Perspectives

The economic concept of “no free lunch” revolves around the idea that there are often limits when making proper decisions. In the healthcare space, we could say 2020 was a no-free-lunch year with COVID-19: if the virus is not controlled, economic activity that surprises to the upside will be followed by unacceptable (non-linear) virus spread, meaning consequent data must surprise to the downside (lockdowns take place). Europe has lived this experience during the last month. The U.S. payroll … View More

As the end of the year and the holiday season approaches, we will all see an uptick in the number of charitable solicitations arriving in our mailboxes and by email. Since some charities sell their contributor lists to other charities, frequent contributors may find themselves besieged by requests from all sorts of charities with which they are not familiar. Watch Out for Charity Scams - You need to be careful, as scammers out there are pretending to be legitimate charities looking to take adva… View More

We hope you had a great Thanksgiving weekend and were able to spend time with family and friends. As we make the final push to finish what has been an unusual 2020, we are presented with many of the same challenges that started this year, a year in which many of us wish we could turn back the hands of time and take a mulligan. The global picture continues to diverge. Europe is in an economic double-dip, with new COVID-19 lockdowns having slowed economic activity. With the virus controlled, Chin… View More

Europe appears to be in the midst of an economic double-dip, with new COVID-19 lockdowns slowing economic activity. With the virus controlled, China continues to expand. With the virus not controlled, the U.S. continues to expand. The concern in the U.S. is that activity & mobility have become too quick for virus control (especially heading into the winter holidays). We continue to deal with a non-linear series. With a tested vaccine being produced now, U.S. policymakers are feeling pressure… View More

While the election is still not certified, and court battles will drag on, it appears that we can draw two firm conclusions from the 2020 election. First, the pollsters were wrong again. Secondly, American voters do not want a radical shift in economic policy. Although the states have not yet formally certified their election results, statistical evidence compiled by the media strongly favors Biden winning. Until the votes are certified, there remains some ambiguity; recounts will be automatic … View More

We have been asked many times and in many different ways what our thoughts were on the election over the last few months. We must tell you, we look at this purely through an economic lens. There are many social issues that come and go as time moves forward, but our job is to understand the economy and that is what we like to focus on. For months we have been saying the markets are usually what we look at in trying to understand the elections. However, because of the Coronavirus, it has been muc… View More

The S&P 500 posted its worst weekly return since March due to a risk-off tone as we enter election week. Mega cap technology underwhelmed high expectations, and COVID-19 cases hit new highs across the U.S. and Europe. The five largest technology firms, which account for over 20% of the S&P 500’s weight, reported mostly disappointing results. While big technology came in ahead of consensus estimates, marginal beats and disappointing future guidance weighed across the sector. Apple Inc. … View More

With all the uncertainty going on in the world, we have found more stability in looking at the reported economic data. One of the data points that we believe is crucial is personal income. We have shared many times over the years that the US economy is a consumer led economy; roughly 70% is driven by consumption. The most recent report of personal income shows that it increased 0.9% in September (+1.6% including revisions to prior months), which beat consensus expectations (again). Consensus exp… View More

To reiterate, this Thursday morning we expect the government to report a HUGE and VIRTUALLY UNPRECEDENTED surge of at least 33.4% annualized growth rate in real GDP growth for the third quarter. There are still a few monthly reports due this week that could affect our forecast, but only slightly. Obviously, the US will not keep growing at this rate, but the question remains about how much might it slow? Believe it or not, because we have September data – the "jumping off point" for the four… View More

The equally-weighted Value Line Index (roughly 1700 issues) is right on the cusp of breaking out to multi-year highs, following consecutive declines of roughly -25% and -45% over the last 2+ years. This is about as good of an indication we have that participation is broadening under the surface. The recent outperformance from small-caps, trading to 5-month relative highs last week, is also suggestive of this positive shift. Continued improvement from credit – BB vs. BBB corporate spreads hit r… View More