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Is The Value Style Outperformance Sustainable?

Until the market’s (S&P 500 Index) recent rebound from the February 11, 2016 low, investors have essentially gone two years with flat returns in stocks. Certainly it has not been a market that has just traded sideways, but one with significant volatility, both up and down. The most recent recovery has pushed the S&P 500 Index back into the trading range in place since late 2014. Technically, this recent rally into the higher range opens up the potential for the Dow to move to the top of this higher range, 18,300 and the S&P 500, 2,130. Contributing to the improved equity market since the February bottom has been the strength in value and cyclically oriented sectors: energy, financials and industrials. As the below chart shows, energy is up 15.8%, financials are up 14.4% and industrials are up 11%. These three sectors are more heavily weighted in the value oriented indices like the iShares S&P 500 Value Index (NYSEARCA: IVE ). Financials account for over 25% of the value index versus an 8% weighting in the growth index (NYSEARCA: IVW ). Energy represents 12% of the value index versus only 1% in the growth index. The improvement in the value segments of the market has led to the large value index outperforming its large growth counterpart since the February bottom and so far in all of 2016. One reason investors should consider maintaining a written record of their thoughts around their market decisions is the ability to go back and review the outcome of those decisions. With respect to this value/growth phenomenon taking place in 2016, the market went through a similar adjustment in early 2014. I wrote a post on March 26, 2014, almost exactly two years ago, Why It Matters That Value Stocks Are Outperforming Growth Stocks . Subsequent to that post, and for the following two years, growth actually outperformed value. Click to enlarge One factor I noted in the 2014 post was value would outperform if economic activity was strengthening. What actually occurred though was a peak in GDP growth at 4.6% in Q2 2014 which declined to 2.1% in Q4 2014 and .6 in Q1 2015. In fact, economic growth weakened and growth resumed leadership until the beginning of this year. One economic variable discussed in the post from two years ago was the strength in industrial production. Until January’s data was reported in February, the monthly change in industrial had been negative for three consecutive months. As the below chart shows, industrial production exhibited strength in January. Additionally, manufacturing was positive on a year over year basis with Econoday noting, “Total year-on-year industrial production also remains in the negative column, at minus 0.7 percent, a disappointment but a contrast to manufacturing where the year-on-year rate is modest but accelerating, at plus 1.2 percent.” “A negative in the report is a downward revision to December, to minus 0.7 percent from minus 0.4 percent. But the revision doesn’t take much away from the January surprise where strength, based in manufacturing and underscoring January’s rise in retail auto sales, should help ease concern over the economy’s first-quarter performance.” As seen in the sector chart earlier in this post, energy and financials have been strong performers in this value rebound. Energy related stocks have seen an improvement due to the increase in oil prices into the high $38/BBL area from the mid $20/BBL reached on February 11th. I am not convinced this rally in oil is sustainable given the continued oversupply in the oil market. Lastly, both large and small value have outperformed the S&P 500 Index on a long term basis going back to 1927. Of late though, value has lagged its blended index counterparts over the last 10-year time period as can be seen in the below chart. Click to enlarge Source: The BAM Alliance The takeaway for investors is the risk of going all in or all out of any one style. One can invest in the blended index of course, or simply tilting one’s allocation between growth or value may be a better approach. With that said, maybe a tilt towards value is an opportunity at this point in time. The one caution is the much higher weighting in energy within the value index and the anticipated volatility in energy prices.

Dual ETF Momentum March Update

Scott’s Investments provides a free “Dual ETF Momentum” spreadsheet which was originally created in February 2013. The strategy was inspired by a paper written by Gary Antonacci and available on Optimal Momentum. Antonacci’s book, Dual Momentum Investing: An Innovative Strategy for Higher Returns with Lower Risk , also details Dual Momentum as a total portfolio strategy. My Dual ETF Momentum spreadsheet is available here and the objective is to track four pairs of ETFs and provide an “Invested” signal for the ETF in each pair with the highest relative momentum. Invested signals also require positive absolute momentum, hence the term “Dual Momentum”. Relative momentum is gauged by the 12 month total returns of each ETF. The 12 month total returns of each ETF is also compared to a short-term Treasury ETF (a “cash” filter) in the form of the iShares Barclays 1-3 Treasury Bond ETF (NYSEARCA: SHY ). In order to have an “Invested” signal the ETF with the highest relative strength must also have 12-month total returns greater than the 12-month total returns of SHY. This is the absolute momentum filter which is detailed in depth by Antonacci, and has historically helped increase risk-adjusted returns. An “average” return signal for each ETF is also available on the spreadsheet. The concept is the same as the 12-month relative momentum. However, the “average” return signal uses the average of the past 3, 6, and 12 (“3/6/12″) month total returns for each ETF. The “invested” signal is based on the ETF with the highest relative momentum for the past 3, 6 and 12 months. The ETF with the highest average relative strength must also have an average 3/6/12 total returns greater than the 3/6/12 total returns of the cash ETF. Portfolio123 was used to test a similar strategy using the same portfolios and combined momentum score (“3/6/12″). The test results were posted in the 2013 Year in Review and the January 2015 Update . Below are the four portfolios along with current signals: Return Data Provided by Finviz Click to enlarge As an added bonus, the spreadsheet also has four additional sheets using a dual momentum strategy with broker specific commission-free ETFs for TD Ameritrade, Charles Schwab, Fidelity, and Vanguard. It is important to note that each broker may have additional trade restrictions and the terms of their commission-free ETFs could change in the future. Disclosures: None

The Fox And The Hedgehog

“The fox knows many things while the hedgehog knows one big thing.” Click to enlarge Photo: Jeremy P. Gray The Greek poet Archilocus noticed this almost 3,000 years ago. We often see two different types of people. Some people go everywhere and study everything – pursuing contradictory ideas. They’re eclectic, diffused, and omnivorous. On the other side are souls who pursue a singular, unitary vision, an all-embracing organizing principle that gives the world coherence. We see this all around us. In literature, Dante was a hedgehog: he wanted to give the world a great poem about heaven and hell. Shakespeare, on the other hand, was a fox. He wrote plays about everything and everybody. In history, George Washington was a hedgehog – with the simple idea of American greatness – while Thomas Jefferson was a fox. And in modern life, outstanding business leaders are hedgehogs: think of Steve Jobs with his focus on design and functionality. And superior investors are often foxes: Warren Buffett, Peter Lynch, John Templeton. Both approaches are necessary. In business, a company needs a singular vision to cut through the clutter and make the main thing the main thing. It’s too easy to get distracted by the crisis of the day and never spend time or energy on what’s crucial. Hedgehogs get things done and keep their teams focused. But with investing, foxes rule. A portfolio needs to be diversified, limiting its exposure to any single area – reducing risk – while spreading its assets among an array of industries that generate new products and ideas – improving return. Investors need to be fox-like and flexible. And they have to be interested in everything, from genomic sequencing to quantum computing to chain-store sales to bitcoins and block chains. Investors should leave no stone unturned when searching for value. Foxes and hedgehogs each have an important role to play. A lot of times, they end up married to each other. Which one are you?