By Jeffrey Saut, Chief Investment Strategist RJF, Monday 17th April 2017
Back in 1983 I was enthralled with the movie “War Games.” According to Wikipedia:
WarGames is a 1983 American Cold War science fiction film. The film stars Matthew Broderick, Dabney Coleman, John Woods, and Ally Sheedy. The film follows David Lightman (Broderick), a young computer hacker who unwittingly accesses WOPR (War Operation Plan Response), a United States military supercomputer originally programmed to predict possible outcomes of nuclear war. Lightman gets WOPR to run a nuclear war simulation, originally believing it to be a computer game. The computer, now tied into the nuclear weapons control system and unable to tell the difference between simulation and reality, attempts to start World War III.
The sequence from the movie that “stuck” with me was near the end where it was suggested that the WOPR computer was actually learning from the game simulations that any nuclear attack by the U.S. was a losing proposition. Similarly, it appears to us that President Trump is “learning” on the job, just like WOPR did in the movie. I mean just last week our president embraced many of the “things” he had campaigned against. Now it appears Janet Yellen may stay as Fed head, NATO is no longer obsolete, China doesn’t manipulate its currency, the U.S. dollar is “too high,” and the list goes on. Add to that a decidedly stiffer foreign policy strategy with the Syrian missile strike and the “Mother of All Bombs” (MOAB: the GBU-43/B) that was dropped on an ISIS bunker complex in the Achin district of eastern Afghanistan. Up until now the stock market has turned a deaf ear to such events, but that seemed to change late last week.
Indeed, to Andrew and me it has seemed quite eerie to see the stock market hanging in there given the geopolitical environment, the Atlanta Fed cutting its GDP growth estimate for 1Q17 in half (to +0.6% from +1.2%), the Federal Reserve raising interest rates, in-fighting in D.C., a potential Whitehouse staff shakeup, the potential for a confrontation with North Korea over the long weekend, China threatening to bomb North Korea’s nuclear facilities if it crosses Beijing’s “bottom line”, and hereto the list goes on. As we suggested on TV last Thursday, “Who wants to be long trading positions going into the Easter weekend given the skein of events last week?!” Of course we have been pretty much of that mindset since the first week of February following our models’ negative “flip” at the end of January. Meanwhile, many “seers” continue to come out with four or five new investment/trading ideas every day, but most of them are losing opportunities. As Warren Buffett says, “One or two good ideas a year are all you need!”
As for us, since going dormant at the beginning of February we too have listed a number of ideas for your potential “buy lists” if the equity markets ever managed to drop into our models’ target zone of 2270 – 2280 so often mentioned in these missives. But to repeat, these are for your potential “buy lists” because as Warren Buffett points out:
A long-term-oriented value investor is a batter in a game where no balls or strikes are called, allowing dozens, even hundreds, of pitches to go by, including many at which other batters would swing. Value investors are students of the game; they learn from every pitch, those at which they swing and those they let pass by. They are not influenced by the way others are performing; they are motivated only by their own results. They have infinite patience and are willing to wait until they are thrown a pitch they can handle – an undervalued investment opportunity.
Last week, however, after ignoring most of the geopolitical threats, the S&P 500 (SPX/2328.95) took a decided step toward our models’ target level when the SPX broke below last Wednesday’s intraday low (2341.18), as well as last Tuesday’s intraday low (2337.25), to close at 2328.95 bringing into view the March 27 intraday low of 2322.25. If that level “falls” the odds of a test of our 2270 – 2280 target zone increase noticeably. So, the “polarity flip” we thought would occur last week arrived and as anticipate it was to the downside. It should also be noted that our measurement of the stock market’s “internal energy” levels are almost back to a full charge implying if the downside gets going there is enough energy for a decent move. If that is the case, the strongest “energy flows” should come early this week suggesting the potential for a trading bottom late week. Also suggestive of a trading bottom are the Volatility Index (VIX/15.96), the CBOE Put/Call Ratio, and the sentiment readings.
Consistent with these thoughts, we were intrigued by a list of companies compiled by Goldman Sach’s David Kostin that he thinks can expand their profit margins by at least 50 basis points, and increase sales by more than 4%, in both 2017 and 2018. The names from said list that are rated positively by our fundamental analysts, and that screen positively on our models, include: Netflix (NFLX/$142.92/Outperform), Expedia (EXPE/$128.13/Outperform), Abbvie (ABBV/$64.13/Outperform), Masco (MAS/$33.09/Outperform), Qorvo (QRVO/$68.48/Outperform), and Nvidia (NVDA/$95.49/Strong Buy). Yet to reiterate, these names are for your potential “shopping list” because as Warren Buffett states, “One or two good ideas a year are all you need.”
The call for this week: Last week Mark Hulbert published an excellent article about Dow Theory. He only made one mistake when he wrote that Dow Theory was created by William Peter Hamilton when in reality it was created by Charles Dow. Granted refinements were made to Dow Theory by Hamilton in the 1920s, Robert Rhea in the 1930s, George Schaefer, and my friend Richard Russell, but the theory originated with Charles Dow. There are not many of us left that IMO know how to correctly interpret Dow Theory, and by our pencil Dow Theory remains solidly bullish with the primary trend “up.” So over the weekend nothing happened with North Korea and this morning the equity markets are giving a sigh of relieve with the preopening futures relatively flat. Yet, retail sales have fallen for the second month, Japan is readying for a North Korea emergency, Vice President Pence warns North Korea on U.S. resolve shown in Syria and Afghanistan, the Pentagon is protecting the U.S. electric grid, bank loan growth has stalled, bank stocks that have led the rally are now in full retreat, President Trump says, “North Korean problem will be taken care of,” and the preopening S&P 500 futures are only off 3 points as we write at 5:00 a.m. In our view prudence demands caution here with the SPX only six points away from the March 27 reaction low of 2322.25.
Additional information is available on request. This document may not be reprinted without permission.
Raymond James & Associates may make a market in stocks mentioned in this report and may have managed/co-managed a public/follow-on offering of these shares or otherwise provided investment banking services to companies mentioned in this report in the past three years.
RJ&A or its officers, employees, or affiliates may 1) currently own shares, options, rights or warrants and/or 2) execute transactions in the securities mentioned in this report that may or may not be consistent with this report’s conclusions.
The opinions offered by Mr. Saut should be considered a part of your overall decision-making process. For more information about this report – to discuss how this outlook may affect your personal situation and/or to learn how this insight may be incorporated into your investment strategy – please contact your Raymond James Wealth Manager.
All expressions of opinion reflect the judgment of the Equity Research Department of Raymond James & Associates at this time and are subject to change. Information has been obtained from sources considered reliable, but we do not guarantee that the material presented is accurate or that it provides a complete description of the securities, markets or developments mentioned. Other Raymond James departments may have information that is not available to the Equity Research Department about companies mentioned. We may, from time to time, have a position in the securities mentioned and may execute transactions that may not be consistent with this presentation’s conclusions. We may perform investment banking or other services for, or solicit investment banking business from, any company mentioned. Investments mentioned are subject to availability and market conditions. All yields represent past performance and may not be indicative of future results. Raymond James & Associates, Raymond James Financial Services and Raymond James Ltd. are wholly-owned subsidiaries of Raymond James Financial.
International securities involve additional risks such as currency fluctuations, differing financial accounting standards, and possible political and economic instability. These risks are greater in emerging markets.
Investors should consider the investment objectives, risks, and charges and expenses of mutual funds carefully before investing. The prospectus contains this and other information about mutual funds. The prospectus is available from your wealth manager and should be read carefully before investing.
Black MondayOn 19 October 1987, the stock markets experienced a dramatic plunge that prompted many firms to shut down their trading desks and turn off their phones to minimize internal losses. Raymond James refused to do the same. Our desks stayed open to help meet clients’ needs, resulting in our first and only unprofitable quarter since the firm went public in 1983. |
 |
Who was Raymond James?The Raymond in our name is actually from Edward Raymond, owner of a 15-employee mutual fund sales group, Raymond and Associates, along Florida’s west coast. He sold his company to Bob James on 15 July 1964, on condition that the surviving firm be called Raymond, James & Associates. Three days after the sale, Ed Raymond was involved in a near-fatal automobile accident and never joined the firm. Nonetheless, even after Raymond had passed away, Bob James insisted that his name remain on the door – ahead of James’ own. That was a promise he made to Ed Raymond three days before the accident, and Bob James was a man who kept his promises. |
|
Bear Market of 1974The severe bear market of 1974 threatened the existence of Raymond James, which was bleeding capital by the day. Tom James, his father and other leaders took extreme measures to keep the firm afloat, slashing costs, foregoing paychecks and even attempting to sell the firm for just enough capital to protect client assets and retain as many associates as possible. The story could have ended very differently if not for a sharp upturn and continued rebound in the stock markets late in the year. |
|
Taking Raymond James PublicWhen consideration was being given to taking Raymond James public, Tom James penned a letter to shareholders (largely employees at the time). ” … the public offering should be considered as a statement of our independence. While this is a psychological rather than an economic rationale, it is nonetheless very important. We have asserted for some time that we are not interested in becoming a small part of a very large corporation. That assertion results mainly from the inclinations of management rather than the economic benefits associated with either alternative. The public stock offering affords us the opportunity to enjoy a little bit of the best of both worlds. While shareholders will be given liquidity at fair market value, we will still have the ability to control our own destiny.” After 40+ years of Tom’s leadership, upon becoming CEO, Paul Reilly was often questioned about whether the company might ultimately surrender its cherished independence and be acquired by some larger entity. His response: “Not while I’m around.” It’s a theme that continues today. |
 |
