Menu

Category Archives: New Middle Class

Weekly Issue: While Most Eyes Are on the Fed, We Look at a Farfetch(ed) Idea

Weekly Issue: While Most Eyes Are on the Fed, We Look at a Farfetch(ed) Idea

Key points inside this issue

  • The Fed Takes Center Stage Once Again
  • Farfetch Limited (FTCH) – A fashionable Living the Life Thematic Leader
  • Digital Lifestyle – The August Retail Sales confirms the adoption continues

 

Economics & Expectations

The Fed Takes Center Stage Once Again

As we saw last week, the primary drivers of the stock market continue to be developments on the U.S.-China trade front and the next steps in monetary policy. As the European Central Bank stepped up its monetary policy loosening, it left some to wonder how much dry powder it had remaining should the global economy slow further and tip into a recession. Amid those concerns, along with some discrepancy among reports that President Trump would acquiesce to a two-step trade deal with China, stocks finished last week with a whimper after rebounding Wednesday and Thursday.

We continue to see intellectual property and national security as key tenets in negotiating a trade deal with China. We will watch as the lead up to October’s next round of trade negotiations unfolds. Given the Fed’s next two-day monetary policy meeting that begins on Tuesday and culminates with the Fed’s announcement and subsequent press conference, barring any new U.S.-China trade developments before then, it’s safe to say what the Fed says will be a key driver of the stock market this week.

Leading up to that next Fed press conference, we will get the August data for Industrial Production and Housing Starts as well as the September Empire State Manufacturing Index. Paired with Friday’s August Retail Sales report and last Thursday’s August CPI report, that will be some of the last data the Fed factors into its policy decision.

Per the CME Group’s FedWatch tool, the market sees an 82% probability for the Fed to cut interest rates by 25 basis points this week with possibly one more rate cut to be had before we exit 2019. Normally speaking, parsing the Fed’s words and Fe Chair Powell’s presser commentary are key to getting inside the central bank’s “head,” and this will be especially important this time around. One of our concerns has been the difference between the economic data and the expectations it is yielding in the stock market. Should the Fed manage to catch the market off guard, odds are it will give the market a touch of agita.

On the earnings front

there are five reports that we’ll be paying close attention to this week. They are Adobe Systems (ADBE), Chewy (CHWY), FedEx (FDX), General Mills (GIS) and Darden Restaurants (DRI). With Adobe, we’ll be examining the rate of growth tied to cloud, an aspect of our Disruptive Innovators investing theme. With Darden we’ll look to see if the performance at its full-service restaurants matches up with the consumer trade-down data being reported by the National Restaurant Association. That data has powered shares of Cleaner Living Thematic Leader and Cleaner Living Index resident Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) higher of late, bringing the year to date return to 82% vs. 20% for the S&P 500. Chewy is a Digital Lifestyle company that is focused on the pet market serving up food, toys, medications and other pet products. Fedex will not only offer some confirmation on the digital shopping aspect of our Digital Lifestyle investing theme it will also shed some light on the global economy as well.

 

Farfetch Limited – A fashionable Living the Life Thematic Leader

In last week’s issue, I mentioned that I was collecting my thoughts on Farfetch Limited (FTCH), a company that sits at the intersection of the luxury goods market and digital commerce. Said thematically, Farfetch is a company that reflects our Living the Life investment theme, while also benefitting from tailwinds of our Digital Lifestyle theme. Even though the company went public last year, it’s not a household name even though it operates a global luxury digital marketplace. As the shares have fallen over the last several weeks, I’ve had my eyes on them and now is the time to dip our toes in the water by adding FTCH as a Thematic Leader.

 

 

Farfetch Provides Digital Shopping to the Exploding Global Luxury Market

Farfetch is a play on the global $100 billion online luxury market with access to over 3,200 different brands across more than 1,100 brand boutique partners across its platform. With both high-end and every-day consumers continuing to shift their shopping to online and mobile platforms, we see Farfetch attacking a growing market that also has the combined benefit of appealing to the aspirational shopper and being relatively inelastic compared to mainstream apparel.

Part of what is fueling the global demand for luxury and aspirational goods is the rising disposable income of consumers in Asia, particularly China. According to Hurun’s report, The Chinese Luxury Traveler, enthusiasm for overseas travel shows no signs of abating, with the proportion of time spent on overseas tourism among luxury travelers increasing 5% to become 70% of the total. Cosmetics, (45%), local specialties (43%), luggage (39%), clothing and accessories (37%) and jewelry (34%) remain the most sought — after items among luxury travelers. High domestic import duties and concerns about fake products contribute to the popularity of shopping abroad.

It should come as little surprise then that roughly 31% of FarFetch’s 2018 revenue was derived from Asia-Pacific with the balance split between Europe, Middle East & Africa (40%) and the Americas (29%). At the end of the June 2019 quarter, the company had 1.77 million active customers, up from 1.35 million exiting 2018 and 0.9 million in 2017. As the number of active users has grown so too has Farfetch’s revenue, which hit $718 million over the 12 months ending June 2019 compared to $602 million in all of 2018 and $386 million in 2017.

Farfetch primarily monetizes its platform by serving as a commercial intermediary between sellers and end consumers and earns a commission for this service. That revenue stream also includes fees charged to sellers for other activities, such as packaging, credit-card processing, and other transaction processing activities. That business accounts for 80%-85% of Farfetch’s overall revenue with the balance derived from Platform Fulfillment Revenue and to a small extent In-Store Revenue.

New Acquisition Transformed Farfetch’s Revenue Mix 

In August, Farfetch announced the acquisition of New Guards Group, the Milan-based parent company of Off-White, Heron Preston and Palm Angels, in a deal valued at $675 million. New Guards will serve as the basis for a new business segment at Farfetch, one that it has named Brand Platform. Brand Platform will allow Farfetch to leverage New Guards’ design and product capabilities to expand the reach of its brands as well as develop new brands that span the Farfetch platform. For the 12-month period ending April 2019, the New Guards portfolio delivered revenue of $345 million, with profits before tax of $95 million. By comparison, Farfetch posted $654 million in revenue and an operating loss of $183 million over that time frame.

Clearly, another part of the thought behind acquiring New Guards and building the Brand Platform business is to improve the company’s margin and profit profile. And on the housekeeping front, the $675 million paid for New Guards will be equally split between cash and stock. Following its IPO last year, Farfetch ended the June quarter with roughly $1 billion in cash and equivalents on its balance sheet.

In many ways what we have here is a baby Amazon (AMZN) that is focused on luxury goods. Ah, the evolution of digital shopping! And while there are a number of publicly traded companies tied to digital shopping, there are few that focus solely on luxury goods.

Why Now is the Time to Add FTCH Shares

We are heading into the company’s seasonally strongest time of year, the holiday shopping season, and over the last few years, the December quarter has accounted for almost 35% of Farfetch’s annual sales. With the company’s active user base continuing to grow by leaps and bounds, that historical pattern is likely to repeat itself. Current consensus expectations have Farfetch hitting $964 million in revenue for all of 2019 and then $1.4 billion in 2020.

At the current share price, FTCH shares are trading at 1.6x expected 2020 sales on an enterprise value-to-sales basis. The consensus price target among the 10 Wall Street analysts that cover the stock is $22, which equates to an EV/2020 sales multiple of near 3.5x when adjusting for the pending New Guards acquisition. As we move through this valuation exercise, we have to factor into our thinking that Farfetch is not expected to become EBITDA positive until 2021. In our view, that warrants a bit of haircut on the multiple side and utilizing an EV/2020 sale multiple of 2.5x derives our $16 price target.

  • Despite that multiple, there is roughly 60% potential upside to that target vs. downside to the 52-week low of $8.82.
  • We are adding FTCH shares to the Thematic Leaders for our Living the Life investing theme.
  • A $16 price target is being set and we will wait to put any sort of stop-loss floor in place.

 

Digital Lifestyle – The August Retail Sales confirms the adoption continues

One of last week’s key economic reports was the August Retail Sales report due in part to the simple fact the consumer directly or indirectly accounts for two-thirds of the domestic economy. Moreover, with the manufacturing and industrial facing data – both economic and other third-party kinds, such as truck tonnage, railcar loadings and the like – softening in the June quarter, that quarter’s positive GDP print hinged entirely on the consumer. With domestic manufacturing and industrial data weakening further in July and August, the looming question being asked by many an investor is whether the consumer can keep the economy chugging along?

In recent months, I’ve voiced growing concerns over the spending health of the consumer as more data suggests a strengthening tailwind for our Middle-Class Squeeze investing theme. Some of that includes the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s latest Household Debt and Credit Report, consumer household debt balances have been on the rise for five years and quarterly increases continue on a consecutive basis, bringing the second quarter 2019 total to $192 billion. Also a growing number of banks are warning over rising credit card delinquencies even as the Federal Reserve’s July Consumer Credit data showed revolving credit expanded at its fastest pace since November 2017.

Getting back to the August Retail Sale report, the headline print was a tad better than expected, however once we removed auto sales, retail sales for the month were flat. That’s on a sequential basis, but when viewed on a year over year one, retail sales excluding autos rose 3.5% year over year. That brought the year over year comparison for the three-months ending with August to up 3.4% and 1.5% stronger than the three months ending in May on the same basis.

Again, perspective can be illuminating when looking at the data, but what really shined during the month of August was digital shopping, which rose 16.0% year over year. That continued strength following the expected July surge in digital shopping due to Amazon Prime Day and all the others that looked to cash in on it led year over year digital shopping sales to rise 15.0% for the three months ending in August.

Without question, this aspect of our Digital Lifestyle investing theme continues to take consumer wallet share, primarily at the expense of brick & mortar retailers, especially department stores, which saw their August retail sales fall 5.4%. That continues the pain felt by department stores and helps explain why more than 7,000 brick & mortar locations have shuttered their doors thus far in 2019. Odds are there is more of that to come as consumers continue to shift their dollar purchase volume to online and mobile shopping as Walmart (WMT), Target (TGT) and others look to compete with Amazon Prime’s one day delivery.

  • For all the reasons discussed above, Amazon remains our Thematic King as we head into the seasonally strong holiday shopping season. 

 

Weekly Issue: A number of Thematic Leaders delivered outsized returns during Q1

Weekly Issue: A number of Thematic Leaders delivered outsized returns during Q1


Key points inside this issue

  • Despite a slowing global economy, the March quarter was a barn burner for stocks, but risks remain heading into the March quarter earnings season.
  • Our price target on Apple (AAPL) remains $225. 
  • Our price target on shares of Living the Life Thematic Leader Del Frisco’s Restaurant Group (DFRG) remains $14.
  • Our price target on Universal Display (OLED) shares of $150 is under review. 


Last week brought the March quarter to a close, and even though Friday’s personal income and spending data confirmed a slowing economy, it was the best quarter in nearly a decade for stocks. 

The bulk of the double-digit gains across all of the major domestic stock market indices — the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite Index, and the Russell 2000 — came early in the quarter due to positive expectations for U.S.-China trade talks, even as the market shrugged off the federal government shutdown. As the quarter wore on, data pointed to a slowing global economy, with more pronounced weakness in China, Japan and Europe, leaving the U.S. the best house on the slowing economic block. Even so, the domestic data point to a markedly slower U.S. economy compared to the second half of 2018, which in part reflects the anniversary of tax reform, but also consumers that increasingly appear to be hitting a spending wall.

Companies are also contending with higher wage costs, due in part to minimum wage hikes, as well as certain higher input costs. And of course, there is the current trade war with China that is also presenting a headwind, as is the slowing economies in Europe and Japan, especially given the year-over-year strength in the dollar, as you can see in the chart below.

In sum, we’ve seen a number of these headwinds result in reduced earnings expectations for the current quarter, and we’re now beginning to see companies once again trim back expectations. Last Thursday night DowDuPont Inc. (DWDP) slashed its sales and profits forecasts, joining the ranks of Infineon Technologies AG (IFX), Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Osram and others. This week, it was Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) that shared it had “the most difficult quarter we have had since the formation of Walgreens Boots Alliance.

On Monday we received a slew of economic data that included the March Manufacturing PMI data for China, Japan, the eurozone and the U.S. as well as the March ISM Manufacturing Index and February Retail Sales figures. There were bright spots inside this sea of data, most notably the March ISM Manufacturing Index that surprised modestly to the upside and showed a pickup in orders and employment.

That positive report was tempered by the IHS Markit Manufacturing PMI for the U.S., which showed a month-over-month decline in March and hit its lowest level since mid- 2017. As that report noted, “New order growth has fallen close to the lows seen in the 2016 slowdown, often linked to disappointing exports, tariffs and signs of increasing caution among customers.” This trend points to continued slow growth ahead for the domestic economy, though the latest data as a whole still leave the U.S. as the fastest-growing economy compared to China, Japan and the eurozone.

As for the February Retail Sales Report, it once again missed expectations, declining 0.2% month over month. This marks the third flat to down sequential comparison for this data set in the last four months. Viewing the data on a year-over-year basis, retail sales for the month rose 2.1%, which confirms a slower but still growing U.S. economy. While we don’t want to put too sunny of a view on it, the February year- over-year comparison was ahead of the 2.0% growth pace of the trailing three months. Still, there was no question the year-over-year rate of spending in February slowed compared to January.

While we don’t want to put too sunny of a view on it, the February year- over-year comparison was ahead of the 2.0% growth pace of the trailing three months. Still, there was no question the year-over-year rate of spending in February slowed compared to January.

In my view, this looks to be setting up a volatile earnings season, with earnings guidance that is likely to disappoint and lead to downward revisions for the June quarter as companies reset expectations. We will continue to be prudent, longer-term focused investors that take our cues from our 10 investing themes and the confirming signals to be had.


Tematica Investing

As we put the March quarter in the rear-view mirror, the market will continue to look for hope in a U.S.-China trade deal but given the factors outlined above, I see greater risk to the downside, generally speaking, than upside, as we begin the March-quarter earnings season. The stalwart among them was Clean Living Leader Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG), as its shares rose more than 60% during the first three months of the year. Digital Lifestyle Leader Netflix (NFLX) as well as New Global Middle Class Leader, Alibaba (BABA), soared more than 30% during the quarter, and Thematic King Amazon (AMZN) climbed 20%. 

The quarter wasn’t without its challenges given declines experienced at Aging of the Population Leader AMN Healthcare (AMN), but as I am seeing with my 87 year old father, the need for elder care is pronounced and bodes well for nursing demand in the coming years. We will continue to hold AMN shares. Another laggard is Dycom Industries (DY), better known as the Digital Infrastructure Leader, which is positioned to benefit from the 5G and gigabit network buildout. We’re entering the seasonally strong time of the year for Dycom, which also brings us closer to initial 5G launches from AT&T (T), Verizon (VZ), T-Mobile USA (TMUS) and others. As with AMN shares, we will continue to hold DY shares as well. 

Now let’s dig into several Thematic Leaders and Select List positions that made news over the last week. 


Apple’s video and gaming efforts are interesting but not in the short-term

During the March quarter, Apple’s (AAPL) shares rebounded hard, rising just over 20%. Some of that climb was due to the excitement ahead of Apple’s services focused event last week, which candidly was largely as expected given prior news leaks. Leading up to the event we saw iPad, Mac and AirPod refreshes, but the event itself focused on Apple Card, Apple News+ and AppleTV+. The one surprise was the announcement of a streaming gaming service, which like AppleTV+ will debut later this year. 

As such while they are positives for the Services business, they will have little impact on the company’s bottom line near-term. That said, Canaccord Genuity upped its price target to $230 from $185 this week. The reality of the situation is that as much as we like content and Apple is looking to use it to make its devices and ecosystem even stickier with customers inside the Digital Lifestyle, in the near-term the primary driver of the company’s profits will continue to be the iPhone. 

  • Our price target on Apple (AAPL) remains $225. A key point to that target is the eventual upgrade cycle tied to 5G and the iPhone, which given our Dycom comments above, increasingly looks like it will happen in the second half of 2020.


Frustrated with Del Frisco’s Restaurant Group, but holding steady

If you’re growing frustrated with this Thematic Leader, you are not alone. During the March quarter, DFRG shares fell roughly 10%, but the inter quarter swing was far greater than that. What’s weighing on the shares is lack of news on the company’s strategic review process. Per some reports, the company could be cleaved into two parts to different buyers, which if true would explain the pronounced timetable.

From a fundamental perspective, while overall restaurant traffic and other metrics fell in February according to data published by TDN2K, the bulk of that decline was at fast casual restaurants, to which we have no exposure. Digging into the data, we find  fine dining was the best-performing industry segment during February for same-store sales growth. While I like such confirming data, as I noted above the DFRG share price will continue to be driven by any and all strategic review developments. This will continue to be our point of focus for now.

 Our plan is to hold DFRG as the takeout story evolves further, but as we have said previously, odds are we will use a deal- related pop in the stock to exit the position. 

  • Our price target on shares of Living the Life Thematic Leader Del Frisco’s Restaurant Group (DFRG) remains $14.


Universal Display should continue to shine

Universal Display (OLED) shares shined bright during the first quarter rising easily more than 50%. Yesterday, there were thesis confirming reports for the adoption of organic light emitting diode display that will drive demand for Universal’s chemical and IP licensing businesses. Those reports centered on Apple (AAPL) shifting its entire production of iPhones to organic light-emitting diode displays in 2020.

These same reports also suggest Apple will have three different- size iPhones, measuring 5.42 inches, 6.06 inches and 6.67 inches. While the varied iPhone sizing is new, we heard similar hints about the switch in display technology several months ago. We see this as follow up to that, which in our view increases the likelihood of this happening.

We’d also note the timing of these models and the display transition seem to coincide with the potential debut of a 5G iPhone. In light of the incremental RF chips the 5G model will contain, it makes sense that Apple would look to adopt this display technology for both space as well as power savings.

While we like seeing our investment thesis confirmed here, I’d note that not only have OLED shares climbed substantially over the last three months, but the transition to all organic light-emitting diode displays at Apple, and most likely others, is several quarters out. We will continue to be long- term investors in OLED shares. However, given market conditions and the upcoming earning season we could see OLED shares give some of its gains back in the near-term. We’ll continue to focus on the long-term opportunity not only in the smartphone market but in automotive and eventually the general illumination market. 

  • Our price target on Universal Display (OLED) shares of $150 is under review. 
Weekly Issue: Talking Thematics, Boeing and Retail Sales

Weekly Issue: Talking Thematics, Boeing and Retail Sales

Key points inside this issue

  • We are issuing a Buy on and adding shares of Energous Corp. (WATT) to the Select List as part of our Disruptive Innovators investing theme with an $11 price target.
  • We will continue to patiently hold Thematic Leader Del Frisco’s Restaurant Group (DFRG) shares as the Board continues to review potential strategic alternatives.

 

I’m just back from some meeting in New York, and it was a busy trip that included visits with Yahoo Finance and Cheddar to discuss the January retail sales report and the gyrations in the Dow Jones Industrial Average given the issues and concerns that have erupted with Boeing (BA) following another 737 MAX aircraft crash over the weekend. You can watch my appearance on Yahoo Finance here and the one with Cheddar here, but quickly on those two items, while the January retail sales report was better than expected, the headline figure for December was revised lower from the first negative print we received.

Also, we’ve started to get February same-store comp sales and from a growing number of retailers, those figures have been negative. And you’ve probably noticed that we are once again seeing a sea of store closures being announced by retailers. If you haven’t, I walked through some of these on last week’s Cocktail Investing podcast, which you can listen to here. As I pointed out on my appearances on Yahoo Finance and Cheddar, we are seeing a bifurcation in the retail land. Those that are riding the tailwinds associated with our Living the Life and Middle-Class Squeeze investing themes are thriving, while those caught in between – Macy’s (M), Gap (GPS), L Brands (LB) and others – are struggling once again. We here at Tematica have talked about rising consumer debt and delinquency levels, and I continue to see those increasingly cash-strapped consumers turning to off-price retailers and warehouse clubs, like Middle-Class Squeeze leader Costco Wholesale (COST) in the coming months.

With regard to Boeing, while it isn’t a Thematic Leader or on the Select List, the demand for its aircraft is being powered by international air travel, particularly out of Asia, which fits very well with our New Global Middle-Class investing theme. The issue plaguing the company and its shares is two 737 MAX planes have crashed in a relatively short time, and this has led several countries to ground those planes as issues behind the most recent crash are sought. This has raised several questions for Boeing as the 737 family is an important one, accounting for 80% of its aircraft backlog entering 2019 and 58% of its January order book. How long will those planes be grounded? What does it mean for future 737 family orders and production levels that drive revenue, profits, and earnings?

In the past Boeing has quickly dealt with situations such as these, and it has already announced an extensive change to the flight-control system in the 737 MAX aircraft. I’ll continue to watch these developments and gauge the impact to be had on2019 expectations. Odds are they will be coming in from where they were just a few weeks ago. In the past, these situations, while dreadful, have offered a favorable entry point to BA shares provided the timing is right. Right now, it seems to be a tad too early, but with upside to $450, it’s one to watch closely.

On a side note, the Boeing issue highlights a key difference in how the major market indices are constructed. BA shares account for just under 10% of Dow Jones Industrial Average, which means the recent stock pressure has weighed on that index heavily. This explains the wide difference this week between how the Dow has performed vs. the S&P 500, which only has 0.9% exposure to Boeing shares. That’s a huge difference, and it points to understanding the ins and outs of the indices for not only the market but for any passive ETFs that one may own. In the case of Boeing, there are a number of ETFs that hold the shares, but one of the ones with sizable exposure is the ETFMG Drone Economy Strategy ETF (IFLY). That ETF, which looks to invest in drones, holds 4.96% of its assets in BA shares, even though its revenues from drones and other autonomous systems are so small they aren’t even broken out by the company in SEC filings.

 

Tematica Investing

 

Powering up the Select List with WATT shares

In our increasingly connected society, two of the big annoyances we must deal with are keeping our devices charged and all the cords we need to charge them. When I upgraded my iPhone to one of the newer models, I was pleasantly surprised by the ease of charging it wirelessly by laying it on a charging disc. Pretty easy.

I’m hardly alone in appreciating this convenience, and we’ve heard that companies ranging from Tesla Inc. (TSLA) to Apple Inc. (AAPL) are looking to bring charging pads to market. That means a potential sea change in how we charge our devices is in the offing, which means a potential growth market for a company that has the necessary chipsets to power one or more of those pads. In other words, if there were no such chipsets, we would not be able to charge wirelessly.

Off to digging, I went to see if there is a pure-play company that fits this Disruptive Innovator investment theme charge (and yes, that was a very poor pun on my part.) What I turned up was Energous Corp. (WATT) and its WattUp solution. WattUp consists of proprietary semiconductor chipsets, software and antennas that enable radio frequency (RF)-based, wire-free charging of electronic devices. Like the charging disc I have, and the ones depicted by Apple, WattUp is both a contact-based charging and at-a-distance charging solution, which means all we need do is lay our wireless devices down be it on a disc, pad or other contraption to charge them. In November 2016, Energous entered into a Strategic Alliance Agreement with Dialog Semiconductor (DLGNF), under which Dialog manufactures and distributes IC products incorporating its wire-free charging technology.

Dialog happens to be the exclusive supplier of these Energous products for the general market and Dialog is also a well-known power management supplier to Apple across several products, including the iPhone. Indeed, last week Dialog bucked the headline trend of late and shared that it isn’t seeing a demand hit from Apple after fellow suppliers Lumentum Holdings Inc. (LITE) and Qorvo Inc. (QRCO) cut guidance earlier this week.

On its September quarter earnings call, Dialog shared it was awarded a broad range of new contracts, including charging across multiple next-generation products assets, with revenue expected to be realized starting in 2019 and accelerating into 2020. I already can feel several mental carts getting ahead of the horse as some think, “Ah, Energous might be the technology that will power Apple’s wireless charging solution!”

Adding fuel to that fire, on its September quarter earnings conference call Energous shared that “given the most recent advances in our core technology” its relationship with its key strategic partner – Dialog – “has now progressed beyond development, exploration and testing to actual product engineering.”

Since then, there have been several additional developments:

  • In late December, Energous announced its first commercial product to receive FCC approval, the WattUp-enabled personal sound amplification products (PSAPs) from Delight. Energous’ WattUp wireless technology allows the Delight PSAP to charge on a charging pad. The products are now certified to be marketed and sold in the United States.
  • At CES in January, Energous launched Wireless Charging 2.0 and demonstrated with Deutsche Telekom (DTEGY) a transmitter design that can charge multiple electronic devices at a distance.
  • We are hearing renewed chatter that Apple’s (AAPL) delayed wireless charging solution, known as the Airpower charging mat, is likely to hit shelves in the coming months. As I pointed out, Apple has long used Dialog Semiconductor (DLGNF) for its power solutions and Dialog is the exclusive supplier for Energous products. In early January, Apple supplier Luxshare Precision initiated AirPower production and that would seem to confirm rumored timetables that AirPower would begin shipping during the first half of 2019.
  • In the company’s December quarter earnings release, Energous shared that on the back of a favorable showing at the CES 2019 and Mobile World Congress 2019, “no less than 10 companies currently tracking for product launches to the consumer in 2019 with chip sales starting in the first half of the year and ramping in the second half.”

Taken together these recent developments point to robust revenue growth for Energous (WATT) compared to the $1.1 million-$1.4 million range between what was reported in 2017 and what’s expected for 2018. Current consensus estimates have the company delivering revenue of $94 million in 2020, which reflects a full year of shipping product. Two points of caution on that forecast: First, it comes from a combination of two Wall Street analysts, which is not a wide enough number that inspires 100% confidence; Second, Energous is on the cusp of going from essentially a start-up company to a real one, and odds are there will be fits and starts, delays and pushouts along the way. This will require us to be patient with the shares, but it also means continuously evaluating the competitive landscape.

As that revenue ramp and bottom-line improvement come to fruition, valuation metrics are likely to move higher for WATT shares. There is also potential upside following the eventual teardown analysis of Apple’s Airpower charging mat, which could very well bring the Apple halo to WATT.

So why now with WATT shares?

Alongside the company’s December quarter earnings report, it also completed a $25 million common stock offering of 3.3 million shares priced “in the hole” at $7.70. I say “in the hole” because prior to that offering the shares were trading well above $9. For some, that was clearly a disappointment, especially given the $20.1 million the company had in cash on its balance sheet exiting 2018. Odds are the company entered into this transaction in order to have sufficient capital as it heads into the oncoming production ramp to meet demand from these “no less than 10 customers.” Not a great transaction, but also not a horrible thing given that it likely heads off an even more painful one later on. For us, it’s given us the opportunity to get into WATT shares at a far better price point.

Our 12-18-month price target on WATT shares is $11, which equates to an enterprise value to 2020 revenue multiple of 4.0x vs. the current 2.4x multiple. If you’re thinking the combination of revenue growth and that valuation framework could make Energous a takeout candidate, I would have to agree.

  • We are issuing a Buy on and adding shares of Energous Corp. (WATT) to the Select List as part of our Disruptive Innovators investing theme with an $11 price target.

 

Del Frisco’s delivers, but no word on the strategic alternatives

Yesterday, Living the Life Thematic Leader Del Frisco’s (DFRG) reported its December quarter results, which were modestly ahead of expectations. On the company’s earnings call it reviewed the usual metrics and shared a long-term favorable outlook, which candidly was expected. What the company did not say, however, was anything about the strategic initiatives it is reviewing. Recall that several months ago, the company added a new Board member with investment banking experience to spearhead this activity. Given the level of steak house M&A that has happened in recent years, due in part to the more defensive nature of higher-end dining vs. casual restaurants, they’ve been a sought-after asset.

With Just One More Restaurant, the company that licenses the Palm Steakhouse name, filing for Chapter 11 late last week due to fiduciary misconduct, there is one less prospect to be had. Much like a game of musical chairs, as the number of seats or in this case steak house businesses drop, they become more valuable. We will continue to patiently hold DFRG shares as the Board continues to review the alternatives. Should a transaction fail to emerge, I am inclined to revisit the company’s position on the Thematic Leader board.

  • For now, we will continue to patiently hold Thematic Leader Del Frisco’s Restaurant Group (DFRG) shares as the Board continues to review potential strategic alternatives.

 

 

Weekly Issue: Del Frisco’s Sends Strong Signals of Potential Take Over Bid

Weekly Issue: Del Frisco’s Sends Strong Signals of Potential Take Over Bid

Key points inside this issue

  • The stock market continues to move higher even as global growth slows and S&P 500 earnings prospects for the current quarter slump further.
  • Our long-term price target on Thematic King Amazon (AMZN) shares remains $2,250, which offers more than 35% upside following its December quarter earnings report.
  • As Living the Life Thematic Leader Del Frisco’s Restaurant Group (DFRG) gets serious with its strategic alternatives, our price target remains $14.
  • We are issuing a Buy on and adding the Del Frisco’s Restaurant Group (DFRG) September 20, 2019, 10.00 calls (DFRG 190920C00010000) that closed last night at 0.60 with a stop loss at 0.30.
  • On the housekeeping front, we were stopped out of the Nokia (NOK) July 2019 7.00 (NOK190719C00007000) calls last Friday (Feb. 1).

 

Stocks rebounded in a pronounced manner as we started off 2019, making it the best January showing since 1989. The data continues to point to a slowing global slowing economy, especially in China and in the eurozone with Italy in a recession and France not too far behind. The December-quarter concerns, however, have rolled back and propelled the market higher, especially during the last week of the month when the Fed signaled patience with its speed of further interest rate hikes. For the month in full, the S&P 500 finished up just shy of 8.0%, ahead of the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s 7.2% rise, but trailing the tech-heavy Nasdaq’s 9.7% surge.

On top of Friday’s blockbuster January Employment Report, a stronger-than-expected ISM Manufacturing Index reading for January came in, which showcased a rebound in new order activity. On the back of those two reports, the domestic stock market started February off in the green, as that data suggest the U.S. remains the brightest spot in the global economy. That view was supported by the January PMI data released Friday morning by IHS Markit, which showed the U.S. manufacturing economy picking up steam while that activity in the eurozone and Japan slowed, and China marked the second month in contraction territory.

 

Another positive inside the ISM Manufacturing Report was the month-over-month drop in the Prices component. Pairing that with falling prices in the eurozone data, it’s another reason the Federal Reserve can take its finger off the interest rate hike button for the time being. That patient stance, shared by the Fed this week after its latest FOMC meeting, has walked the dollar back some, but as we see in the chart below the greenback’s year-over-year strength will likely continue to be a headwind for companies during the first half of 2019.

 

The current mismatch between U.S. economic data and that for China has raised hopes for U.S.-China trade talks. Also lending a helping hand on that front were several positive tweets from President Trump exiting this week’s round of trade talks. I remain cautiously optimistic but will once again remind subscribers it’s the details that we’ll be focused on when they are released. 

As we move deeper into February, just over half of the S&P 500 companies have yet to report their quarterly results and given the slowing global economy and dollar headwinds we are likely to see further downward revisions to earnings expectations for the S&P 500 in the coming weeks. Along with the market’s push higher in January that has extended into February, should those revisions come to pass it means the market gets incrementally more expensive. This means we should continue to tread carefully in the near-term.

 

As we do this, known catalysts to watch in the coming weeks will be incremental developments on U.S.-China trade and potential moves by the European Central Bank. Following the weakening economic data in the eurozone, ECB President Mario Draghi said, “The European Central Bank is ready to use all its policy tools to support Europe’s softening economy, including by restarting a recently shelved bond-buying program.” There is also the possibility of another government shutdown should Congress fail to reach an agreement on immigration. Who said 2019 was likely to be boring?

 

Tematica Investing

As I have said numerous times, we do not buy the market, but rather invest in companies that are well positioned to capitalize on the tailwinds from our 10 investment themes. From time to time, we are given opportunities to scale into existing positions and in my view, we are seeing that now with Thematic King Amazon (AMZN). The reason for this latest bout of weakness in Amazon’s share price is management’s comments that it will once again investment more than Wall Street expected and the news over e-commerce regulations in India.

From time to time we’ve seen Amazon step up its investment spending and historically its been a great time to load up on the shares because those investments have paved the way for future growth. From opportunities in grocery, mobile payments, streaming video and gaming services, healthcare following its PillPack acquisition as well as expanding the scale and scope of its Amazon Prime service further in the US and abroad, there are ample thematic opportunities for the Amazon business. I also suspect that with FedEx (FDX) looking to collapse order times to under 24 hours for its retail partners, that Amazon too is working on growing its Prime Now offering at the same time.

Let’s turn to the new e-commerce regulations in India and their potential impact on Amazon. The issue is that while these new regulations permit full foreign ownership of ‘single brand’ retailers such as IKEA, restrictions are in place with ‘multibrand’ stores such as supermarkets from outside India. Odds are we will see a rebranding of sorts by the likes of Amazon, Walmart (WMT) and others that are looking to tap into this New Global Middle-Class market. Candidly, given Amazon’s growing private label business that spans apparel, furniture, food, electronics, and other categories, I’m not all that bothered by this. And let’s face it, not only are the folks at Amazon pretty smart, but we have yet to see a market that shuns two-day delivery. I doubt India and its growing middle-class will be the first.

The bottom line with this Thematic King is it is a stock to own as the company is poised to further disrupt other markets, sectors and other business models in the coming quarters.

  • Our long-term price target on Thematic King Amazon (AMZN) shares remains $2,250, which offers more than 35% upside following its December quarter earnings report.

 

 

Del Frisco’s gets serious about entertaining take out bids

After a few weeks of no big news from Living the Life company Del Frisco’s Restaurant Group Inc. (DFRG) after it pre-announced its fourth-quarter revenue in early January, we have a new development that in my view reinforces our belief that the company is putting itself up for sale. More specifically, Del Frisco’s announced on Monday that it has executed a cooperation agreement with its third-largest shareholder, Engaged Capital — the same shareholder that criticized the management team in late 2018 and suggested the company examine its strategic alternatives.

Included in the agreement is the appointment of Joe Reece not only to the Del Frisco’s board but also as the Chairman of the Transaction Committee that is overseeing the company’s previously announced review of strategic alternatives. There are other conditions with the cooperation agreement, but it is the naming of Reece and the comments contained inside the accompanying press release that gives us some insight into his background. The comments read in part:

Glenn W. Welling, the founder and Chief Investment Officer of Engaged Capital, said, “I am pleased to have reached this agreement as part of a constructive dialogue with Del Frisco’s. In addition to his decades of experience working inside boardrooms, Joe Reece brings exceptional experience in investment banking and the capital markets to Del Frisco’s which will be instrumental as the Board evaluates the various opportunities available to maximize value for all shareholders.”

 Joe Reece has over 30 years of experience as a business leader. His experience working with executives at corporations, financial sponsors, and institutional investors, as well as serving on several public company boards, will bring an added dimension to the Board.

Mr. Reece is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Helena Capital. Mr. Reece previously served as Executive Vice Chairman and Head of the Investment Bank for the Americas at UBS Group AG from 2017-2018 as well as serving on the board of UBS Securities, LLC.

 

More on Reece’s background is contained in the press release, but as the above excerpt notes, he has ample investment banking experience. In our view, the naming of Reece as chairman of the Del Frisco’s Transaction Committee means two things. First, the company is serious about examining alternatives to remaining a stand-alone company. Second, it is also serious about extracting the greatest value for its business and brands.

As shareholders, this news has increased my degree of confidence that a transaction, be it with private equity or a strategic partner, is likely to happen. As such, we will continue to keep DFRG shares as a Thematic Leader for the time being to capture these potential gains.

  • As Living the Life Thematic Leader Del Frisco’s Restaurant Group (DFRG) gets serious with its strategic alternatives, our price target remains $14.

 

Is Everyone Looking the Wrong Way?

Is Everyone Looking the Wrong Way?

 

Over the past few months, the investing markets have considered Federal Reserve Chairman Powell enemy number one. Earlier this week the markets once again showed that America’s central bank drives sentiment more than any other factor, forget trade wars, forget earnings, forget political drama, it is the Fed and only the Fed that matters. That may sound somewhat simplistic to all the fundamental analysts and market technicians out there, but let’s face facts – it’s true.

Even the end of the 35-day long government shutdown barely generated a response from the markets.

What did generate interest was the rumor that the Fed may be considering ending its $50 billion-a-month drawdown of its balance sheet.

The afternoon of Wednesday, January 30th, after a much more dovish tone out of Powell, the stock market closed up for the first time after the past eight FOMC meetings – the longest post-FOMC losing streak on record. The prior meeting on December 19th was followed by a gut-wrenching 1,800-point crash in the Dow over the following four sessions. As we were nearing the end of 2018, it looked and smelled like the Fed went too far yet again, as it had done in 10 of the past 13 post-WWII hikes – so much for the narrative of the omniscient central banker. As Mark Twain wrote, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme.”

Investing is all about finding an inflection point, where the market is wrong – pricing an asset too high or too low, believing a policy to be beneficial when it isn’t or vice versa. Given the ubiquitous nature of the belief that the Fed is the central bank that really matters to the market, what if that supposition is wrong?

What if everyone is looking in the wrong direction with the wrong set of expectations? What if everyone ought to be looking in the direction of our New Global Middle Class investing theme? We will start to explore that idea in this week’s piece along with an assessment of the domestic and global economy.

As Chris Versace and I wrote in our book Cocktail Investing, there are three major participants in an economy: consumers, business and government. To understand what is happening in an economy one needs to understand the vector and the velocity associated with each one of these participants.

 

Households’ Outlook Dims

Our Middle-Class Squeeze investing theme was again front and center this week in the domestic economy. This week we got a rather dour report on how the Household sector of the economy is feeling about the future with the University of Michigan’s monthly index of Consumer Sentiment, which gauges American’s view on their own financial condition as well as the economy in general. In January U.S. Consumer Confidence dropped to 90.7 versus expectations for 96.8, hitting an 18-month low despite initial jobless claims dropping to a 49-year low, likely thanks to the double-whammy of the partial government shutdown and the recent volatility in the financial markets.

The decline was driven primarily by deteriorating expectations about the future, with that portion of the index declining 11% in January after falling 13% in December. On the other end of the spectrum, consumer’s assessment of current conditions is a mere 2% below the August peak which puts the spread between consumer’s outlook for the future and their present situation at nearly the largest since 1967. The only period in which the spread was greater was January through March of 2001 – the recession began in March 2001. Hat tip to David Rosenberg of Gluskin Sheff for the chart below.

We will be watching this metric particularly closely in February as well as the February Manufacturing Index given the recent drop in the 6-month view.

The rather glum outlook continues to be a headwind to the housing sector. House sales, excluding newly built homes, fell by 10% in December compared with the same month in 2017, according to the National Association of Realtors. Interestingly, this sharp fall off occurred despite the late 2018 rollover in mortgage rates, which as any a home buyer knows makes for a lower cost of total home ownership.

 

Slowing Corporate Sector

We are knee deep in the December 2018 quarter earnings season with around one-third of the S&P 500 companies having reported so far with an aggregate increase of 14.2% in earnings per share on an increase of 5.6% in revenue. While that sounds pretty good at first glance, what concerns us is that the beat ratio so far is the lowest since 2014, despite having the second most aggressive estimate cuts in the months going into this season since the depths of the financial crisis. On top of that, expectations for 2019 are being materially scaled back with expected EPS growth having fallen to just 1.6% year-over-year in the March quarter, driven in large part by weakening revenues for those companies with a lot of international sales exposure. As we’ve heard from a growing number of companies over the last few weeks, they are feeling the pinch of the trade war as well as the strong dollar.

One theme that keeps rearing its head is the impact of weakness in China, which is no small matter given that according to the US Census Bureau, America’s exports to China have doubled over the 10 years through 2017 to reach $130 billion a year. Companies ranging from Caterpillar (CAT) to Apple (AAPL), NVIDIA (NVDA) to Stanley Black & Decker (SWK) and 3M (MMM) have commented on the impact of a Chinese slowdown.

Caterpillar expects its Chinese markets to be flat in 2019. NVIDIA reported weaker Chinese demand for its computer chips and gaming consoles. H.B. Fuller Co (FUL) reported that weaker demand from China will reduce its profits by $20 million this year. PPG Industries (PPG) reported sales of its coatings for cars made in China fell 15% in the December quarter.

Despite these declines, however, luxury goods associated with our Living the Life investing theme continue to boom in China according to LVMH-Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMHF). During its earnings conference call, the company shared that “growth in China has accelerated in Q4 compared to the previous quarters and the beginning of this year is the same.” That strength was corroborated by Ferrari (RACE) that reported its sales in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan rose nearly 13% year over year in the December quarter, and forecasted a pickup in its China business during the first half of 2019. Some of this may reflect the non-US nature of those companies, but the more pronounced driver is more than likely demographic in nature as captured by the rising middle class in China and the allure of aspirational goods, but also the rapid rise in wealthy and ultra-wealthy Chinese, a key cohort when it comes to the Living the Life tailwind.

 

Government

While the partial government shutdown has finally come to an end, at least temporarily, inside the beltway is increasingly looking like a kindergarten class that has missed its afternoon nap. The US federal deficit continues to be quite large compared to post WWII norms.

The sheer size of the federal deficit combined with the Federal Reserve program to reduce its balance sheet means that roughly $1.3 trillion is being pulled away from the private sector. The more money the government needs, which means increased Treasury bond supply, the less money is available to be spent in the private sector – this is referred to as the crowding out effect of large government deficits. The Fed’s actions along with the increase deficit spending are one of the factors behind the recent drop is equity prices as the money has to come from somewhere. Less money in the private sector means demand for private sector assets declines which impacts prices. What about China? Well, it is no longer a buyer of US debt and may well have become a net seller.

 

Global Economy

In 2017 the world’s leading economies accelerated in sync, boosting equity prices. In 2018 the U.S. economy surged on thanks in part to fiscal stimulus in the form of tax cuts and increased government spending while the rest of the world slowed. In 2019 the world looks to be once again syncing up to slow down. The IMF warned that “the global expansion is weakening and at a rate that is somewhat faster than expected”. The fund revised down its forecasts, particularly for advanced economies with the world’s economy forecast to grow by 3.6% in 2020. Although that is stronger than in some previous years, the IMF thinks “the risks to more significant downward corrections are rising”, in part because of tensions over trade and uncertainty about Brexit.

The Global Zentrum fur Europaische Wirtschaftsforschung (ZEW) Economic Sentiment Index echoes what we’ve seen from the Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index.

Italy has now had two consecutive quarters of contracting GDP, which means that technically Italians are breaking out the Barolo and sadly toasting to their latest recession. Germany, which has been the strongest economy in the Eurozone, saw its economy contract 0.2% in the third quarter of last year, its industrial production decline 1.9% in November, and retail sales crash 4.3% in December, sparking fears that the country is on the brink of a recession as well. Recent federal statistics have Germany’s economy growing by just 1.5% in 2018 versus 2.2% in 2017 with the IMF forecasting just 1.3% in 2019. According to data published by IHS Markit, France’s Composite Output Index that reflects its manufacturing and services economy remained in contraction mode at 47.9 in January, down from 48.7 in December. As a reminder, a reading below 50 indicates a contraction, while one above 50 indicates growth. Against that backdrop, it’s not shocking to read that European Central Bank President Mario Draghi say “The European Central Bank is ready to use all its policy tools to support Europe’s softening economy, including by restarting a recently shelved bond-buying program.” As for the U.K., consumer confidence with respect to the economic outlook fell to a 7-year low in January.

 

China Slows

China has the second largest economy in the world and will soon replace the US as the world’s largest retail market as it benefits from the tailwinds in our New Global Middle Class investing theme. What happens in China matters to the rest of the world. For example, China has become the largest importer of wood in the world and the largest exporter of things made from wood, ranging from furniture to flooring. While China’s economy will eclipse that of the US, growth doesn’t come in a straight line and we are seeing warning signs:

  • China’s economy has slowed 6.4% in the fourth quarter of 2018, the third consecutive deceleration. Growth slowed to 6.6% in 2018, the slowest growth since 1990 when sanctions were imposed following the Tiananmen Square massacre.
  • Manufacturing PMI in January stood at 49.5 and was 49.4 in December, showing 2 consecutive months of contraction.
  • Property sales, which had been a reliable source of growth which took advantage of borrowing opportunities have been slowing.
  • The growth in retail sales has fallen to its lowest level in more than 15 years.
  • Sales of cars fell last year for the first time in more than two decades.
  • Companies have started cutting back hiring and incomes are growing more slowly, weighing on consumer sentiment. The middle three quintiles of China’s population by income distribution saw earnings increase by only about 2% last year in real terms.
  • Defaults are on the rise. Corporate bond defaults reached 19 billion yuan in the first half of 2018 versus 14 billion in the same period of 2017. Smaller banks in rural areas, which would be the first to feel the pain, are seeing rising levels of bad loans.

As a result, China is letting up on its drive to deleverage its economy and Chinese investment into Europe and America fell by 73% in 2018. China has already pivoted towards more supportive economic policies. It has sped up spending on infrastructure, trimmed income taxes and relaxed some restraints on bank lending. China has a massive population that it needs to keep employed and was the world’s engine during the last financial crisis, providing a floor under demand as much of the rest of the world was crashing.

 

What If They Are Wrong?

The US today has the highest non-financial private sector debt to GDP ratio in history. Overall the global debt to GDP ratio is the highest we’ve ever seen. Most likely the Fed tightening cycle has come to an end and the next thing we are most likely to see is easing, but this time perhaps that cure is already used up?

We’ve already seen materially diminishing returns from Fed stimulus efforts in the past.

What if this time around the only central bank that truly matters is China’s?

What if China decides to alter its monetary policy, its peg to the dollar, to help its slowing economy thereby creating a cascade across the east as its neighbors scramble to respond?

What if the only bank in the world that can affect asset prices this time, that can actually create inflation is the one for the biggest consumer of raw materials in the world, the one in the East at the People’s Bank of China while everyone is looking the other way?

What if indeed…

How many investors are factoring that into their thinking? Is President Trump contemplating that as US-China trade talks continue? We’ll be watching so stay tuned.

 

 

As the Market Bounces Off Oversold Conditions, is this the Start of Another Bull Run?

As the Market Bounces Off Oversold Conditions, is this the Start of Another Bull Run?

Market Reversal

So far in 2019, we are seeing a reversal of the heavily oversold conditions from the end of 2018. Those stocks that were hit the hardest in 2018 are materially outperforming the broader market in 2019. For example, through the close on January 16, 62% of stocks in the Financial sector were above their 50-day moving average, the highest of any sector, versus 44% for the S&P 500 overall. To put that into perspective, Financials have not been the top performer for this metric in 273 trading days, the second-longest such streak since 2001 and only the fourth streak ever of more than 200 trading days. It isn’t just financials as the Energy sector, which was the worst performing sector in 2018, has the third highest percent of stocks above their 50-day in 2019.

While impressive looking, this shift doesn’t necessarily bode well for the Financial sector, nor for the broader market according to data compiled by Bespoke Investment Group.

 

Stock Performance After Streaks Ended

 

 

This recent outperformance by Financials in 2019 is particularly fascinating when I talk to my colleagues at various major financial institutions. Here are a few of the comments I’ve been hearing, paraphrased and without attribution for obvious reasons:

“This deal is way too small for you guys, but I wanted to let you know that our team is working on it.” –  (M&A consultant)

“Send it over.We are so late in the cycle that we are looking at damn near anything.” –  (Partner at one of the largest global private equity firms)

“What can we do to better serve your company? We are making a major push this year into better serving companies of this size.” –  (Partner at one of biggest investment banks to a very surprised member of the Board of Directors of a recently IPO’d company whose market cap would have normally left it well below the bank’s radar. After some investigation, many other board members for companies of a similar size in the sector have been getting the same phone calls from this bank.)

The big financial institutions are having to work their way downstream to find things to work on – that’s a major peak cycle indicator and does not bode well for margins. It also doesn’t bode well for the small and medium-sized institutions that will likely need to become more price competitive to win deals in this new more competitive playing field.

We have also seen some wild moves in a few of our favorites such as Thematic Leader Netflix (NFLX), which reported its earnings after the close on January 17th. Netflix sits at the intersection of our Digital Lifestyle and Disruptive Innovators investing themes and has seen its share price fall over 40% from the July 2018 all-time highs to bottom out on December 24th. Since then, as of market’s close on January 17, shares gained nearly 50% – in around all of 100 trading hours! While about 10% of that can be attributed to the recent price increase that will amount to about $2 or so per month for subscribers, there are greater forces at work for a move of such magnitude. No one can argue that either direction was based on fundamentals, but rather a market that is experiencing major changes.

One of the most important leading indicators as we start the Q4 earnings seasons was the miss by FedEx (FDX) and the negative guidance the company provided for the upcoming quarters. FedEx’s competitor United Parcel Service (UPS) is part of our Digital Lifestyle investing theme – how are all those online and mobile purchases going to get to you? Both FedEx and UPS are critical leading indicator because they touch all aspects of the economy and transportation services, in general, have been posting some weak numbers lately in terms of both jobs and latest price data.

In what could be reflective of both our Middle Class Squeeze investing theme, Vail Resorts (MTN) also gave a negative pre-announcement, stating that its pre-holiday period saw much lower volumes than anticipated despite good weather conditions and more open trains. The sour end of the year in the investment markets and the weakness we’ve seen in markets around the world may have led many decided to forgo some fun in the snow. We’ll be keeping a close eye on consumer spending patterns, particularly by income level in the months to come.

Investor Sentiment Slips

According to the American Association of Individual Investors, bearish investor sentiment peaked at 50.3% on December 26, right after the market bottomed. Bullish sentiment over the past month rose from 20.9% to 38.5% but then stalled this week, falling back to 33.5% as the markets reached resistance levels. Bullish sentiment is now back below the historic average but still well above the December lows. Bearish sentiment, on the other hand, is on the rise, up to 36.3% from last week’s 29.4%. This is just further indication that much of what we’ve seen so far in 2019 is a recovery from the earlier oversold conditions.

As we look at the unusual pace at which the major indices lost ground in the latter part of 2018 and the sharp reversal in recent weeks, I can’t help but think of one of the many aspects of our Aging of the Population investment theme. A large portion of the most powerful demographic of asset owners is either in or shortly moving into retirement. Many already had their retirement materially postponed by the losses incurred during the financial crisis. They are now 10+ years older, which means they have less time to recover from any losses and have not forgotten the damage done in the last market correction. I suspect that we are likely to see more unusual market movements in the years to come than we have since the Boomer generation entered into the asset gathering phase of life back in the 60s and 70s. Today this group has a shorter investment horizon and cannot afford the kinds of losses they could 20+ years ago.

The Shutdown and the Fed

Aside from a rebound against the oversold conditions, another dynamic that has the market in a more optimistic mood, at least for the near term, is the narrative that the government shutdown is good news for interest rates as it will likely keep the Federal Reserve on hold. Given that estimates are this shutdown will cost the economy roughly 0.5% of GDP per month, it would be reasonable for the Fed to stay its hand.

Inflation certainly isn’t putting pressure on the Fed. US Producer Prices fell -0.2% last month versus expectations for a -0.1% decline. The bigger surprise came from core ex-food and ex-energy index which fell -0.1% versus expectations for an increase of +0.2%. Keep in mind that core PPI declines less than 15% of the time, so this is meaningful and gives Powell and the rest of the FOMC ample cover to hold off on any hikes at the next meeting.

US import prices fell -1% month-over-month in December after a -1.9% decline in November, putting the year-over-year trend at -0.6%. That’s the first negative year-over-year print since August 2014. Yet another sign that inflation is rolling over.

 

Economy Flashing Warning Signs

Despite all the hoopla earlier this month over the December’s job’s report, this month’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) report showed that for the first time since the end of 2017 and just the 6thtime in this business cycle, hirings, job openings and voluntary quits fell while layoffs increased in November.

By digging further into the details of the Household survey as well we see that people holding onto more than one job rose +117k in December, accounting for over 80% of the total employment gain. On top of that, the number of unincorporated self-employed rose +126k. These two are things we normally see when times are tough, not when the economy is firing on all cylinders. Not to be a Negative Nancy or Debbie Downer here, but the prime-working-age (25-54) employment shrunk -11k in December on top of 48k the month before. This was before things started to get really scary for many workers with the government shutdown. Imagine how many more are now looking for a second job to make ends meet while they wait for those inside the beltway to work this mess out.

We also got a materially weak New York Empire Manufacturing survey report this week that saw New Orders decline for the second consecutive month and a sharp drop in the 6-month expectation index. The New York Federal Reserve’s recession risk model is now placing odds of a recession by the end of 2019 at over 21%, having more than doubled since this time last year and having reached the highest level in 10 years. Powell and his team at the Fed have plenty of reasons to hold off on hikes. I wouldn’t be surprised if their next move is actually to cut.

 

NY Fed Recession Probability

 

Risks, what risks, we don’t see no stinking risks

US economy isn’t as strong as the headlines would make you think. The political dialogue going back and forth while on the one hand entertaining in a reality TV I-cannot-believe-he/she-just-said-that kind of way isn’t so funny when we look at the severity of problems that need to be addressed – excessive debt loads, a bankrupt social security program, a mess of a healthcare sector – just to name a few. The market today isn’t pricing much of this in, and based on the year to date move in the major market indices, particularly not the potential economic damage the government shutdown if the situation worsens.

If we look outside the US, the market’s indifference is impressive. UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit plan suffered a blistering defeat in Parliament, the largest such defeat on record for over 100 years, leaving the entire Brexit question more uncertain than ever and it is scheduled to occur just over two months away. In the two days post the Brexit vote back in 2016 the Dow lost 870 points and the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) rose 49%. This time around the equity markets were utterly disinterested and the VIX actually fell 3.5% – go figure. A messy Brexit has the potential to have a material impact on global trade and yet we basically just got a yawn from the stock market.

Over in Europe flat is the new up with Germany’s GDP expected to come in every so slightly positive and this is a nation that accounts for around one-third of all output in the euro area – with China a major customer. Overall, Eurozone imports and exports fell -2% in November.

The other major exporter, Japan, just saw its machinery orders fall -18.3% in December after falling -17% in November. Japan already had a negative GDP quarter in Q3 and the latest data we’ve seen on income and spending aren’t giving us much to be positive about for the nation.

The Trade War continues with some lip service on either side occasionally giving the markets brief moments to cheer on some potential (rather than actual) signs of progress. The overall global slowing coupled with the trade wars is having an effect. China’s exports for December were far worse than expected, -4.4% from year-ago levels vs expectations for +2%. Last week Reuters reported that China has lowered its GDP target for 2019 to a range of 6% to 6.5%, which is well below the 6.6% reported output gain widely expected last year which itself is the weakest figure since 1990. Retail sales growth has fallen to a 15-year low as auto sales contracted 4.1% in 2018, the first annual decline in 28 years. With a massive level of leverage in its economy, banking assets of $39.1 trillion as of Sept. 30, and nearly half of the $80.7 trillion 2017 world GDP, (according to the World Bank) waning economic growth could be a very big problem and not just for China. We’ll be watching this as it develops given our Rise of the New Middle-class and Living the Life investing themes.

The bottom line is we’ve been seeing the markets bounce off seriously oversold conditions after a breathtakingly rapid descent. The fundamentals both domestically and internationally are not giving us reason to think that this bounce is the start of another major bull run. With all the uncertainty out there, despite the market’s recent “feel good” attitude, we expect to see rising volatility in the months to come as these problems are not going to be easily sorted out.

 

October Buy-the-Dip Trick or Treat?

October Buy-the-Dip Trick or Treat?

 

So much for the typical October strength in equities – a month in which the major US indices historically have gained ground 75% of the time. We’ve seen major index support levels broken while earnings beats have been smaller than we’ve seen over the past year with revenue and forward guidance giving investors jitters.

Over the summer and through September we warned that this earnings season would likely be a very bumpy ride as earnings would probably be decent, but guidance would not support the market’s multiples. Our concerns have proven warranted. Overall this earnings season the average company that has reported saw its shares fall 2% on its earnings reaction day – if this keeps up it will be the worst stock performance reaction on record since 2001.

How bad has it been?

  • On Wednesday, October 24, the Nasdaq had its worst daily drop since 2011, closing the day down over 10% from its recent highs and by the close of the trading day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 had lost all their gains for the year. If the market’s close in the red again Friday, the S&P 500 will have closed down 15 days during the month thus far, the most since 2012.
  • The FAANGM stocks entered a bear market this week, losing 4.4% on Wednesday – the worst decline since August 2011.
  • The Global MSCI All World Index hit a 14-month low, in bear market territory with a more than 20% decline since the January highs, losing 11% in October alone – the biggest decline since the financial crisis. This week only 4 of the 47 countries in the MSCI all country world index were above their 200-day moving average.
  • Homebuilder stocks have fallen more than 40% from their January highs – the canary in the consumer coal mine. New home sales plunged 5.5% in September versus expectations for a -0.6% decline as the supply of homes for sale rose +2.8% (the sixth consecutive increase) to the highest level since 2008 while demand has fallen to a 2-year low. Tell me again how great that consumer is doing and how they might contend with 5% mortgages? As those homes become more expensive to purchase, fewer Middle-Class Squeeze consumers will be filling out a mortgage application.
  • The only two S&P 500 sectors in the green this month are defensive – Consumer Staples (+1%) in the midst of its longest winning streak since November 2009 and Utilities (+3%). Even one of the must-have lifelines for our Digital Lifestyle investing theme mobile service wasn’t a safe haven as AT&T (T) shares fell some 9% this week hitting a new 52-week low in the process.
  • This week the Russell 2000 small cap index fell over 15% from its highs, closing Wednesday just 5 points away from a new 52-week low.
  • After spending 262 consecutive days above its 200-day moving average, oil closed this week below that marker. Streaks of such magnitude have only happened two other times over the past 30 years – April 10, 2000, which ended a 272-day streak and September 2, 2008, which ended a 330-day streak. Those dates are worth noting.
  • The first 18 trading days in October have seen a daily open to close loss 83.3% of the time, besting the previous 75% record in September of 2000. If the market rallies from open to close on the next 4 trading days, October’s closed in the red versus open will be 65.2% of days – the worst for any single month since October 2008 which was at the height of the financial crisis – and that is the very BEST we could hope for.

Investors are taking note with the weekly sentiment survey from AAII reporting that bullish sentiment fell to 27.9% from 34%, the fourth weakest reading for bullish sentiment this year. Bearish sentiment rose from 35% to 41%, the highest reading since the last week of June. Other indicators, such as the CNN Fear & Greed Index which fell to Extreme Fear (6) this week from Greed (64) a month ago, also point to increasing investor unease.

 

What is driving all this is the market starting to sync up with the reality of geopolitics and economics.

  • The era of central bank continual infusions of liquidity is over. The flow has not only stopped, but in the case of the US, reversed course.
  • We are facing trade wars and tariffs. The recent Federal Reserve Beige book was packed full of executives complaining about the impact of such on their businesses.
  • A decent portion of the domestic economic acceleration has been thanks to unsustainable fiscal deficits. The market is just starting to figure that out as the headlines move from cheerleaders to more rationale skeptics. Our Safety & Security investing theme is making headlines as a solid portion of growth has been driven by increases in defense spending which shifted from an average annual -2.1% rate of decline from June 2009 to March 2017 to a +2.9% average annual rate of increase since April 2017.
  • The Italian problem is not going away. It is too big to save and to say its current leadership is incompetent is putting it mildly, (as someone who lives a good portion of my time in Genoa of the collapsed bridge fame) and the clock is ticking on its sovereign debt bomb. As an example of the breathtaking level of incompetence, after two months basically no progress has been made on replacing that bridge despite its vital importance to not only Italy’s economy but to the greater Eurozone given its link to a major port.
  • China is in a full bear market, its economy is saddled with a staggering level of debt, and the Chinese yuan has dropped to its lowest level versus the dollar in a decade. We are watching these and other data points with an eye toward our Rise of the Global Middle-Class investing theme.
  • Geopolitical tensions are mounting around the world and the current Saudi situation highlights just how much the balance of global power is shifting.

 

The big question is where do we go from here?

Just 13% of stocks in the S&P 500 are above their 200-day moving average – these are mostly in the aforementioned Consumer Staples and Utilities sectors. This level has only occurred a few times in the past, marking just how oversold near-term the market has become. There is not one Energy or Industrial sector stock above its 50-day moving average. Rebounds are to be expected with such near-term oversold conditions.

Looking at the economics, the Citigroup Global Economic Surprise Index has been in negative territory, (meaning more data coming in below expectations than above) since April – the longest stretch in 4 years. The October Eurozone PMI fell to a 25-month low. Back in the US, the Richmond Federal Reserve local business conditions index for services hit a 7-year low, similar to what we’ve seen on the manufacturing side.

The employment situation is increasingly worrisome. The Richmond Fed’s wage expectations index for 6 months out recently jumped dramatically up to a level not seen since March 2000 as the available pool of labor has dropped to an 11-year low. Looking at who has been getting jobs recently, 70% of job gains over the past 6 months and 100% over the past 4 months have gone to folks with just a high-school degree or less. While we love to see more people getting jobs, from the corporate side of things, that means that companies are having to hire those with the weakest skill set. Great for the person getting a job as they can now develop more skills, but brutal for the employer who is facing weaker productivity as a result – that hurts earnings which are already facing rising costs from tariffs and trade wars as well as rising interest rates.

The bottom line is we are likely to see some interim rebounds, but it doesn’t look like the market is yet in sync with global realities. We have been pointing out for months that US stocks indices have been outperforming the rest of the world to a degree that was simply not sustainable.

The market is starting to appreciate the magnitude of the fiscal stimulus economic sugar high, that trade wars aren’t so easily won, that geopolitical risks are material, that the change in central bank liquidity flows matters and that future earnings growth is likely slower. We haven’t even gotten started when it comes to the fireworks I’m expecting from the Italian situation. We are likely to see the occasional rebound, but my money is that more pain is yet to come. That is great news for those that are focused on solid, long-term investing themes like the ones we have developed at Tematica Research, and have a shopping list of stocks ready for the bargains that will be coming our way.

 

 

Tematica’s Recast New Middle Class Investing Theme

Tematica’s Recast New Middle Class Investing Theme

 

Key Points from this Alert:

  • We are completing the recasting of the Rise & Fall of the Middle Class investment theme with an introduction to the New Middle Class theme. 
  • We are adding International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) shares back to the Tematica Investing Select List as part of the New Middle Class investment theme with a Buy rating and a $165 price target.

 

As part of constantly revisiting and testing our investing themes, from time to time we will make changes and enhancement to them. As part of that ongoing effort, we recently re-cast part of our Rise & Fall of the Middle Class investing theme. You can read about the change in detail by clicking here, but in summary, what we did was combine the aspect of the theme that deals with the struggling middle-class in the United States (the “Fall” part of the investment theme) and combined it with our Cash-Strapped Consumer theme to form the Middle Class Squeeze. That move left Rise of the New Middle Class, which we’ve shortened to the New Middle Class. This investing theme focuses on areas around the world, notably China and India, but other emerging markets as well where rising disposable incomes are driving demand for a host of products and services.

Why this focus on the middle class?

The middle-class is one of the primary engines behind consumption and domestic demand, in other words, a key part of the domestic economic engine. And while the middle class is under pressure in the U.S. and other mature markets, according to data published by the Brookings Institute, the middle class is set to grow worldwide by 160 million people per year on average through 2030. Let’s put some perspective around that — the size of the “global middle class” was 1.8 billion in 2009 and is expected to reach 3.2 billion by 2020 and then reach 4.9 billion by 2030.

Where is the vast majority of that middle-class growth slated to come from? Almost 90% of the next billion entrants into the global middle class will be in Asia: 380 million Indians, 350 million Chinese, and 210 million other Asians. In comparison, on a combined basis North America and Europe are expected to account for only a fifth of the world’s middle-class population, down from more than half in 2010.

And as the size of the middle class goes, so too does its influence on consumption. By 2030, North America and Europe are expected to account for 30% of the world’s middle-class consumption vs. 64% in 2010. Taking over the pole position and representing nearly 60% of middle-class consumption, as one might expect, is Asia with India and China slated to account for more than two-thirds of that consumption. In 2010, Asia represented just 23% of global middle-class consumption.

By 2020 in China, mainstream consumers are expected to for 51% of the urban population compared to 6% in 2010 and 1% in 2000 per McKinsey. While their absolute level of wealth will remain quite low compared with that of consumers in developed countries, this group of167 million households (close to 400 million people), will set the standard for consumption, capable of affording family cars and small luxury items. The result is a surge in discretionary spending that in part reflects aspirational drivers, such as consumers looking to improve themselves, the way they live, and their perceived social standing.

As these dynamics unfold in China, over time they will be replicated in India and other emerging markets. According to NCAER, India’s middle-class population would be 267 million in 2016. Further ahead, by 2025-26 the number of middle-class households in India is likely to more than double from the 2015-16 levels to 113.8 million households or 547 million individuals.

What is expected to unfold over the coming years is a significant shift in consumption dynamics that will favor the emerging economies like China, India, and larger Asia as well as Africa and several South American countries in the coming years.

According to research firm McKinsey & Company, these consumers tend to become more selective about where they spend their money, shifting from products to services and from mass to premium segments, seeking a more balanced life where health, family, and experiences take priority. Those findings also revealed the growth of premium segments is outpacing that of the mass and value segments, and foreign brands still hold a leadership position in the premium market.

Is it any wonder that Apple (AAPL) CEO Tim Cook has talked about the long-term, favorable demand dynamics in India and what it could mean for Apple’s businesses? If we look at forecasts for refrigerator, washing machines and other kitchen appliances, India is often cited as one of the key growth markets. But it’s not alone, sales of refrigerators, television sets, mobile phones, motors and automobiles have surged in virtually every African country in recent years as has car and motorcycle purchases.

Like any snowball that rolls downhill, it’s a slow start at first, but as time moves forward so too does the size and momentum of that snowball. The same is poised to happen with this new middle class and it’s increasing buying power. The ensuing ripple effects, however, will put pressure on global resources as they become wealthier and aspire to Western living standards. Their appetite for products, food, energy, housing and transport stimulates consumption, driving their economies, but that incremental demand will drive prices for products and services, and especially for scarce resources higher.

 

New Middle Class bodes well for International Flavors & Fragrances

The growth in discretionary spending as well as the growing importance of premium and branded products across a variety of categories. In keeping with our “buy the bullets, not the guns” investing strategy, we find International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF), whose scent and flavor solutions are found in a variety of consumer products, ranging from fine fragrances and beauty, detergents and household goods, and food and beverages. Moreover, the management team is focused on the emerging markets by leveraging its customer appetite to grow their businesses in emerging markets. Key customers include Procter & Gamble (PG), Unilever (UN), Colgate- Palmolive (CL), Estée Lauder (EL) and PepsiCo (PEP), and the top 25 account for a little more than 50% of IFF’s revenue. IFF derives roughly half of its revenue from the emerging markets.

In its latest report, “Global Markets for Flavors and Fragrances,” Research and Markets forecasts the global market to grow from $26 billion in 2015 to $37 billion by 2021 — an overall increase of more than 40%. We see fairly steady demand for the company’s flavors and fragrances in more mature markets given the participation in inelastic product categories such as personal care products (toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, body and others) as well as household ones like detergents, softeners, cleaners and air fresheners. On top of that demand base, international demand in the emerging economies should continue to benefit from rising incomes and the continued adoption of the Western lifestyle when it comes to the personal care, household, food and beverage products that contain the company’s flavors and fragrance solutions. We see faster growth dynamics in those markets as consumers trade up in lifestyle.

What we find most fascinating about IFF’s business is, whether in flavors or fragrances, its products account for 1% to 5% of total product cost but influence the product’s scent or flavor that is responsible for repeat purchases. When was the last time something tasted or smelled awful and you opted to get more?

IFF’s business is also benefitting from the ongoing shift in consumer preference to natural and organic products. With its line of 100% pure and natural line of ingredients and extracts, IFF is well positioned to capitalize on this shift as its existing and prospective customers look to reformulate their products to exclude sugar and other “bad for you” ingredients without sacrificing taste or flavor. Helping accelerate its exposure to that additional tailwinds, in May IFF acquired Frutarom, a flavors, savory solutions and natural ingredients company that sells over 70,000 products to more than 30,000 customers in over 150 countries. With 43% of its 2017 revenue derived from the emerging markets up from 27% in 2010, and more than 75% of its sales comprised of natural products, Frutarom bolsters IFF’s exposure to both the New Middle Class and the global shift to natural, organic products.

The combination of inelastic demand in the mature markets, the rising demand for in the emerging markets and synergies to be had with the integration of Frutarom solidifies the company’s earnings growth prospects over the coming years. Current consensus expectations have IFF serving up EPS of $6.31 this year and $6.80 per share next year, up from $5.89 last year. That earnings growth bodes well for continued dividend increases in the coming quarters, continuing the company’s increasing dividend track record. Its current quarterly dividend sits at $0.69, up from $0.31 in the first half of 2012.

Owing to the escalating trade and tariff talk of the last few months that have also spared a move higher in the dollar, IFF share have fallen more than 20% thus far in 2018, which leaves them trading at a dividend yield near 2.25%. This is in line with trough dividend yield levels at which IFF shares have traded over the last decade-plus. This suggests that the worst has been priced into the shares, which for patient investors offers a favorable risk to reward to get into the shares and take advantage of the longer-term drivers laid out above. Historically, IFF shares have peaked near a dividend year of 1.7%, which, assuming no other dividend increase, yields upside in the shares to $165.

As we recast our New Middle Class investing theme, we are calling out shares of International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) as a top New Middle Class pick:

  • We are adding International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) shares back to the Tematica Investing Select List with a Buy rating and a $165 price target.

 

Examples of companies riding the New Middle-Class Tailwind

  • Alibaba (BABA)
  • MakeMyTrip (MMYT)
  • Nu Skin Enterprises (NUS)
  • Colgate Palmolive (CL) – 30% of oral care is to Asia
  • Proctor & Gamble (PG) – 32% of sales is Asia-Pac, China, Latin America, IMEA
  • McCormick & Co. (MKC)
  • McDonalds (MCD) — International Foundation Markets account for 43% of sales
  • Nike (NKE) – 30% of Nike branded sales are from Central & Eastern Europe, China, and the Emerging Markets

 

WEEKLY ISSUE: Trade and Tariffs, the Words of the Week

WEEKLY ISSUE: Trade and Tariffs, the Words of the Week

 

KEY POINTS FROM THIS WEEK’S ISSUE:

  • We are issuing a Sell on the shares of MGM Resorts (MGM) and removing them from the Tematica Investing Select List.
  • While the markets are reacting mainly in a “shoot first and ask questions later” nature, given the widening nature of the recent tariffs there are several safe havens that patient investors must consider.
  • We are recasting several of our Investment Themes to better reflect the changing winds.

 

Investor Reaction to All the Tariff Talk

Over the last two days, the domestic stock market has sold off some 16.7 points for the S&P 500, roughly 0.6%. That’s far less than the talking heads would suggest as they focus on the Dow Jones Industrial Average that has fallen more than 390 points since Friday’s close, roughly 1.6%. Those moves pushed the Dow into negative territory for 2018 and dragged the returns for the other major market indices lower. Those retreats in the major market indices are due to escalating tariff announcements, which are raising uncertainty in the markets and prompting investors to shoot first and ask questions later. We’ve seen this before, but we grant you the causing agent behind it this time is rather different.

What makes the current environment more challenging is not only the escalating and widening nature of the tariffs on more countries than just China, but also the impact they will have on supply chain part of the equation. So, the “pain” will be felt not just on the end product, but rather where a company sources its parts and components. That means the implications are wider spread than “just” steel and aluminum. One example is NXP Semiconductor (NXPI), whose chips are used in a variety of smartphone and other applications – the shares are down some 3.7% over the last two days.

With trade and tariffs being the words of the day, if not the week, we have seen investors bid up small-cap stocks, especially ones that are domestically focused. While the other major domestic stock market indices have fallen over the last few days, as we noted above, the small-cap, domestic-heavy Russell 2000 is actually up since last Friday’s close, rising roughly 8.5 points or 0.5% as of last night’s market close. Tracing that index back, as trade and tariff talk has grown over the last several weeks, it’s quietly become the best performing market index.

 

A Run-Down of the Select List Amid These Changing Trade Winds

On the Tematica Investing Select List, we have more than a few companies whose business models are heavily focused on the domestic market and should see some benefit from the added tailwinds the international trade and tariff talk is providing. These include:

  • Costco Wholesale (COST)
  • Dycom Industries (DY)
  • Habit Restaurants (HABT)
  • Farmland Partners (FPI)
  • LSI Industries (LYTS)
  • Paccar (PCAR)
  • United Parcel Services (UPS)

We’ve also seen our shares of McCormick & Co. (MKC) rise as the tariff back-and-forth has picked up. We attribute this to the inelastic nature of the McCormick’s products — people need to eat no matter what — and the company’s rising dividend policy, which helps make it a safe-haven port in a storm.

Based on the latest global economic data, it once again appears that the US is becoming the best market in the market. Based on the findings of the May NFIB Small Business Optimism Index, that looks to continue. Per the NFIB, that index increased in May to the second highest level in the NFIB survey’s 45-year history. Inside the report, the percentage of business owners reporting capital outlays rose to 62%, with 47% spending on new equipment, 24% acquiring vehicles, and 16% improving expanded facilities. Moreover, 30% plan capital outlays in the next few months, which also bodes well for our Rockwell Automation (ROK) shares.

Last night’s May reading for the American Trucking Association’s Truck Tonnage Index also supports this view. That May reading increased slightly from the previous month, but on a year over year basis, it was up 7.8%. A more robust figure for North American freight volumes was had with the May data for the Cass Freight Index, which reported an 11.9% year over year increase in shipments for the month. Given the report’s comment that “demand is exceeding capacity in most modes of transportation,” I’ll continue to keep shares of heavy and medium duty truck manufacturer Paccar (PCAR) on the select list.

The ones to watch

With all of that said, we do have several positions that we are closely monitoring amid the escalating trade and tariff landscape, including

  • Apple (AAPL),
  • Applied Materials (AMAT)
  • AXT Inc. (AXTI)
  • MGM Resorts (MGM)
  • Nokia (NOK)
  • Universal Display (OLED)

With Apple we have the growing services business and the eventual 5G upgrade cycle as well as the company’s capital return program that will help buoy the shares in the near-term. Reports that it will be spared from the tariffs are also helping. With Applied, China is looking to grow its in-country semi-cap capacity, which means semi- cap companies could see their businesses as a bargaining chip in the short-term. Longer- term, if China wants to grow that capacity it means an eventual pick up in business is likely in the cards. Other drivers such as 5G, Internet of Things, AR, VR, and more will spur incremental demand for chips as well. It’s pretty much a timing issue in our minds, and Applied’s increased dividend and buyback program will help shield the shares from the worst of it.

Both AXT and Nokia serve US-based companies, but also foreign ones, including ones in China given the global nature of smartphone component building blocks as well as mobile infrastructure equipment. Over the last few weeks, the case for 5G continues to strengthen, but if these tariffs go into effect and last, they could lead to a short-term disruption in their business models. Last week, Nokia announced a multi-year business services deal with Wipro (WIT) and alongside Nokia, Verizon (VZ) announced several 5G milestones with Verizon remaining committed to launching residential 5G in four markets during the back half of 2018. That follows the prior week’s news of a successful 5G test for Nokia with T-Mobile USA (TMUS) that paves the way for the commercial deployment of that network.

In those cases, I’ll continue to monitor the trade and tariff developments, and take action when are where necessary.

 

Pulling the plug on MGM shares

With MGM, however, I’m concerned about the potential impact to be had not only in Macau but also on China tourism to the US, which could hamper activity on the Las Vegas strip. While we’re down modestly in this Guilty Pleasure company, as the saying goes, better safe than sorry and that has us cutting MGM shares from the Select List.

  • We are issuing a Sell on the shares of MGM Resorts (MGM) and removing them from the Tematica Investing Select List

 

Sticking with the thematic program

On a somewhat positive note, as the market pulls back we will likely see well-positioned companies at better prices. Yes, we’ll have to navigate the tariffs and understand if and how a company may be impacted, but to us, it’s all part of identifying the right companies, with the right drivers at the right prices for the medium to long-term. That’s served us well thus far, and we’ll continue to follow the guiding light, our North Star, that is our thematic lens. It’s that lens that has led to returns like the following in the active Tematica Investing Select List.

  • Alphabet (GOOGL): 60%
  • Amazon (AMZN): 133%
  • Costco Wholesale (COST) : 30%
  • ETFMG Prime Cyber Security ETF (HACK): 34%
  • USA Technologies (USAT): 62%

Over the last several weeks, we’ve added several new positions – Farmland Partners (FPI), Dycom Industries (DY), Habit Restaurant (HABT) and AXT Inc. (AXTI) to the active select list as well as Universal Display (OLED) shares. As of last night’s, market close the first three are up nicely, but our OLED shares are once again under pressure amid rumor and speculation over the mix of upcoming iPhone models that will use organic light emitting diode displays. When I added the shares back to the Select List, it hinged not on the 2018 models but the ones for 2019. Let’s be patient and prepare to use incremental weakness to our long-term advantage.

 

Recasting Several of our investment themes

Inside Tematica, not only are we constantly examining data points as they relate to our investment themes we are also reviewing the investing themes that we have in place to make sure they are still relevant and relatable. As part of that exercise and when appropriate, we’ll also rename a theme.

Over the next several weeks, I’ll be sharing these repositions and renamings with you, and then providing a cheat sheet that will sum up all the changes. As I run through these I’ll also be calling out the best-positioned company as well as supplying some examples of the ones benefitting from the theme’s tailwinds and ones marching headlong into the headwinds.

First up, will be a recasting of our Rise & Fall of the Middle-Class theme.  As the current name suggests, there are two aspects of this theme — the “Rise” and the “Fall” part. It can be confusing to some, so we’re splitting it into two themes.  The “Rise” portion will be “The New Global Middle Class” and will reflect the rapidly expanding middle class markets particularly in Asia and South America. On the other hand, the “Fall” portion will be recast as “The Middle Class Squeeze” to reflect the shrinking middle class in the United States and the realities that poses to our consumer-driven economy.

We’ll have a detailed report to you in the coming days on the recasting of these two themes, how it impacts the current Select List as well as other companies we see as well-positioned given the tailwinds of each theme.

 

 

Checking the 2017 Corn Harvest and our Teucrium Corn Fund shares

Checking the 2017 Corn Harvest and our Teucrium Corn Fund shares

Key Points from This Post:

  • We remain long-term bullish on Teucrium Corn Fund (CORN) shares given a new China-related wrinkle that could reshape supply-demand dynamics for corn.

  • Near-term, we are entering the peak harvest season for Corn, and we’re watching the weather in the western domestic corn region that could crimp this year’s harvest, which is already shaping up to be the weakest in the last four years.

  • Our long-term price target on CORN shares remains $25

 

In mid-July, we added shares of the Teucrium Corn Fund (CORN) to the Tematica Investing Select List as a Rise & Fall of the Middle Class and Scarce Resource investment theme play on one of the most widely used and consumed commodities – corn. Since that addition of those CORN shares, even though they are off their late August bottom at $17.13, the position is still down 11.5% as of last night’s market close. While we are patient investors, we are human (yes, it’s true!) and that can lead to bouts of frustration with a position. When that happens, being the professional investors that we are, we turn back to the investing premise that led to adding the shares in the first place, checking the data along the way to determine if the thesis remains intact. If it is, then we will remain patient; if not, then we have some decisions to make.

In the case of corn supply-demand dynamics, the below chart is the latest data from the Crop Progress Report published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agriculture Statistics Service (NASS):

 

 

What the data above depicts is the current corn crop is shaping up to be the weakest in the last four years. The same data set shows a growing percentage of the current corn crop is in Poor or Very Poor condition. If this condition persists, let alone rises, it will impact the coming harvest. Simple supply-demand dynamics means a weaker than expected supply will likely lead to higher corn prices.

What this means is we’ll be watching the progress of the 2017 harvest, and September-October is the peak time for that activity. As of this past Sunday night, just 7% of the U.S. corn crop had been harvested vs. the 5-year average of 11%. While that may seem like a small percentage difference, remember that’s on a base of millions of metric tons.

What’s likely to hamper the harvest and its yield this year is the weather. While the weather in the eastern corn-growing region of the U.S. is looking favorable with dryer, warmer weather, it’s looking rather different in the western corn belt that is the eastern Dakotas, Minnesota, and northern Iowa. In that region, forecasts are calling for dramatically cooler temperatures that could result in scattered frost next week. If that happens, we are likely to see the percentage of the current corn crop that is Poor/Very Poor climb past the current 39% level. Such a move would boost corn prices as well as our CORN shares.

Further complicating the corn supply-demand equation in the medium to longer-term is news that China plans to dramatically boost ethanol use in its gasoline supply, moving to E10 blends by 2020 to help combat pollution and smog. If this move comes to pass, it could lead to a meaningful shift in corn demand dynamics given that China is the world’s largest car market, but is the third largest consumer of ethanol fuel. According to S&P Global Platts, China has the “capacity to produce maybe a billion gallons of ethanol, and that would have to be increased ten-fold to get to this E-10 mandate.” That sound you just heard was eyebrows being popped higher on what that could mean for corn prices.

Near-term we will continue to monitor the weather and what it means to the current corn crop. Should milder than expected weather emerge, and weigh on corn prices in the coming weeks, we’ll look to use that weakness to improve our long-term position in CORN shares given the potential game changer in corn demand in the medium-term.