It has never been cheaper to hedge against a market crash
According to Bank of America's derivatives strategists, it has never cost less to protect against an #sp500 crash drawdown in the next 12 months. Why is the cost of longer-dated S&P protection at record lows today? The most common explanations are a mix of fundamentals (e.g. a recession, if it materializes, will be short-lived and shallow; or, realized correlation is too low to warrant higher implied correlation) and vol technicals (e.g. the supply of vega on US underlyings for yield remains robust; or, due to the rise of short-dated option selling, the next shock will likely be a “gamma event” in which systemic tenors of risk don’t react strongly). Source: BofA, www.zerohedge.com
Forward S&P 500 Performance by VIX Decile
While a low VIX indicates that investors are complacent and signal that unexpected negative events could push the VIX upwards (and thus equity markets downward), a low VIX reading isn’t necessarily something to fear. As shown on this chart courtesy of Todd Sohn, it is a typical characteristic of bull markets. Source: J-C Parets
S&P 500 hits fresh 52-week high while the Dow heads for 13th straight daily gain as markets hope that the US interest rate hikes cycle is over.
The Fed just said they are taking a "meeting by meeting" approach to future interest rate policy. As expected, the Fed raised interest rates to the highest level in 22yrs as expected and left the door open to additional increases as officials fine-tune their effort to further quell inflation. The quarter percentage-point hike, a unanimous decision, lifted the target range for the Fed’s benchmark federal funds rate to 5.25% to 5.5%, the highest level since 2001. It marked the 11th increase since March 2022, when the rate was near zero. Source: Bloomberg, HolgerZ
$LVMH Q2 2023
"Thanks to the desirability of our brands, we approach the second half of the year with confidence and optimism" - Bernard Arnault Organic Growth by Business Group - source: Quartr
S&P 500 Forward Earnings Yield
The S&P 500 equity risk premium hit the lowest level in two decades, which will be a headwind for longer-term returns. Source: The Daily Shot
The disconnect between Fed net liquidity (grey) and the S&P 500 (purple) is growing by the day
source: Markets & Mayhem
LVMH, the world's top luxury group, said Tuesday it enjoyed an excellent first half with net profits soaring by 30 percent to 8.48 billion euros thanks to strong growth in Asia and Europe.
Sales at the group whose brands include Louis Vuitton, Dior and Tiffany, rose 15 percent during the January-June period compared with last year, to hit 42.2 billion euros. ONE BUG SURPRISE -> LVMH reported a surprising drop in U.S. sales in the second quarter, as its chief financial officer said “aspirational customers are not shopping as much as they used to.“ LVMH’s U.S. sales slid 1% in the second quarter from the prior-year period. The disappointing results in the U.S. market came after Cartier owner Richemont earlier this month reported a 4% decline in U.S. sales. Richemont shares fell 10% on the news, pressuring other luxury stocks throughout the week as analysts braced for a potential U.S. luxury slowdown. Here are the details by App Economic Insights - LVMH Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy H1 FY23 Revenue +15% Y/Y to $42.2B. Wines & Spirits -4% to €3.2B. Fashion & Leather goods +17% to €21.1B. Perfumes & Cosmetics +11% to €4.0B. Watches & Jewelry +11% to €5.4B. Selective retailers & other +26% to €8.4B. Source: App Economy Insights, Barron's, CNBC
Energy is the least expensive sector in the S&P 500 but generates the most cash.
Perhaps this explains why Warren Buffett continues to increase his position in Occidental Petroleum - source; Barchart, Bloomberg
