Tag: stocks

Stock Market Ready For A Pause

Posted on by Chris Vermeulen

Weeks after the Election Rally initiated a moderately strong upside breakout rally, our Custom Index charts suggest the US stock market may be ready for a brief pause in trending before any new trends continue. Global traders and investors jumped into the US stock market just days before the US elections expecting something big to take place. The rally that initiated just days before the US election pushed our Custom Index charts well into the upper range of the 2016 to 2018 upward sloping price channel. This suggests the US stock markets have ended the downward price reversion and are now attempting to extend into the upward price channel – attempting to resume the upward trending that started after the 2016 elections.

Weekly Smart Cash And Volatility Indexes

The Weekly Smart Cash Index, below, highlights the impressive rally recently and the upward sloping price channel that is back in play for price. The highlighted range of the upward sloping price channel is actually the lower half of the std deviation range of the 2016 to 2018 price channel. So, as of right now, the Smart Cash Index price level has yet to really breach the middle of this channel and is still only within the lower half of the channel. Still, the support near the lower boundary of this level has been retested two or three times over the past six months and held. This suggests the lower channel level (the lower heavy BLUE line) is now acting as moderate price support.

stock market

The speed of the recent upside price rally on this Smart Cash Index chart suggests that current price congestion may be an indication that the US stock market has reached a point where it will pause and stall a bit before attempting any new rally. From the recent lows near the end of October to the current highs, the current rally represents a 50% Fibonacci price expansion of the range from the March 2020 lows to the highs in August 2020. The 50% expansion range is a very common Fibonacci level that can typically prompt market price pauses or reversals. Continue reading "Stock Market Ready For A Pause" →

Visa: The Valuation Conundrum In A Frothy Market - Part Two

Posted on by Noah Kiedrowski

I wrote a piece back in July “Visa: The Valuation Conundrum In A Frothy Market” putting forth my belief that Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) did not possess the growth characteristics to justify its valuation and its appreciation was largely a function of its Visa Europe acquisition and the overall bull market. This bull market was rewarding stocks with sky-high valuations particularly in the technology sector which has recently fallen out of favor. The recent market wide sell-off in equities during the fourth quarter has erased all gains for the broader S&P 500 index and many individual stocks. Despite this market wide sell-off, Visa has delivered great returns in 2018, appreciating 23% and currently sits at $137 per share against a 52-week high of $151. Visa faces emerging threats in the digital payments space, blockchain technology and maturing markets in the traditional payments space leading to slower growth prospects. I’ve been reluctant to get behind the stock of Visa considering its valuation, slowing growth and trends away from the traditional credit card space among the younger demographics that embrace PayPal (PYPL) and PayPal’s Venmo for payment options and exchanging payments between multiple parties. There’s also Zelle that is now powering transfers to and from bank accounts, adding to the digital evolution in the payments space. Amazon (AMZN) may be disrupting the credit card transaction space with its potential launch of Amazon financial services and Amazon Pay. I feel that shareholders have become overly enthusiastic about Visa’s growth prospects. The stock has appreciated over 20% this year, boasts a P/E of over 30 and a PEG of over 1.7 in the midst of a frothy market that has only recently sold off. This scenario doesn’t provide a great benefit-reward profile at these levels in my opinion unless the market wide pull back brings Visa more in-line with its growth profile.

Visa Fiscal Q4 Earnings and Valuation Paradox

Visa reported its fiscal Q4 earnings that beat on EPS by $0.01 (EPS of $1.21) and missed on revenue estimates by $10 million (revenue of $5.43 billion) which grew by 11.7% year-over-year. Visa also provided guidance for its fiscal 2019, “annual net revenue growth: Low double-digits on a nominal basis, with approximately one percentage point of negative foreign currency impact.”

I feel Visa’s stock price is still misaligned with its overall revenue growth prospects with an unjustified P/E and PEG ratio that remains higher than the majority of large-cap growth stocks that have a greater growth profile. Visa’s management has forecasted continued revenue growth in the low double digits with EPS growth in the mid-teens, artificially high due to share buybacks. This forward-looking revenue growth rate is a shape divergence from the post-Europe Visa acquisition revenue growth numbers. Visa’s growth rate is slowing from these artificially high post Visa numbers thus misaligned with its growth profile. Continue reading "Visa: The Valuation Conundrum In A Frothy Market - Part Two" →

Visa: The Valuation Conundrum In A Frothy Market

Posted on by Noah Kiedrowski

Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) continues to deliver phenomenal shareholder returns year after year, and thus far 2018 is no exception. Over the past year, Visa has appreciated 45% and currently sits at a 52-week high. Visa has become a top-performing perineal large-cap growth stock that continues to deliver despite emerging threats in the digital payments space, blockchain technology and maturing markets in the traditional payments space leading to slower growth prospects. I’ve been reluctant to get behind the stock of Visa considering its valuation, slowing growth and trends away from the traditional credit card space among the younger demographics that embrace PayPal (PYPL) and PayPal’s Venmo for payment options and exchanging payments between multiple parties.

Furthermore, Amazon (AMZN) may be disrupting the credit card transaction space with its potential launch of Amazon financial services and Amazon Pay. Despite Visa’s massive move over the past year, growth has become worrisome and touched down to single digits before bouncing back to double digits over the last two quarters. I feel that shareholders have become overly enthusiastic about Visa’s growth prospects. The stock has appreciated over 45% during the past year, boasts a P/E of over 35 and a PEG of over 2.0 in the midst of a frothy market. This scenario doesn’t provide a great benefit-reward profile at these levels in my opinion. Continue reading "Visa: The Valuation Conundrum In A Frothy Market" →

Stress Test Success and Rising Interest Rates

Posted on by Noah Kiedrowski

For traders and investors, the political climate has been unlike anything we have ever seen in recent times!

There are plenty of opportunities if you know where to look. I will help to bridge the gap between Washington and Wall Street, finding you the best stock plays being driven by politics.

  • The Federal Reserve increased its short-term interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point and stated that economic growth has been “rising at a solid rate.”
  • The Federal Reserve indicated that two more rate hikes are likely in 2018 followed by three in 2019
  • A consortium of domestic banks passed the Federal Reserve’s stress test that was more rigorous than last year’s criteria
  • The banks are well capitalized and positioned to withstand severe economic conditions under high unemployment, housing depreciation, and credit defaults
  • Banks are in a position to release largess to shareholders via an increase in dividend payouts, share buybacks, and more unobstructed risk appropriate growth
  • Wells Fargo (WFC), Citigroup (C), Bank of America (BAC) and J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM) received approval for their capital return plans while Goldman Sachs (GS) and Morgan Stanley (MS) received conditional approval

Rising Interest Rates:

Back in March, the Federal Reserve expected the economy to continue to strengthen and inflation to rise shortly. The economic strength coupled with inflation telegraphed an environment that was ripe for more interest rate increases over the near term. This economic backdrop has gained momentum, and the Federal Reserve recently increased interest rates by a quarter percentage point and indicated that two more increases are highly likely in 2018 for a total of four this year. The consensus from the committee was perceived as very bullish on the domestic front and that the Federal Reserve will continue on its path of rising interest rates along with higher inflation expectations. In March, the committee stated that “tax changes enacted late last year and the recent federal budget agreement, taken together, were expected to provide a significant boost to output over the next few years” and more recently economic growth has been “rising at a solid rate,” unemployment has “declined” and household spending “has picked up.” The committee sees economic growth hitting 2.8 percent for the full year followed by 2.4 percent in 2019. The committee also indicated it continues to expect three more rate hikes in 2019. "The committee expects that further gradual increases in the target range for the federal funds rate will be consistent with the sustained expansion of economic activity, strong labor market conditions and inflation near the committee's symmetric 2 percent objective over the medium term." Provided this backdrop of positive economic commentary, financials such as Goldman Sachs (GS), J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM), Citigroup (C) and Bank of America (BAC) are poised to benefit as a result. Continue reading "Stress Test Success and Rising Interest Rates" →

Tariffs Inducing Market Headwinds and Risks

Posted on by Noah Kiedrowski

For traders and investors, the political climate has been unlike anything we have ever seen in recent times!

There are plenty of opportunities if you know where to look. I will help to bridge the gap between Washington and Wall Street, finding you the best stock plays being driven by politics.

  • Trump has been in a back and forth tariff battle with the Chinese for months and now has indicated that the EU may be subject to tariffs
  • This is creating a tit for tat trade war between the world’s two largest economies, the United States and China
  • As these trade war exchanges between the U.S. and China, in particular, unfold, world markets have experienced increased volatility
  • Multinational companies are starting to voice concern that these trade fears are becoming the most significant risk to their respective businesses
  • Multinationals just as 3M (MMM), DowDuPont (DWDP), United Technologies (UTX), General Electric (GE), Boeing (BA) and Caterpillar (CAT) have been under weakness as the tough trade rhetoric continues

Trade War Rhetoric Heats Up

Reports indicated that the Trump administration planned to block many Chinese companies from investing in domestic technology and block additional technology exports to China. It was reported that the administration was drafting rules that would apply to companies with at least 25% Chinese ownership from buying companies involved in "significant industrial technology." Despite these reports, Peter Navarro, a top trade advisor, said the market was overreacting to fears the administration would restrict foreign investment as part of its trade actions against China and other countries. "There are no plans to impose investment restrictions on any countries that are interfering in any way with our country. This is not the plan," he said. He insisted that markets were taking the wrong message from the reports, stating, "I would say more broadly I think today's market reaction is a very large overreaction," Navarro said. "What we have here with Trump trade policy is a tremendous success for this country and this market. It's very bullish." Going further, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin stated that all of President Trump’s advisors were unanimous on the Chinese investment restrictions and that any mixed messages were unfortunate. Hence, part of the uncertainty that corporations and foreign governments are voicing concern. Continue reading "Tariffs Inducing Market Headwinds and Risks" →