report clearly came as a shock to many. Non-farm jobs climbed 2.51mn month-on-month, and the unemployment rate fell to 13.3%. Wrong-footed by the stronger-than-expected figures, investors rushed to bid up US equities. But while the payrolls are good news at the margin, it should not be taken as a reason to rush into equities.
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Gavekal Research
Tan Kai Xian
Jun 03rd 2020
To Rotate, Or Not To Rotate?
This week readers have heard a variety of views from Gavekal partners on the outlook for equity markets. What is not in doubt is that since hitting a peak on February 20, US growth stocks have outperformed value plays by a whopping 17%. Wherever one stands on the macro situation, there certainly seems to be an argument for rotating.
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Gavekal Research
Will Denyer
May 29th 2020
Excess Money And Where To Find Value
US cash balances have exploded in recent months and at some point a portion of this “excess” is likely to be deployed into financial markets. That may help push asset prices up further, but Will argues that fairly extreme valuations mean not all asset classes will rise together.
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Gavekal Research
Tan Kai Xian
May 27th 2020
The Return Of TINA
All bull markets start as unloved beasts, but the one that began in US equities on March 23 has been especially despised. The news in the intervening two months has been dreadful, and it is still not really clear who is doing the buying, and why. So in seeking to understand if a market that is up 33% from its bottom can go further, KX considers four possible drivers.
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Gavekal Research
Will Denyer, Tan Kai Xian, Yanmei Xie
May 21st 2020
Webinar: US Outlook (May 2020)
In yesterday's webinar, Will Denyer, Tan Kai Xian and Yanmei Xie joined Simon to discuss the outlook for the US and answer viewer questions as the country tries to return to normal after Covid-19 lockdowns.
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Gavekal Research
Will Denyer, Tan Kai Xian
May 18th 2020
The Upside For Autos And Housing
As the US begins to reopen for business, some segments of the economy will bounce back faster than others. Among the more vigorous will be the auto and housing sectors, where activity will be lifted by a favorable combination of tailwinds. Investors should consider positioning for a strong recovery in both the automobile and residential construction sectors.
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Gavekal Research
Tan Kai Xian
May 13th 2020
Video: In Defense Of US Equities
With most big US firms having reported their first quarter earnings, the picture is not pretty and worse may follow in 2Q20. Yet the stock market rally of the last six weeks suggests that investors have a fairly cheery view about US firms’ prospects. So what gives? Near-term expectations are, in fact, appropriately set and the fundamentals of the US market are better than they appear.
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Gavekal Research
Tan Kai Xian, Yanmei Xie, Will Denyer
May 11th 2020
Breasting The Trough
The apparent divergence between the stock market and economic reality continues to widen. Equity investors are focusing on the expected effects of the Federal Reserve’s massive liquidity injections once states emerge from lockdown. The risk to this rosy view is that the easing of restrictions could cause an infection increase so severe that new lockdowns are imposed.
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Gavekal Research
Tan Kai Xian
May 05th 2020
US Labor And The New Economy
US states are moving to end stay-at-home orders and slowly resume activity. With some 30mn workers having been laid off, they will do so in an economy that has been profoundly changed by Covid-19. At a macro level, a fairly swift recovery is likely. Yet it will be a painful exercise as structural changes wrought by the pandemic upend the US labor market.
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Gavekal Research
Yanmei Xie, Will Denyer
Apr 22nd 2020
The Fiscal Fix
Barely a month after launching a US$2trn rescue package, the US is poised to release yet more fiscal stimulus to tackle the economic fallout of the Covid-19 crisis. The Senate has passed legislation to top up funding for a small business loan program and the House should follow suit on Thursday. Will this latest cash injection be enough to stop massive bankruptcies? Probably, but the program will remain a messy work in progress in need of more...
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Gavekal Research
Will Denyer, Louis Gave
Apr 22nd 2020
Webinar: Outlook For The US Economy And Global Markets
In Tuesday's webinar, Will Denyer reviewed the economic situation in the US and suggested how investors should position their portfolios, and Louis Gave presented his global macroeconomic view, taking into account the remarkable developments in the oil market.