The LPL Research Outlook 2019: FUNDAMENTAL: How to Focus on What Really Matters in the Markets is here to provide insightful commentary, economic and market guidance, and LPL Researches investment recommendations to help us navigate the year ahead.
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While the broad outline of a negotiating period was a positive takeaway from the trade agreement between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping at the G-20 summit, details remain elusive. Headlines following the meeting signaled a meaningful cooling of tensions as the Trump administration put a hold on further tariff increases during the negotiating period, and both sides raised their commitment to making progress on key issues. However, conflicting details contained in official statements and administration comments from both sides reminded markets of the potential challenges to finding common ground. Both sides continued to express optimism that a deal can be reached, and we remain optimistic as well; however, a number of tricky hurdles remain, and negotiations, even if successful, are likely to go through rough patches as both sides push for the best possible deal.
We view last week’s market decline as a retest of the October–November lows. The S&P 500 Index fell 4.6% last week, leaving the index in line with the low of the autumn correction and 10% off the September highs [Figure 1]. Losses were driven primarily by three issues: the risk that U.S.-China trade talks fall apart, concerns about a Federal Reserve (Fed) policy mistake, and sharply lower oil prices, all of which contributed to increasing concerns about slowing global growth or potential recession. This week, we summarize our views on these issues and discuss prospects for a potential stock market rebound based on technical analysis.
It was a great week for the stock market. The S&P 500 Index rallied 4.9% last week, leaving the index less than 6% from its record high, on September 20, 2018 (excluding today’s gains) [Figure 1]. Gains were driven by increasing optimism (now proven to be warranted) for progress on U.S.-China trade talks at the G20 summit over the weekend and a more dovish outlook from Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell (see today’s Weekly Economic Commentary for more). This week we share our thoughts on these major market-moving events and reiterate our positive stock market outlook.
Last week, dovish language from the Federal Reserve (Fed) fueled one of the strongest rallies in U.S. stocks this year. On November 28, the S&P 500 Index posted its biggest daily gain since March and the U.S. dollar dropped the most in two weeks after Fed Chair Jerome Powell said current interest rates are “just below neutral,” referring to the point where monetary policy is neither accommodative nor restrictive for the economy.
Business capital expenditures (capex) have grown solidly over the past two years after an oil-related contraction in 2015 and 2016. Part of the turnaround has been a natural rebound from those two years of slowdown, but fiscal stimulus is also playing an increasingly important role. Tax and spending packages passed in late 2017 and early 2018 have provided the economy with a $350 billion windfall that has helped raise business confidence and boost firms’ earnings, leading them to focus more on investing in their businesses for future growth [Figure 1]. Changes in tax laws have also allowed businesses to expense capital purchases, making them less expensive, and to bring their overseas profits back to the United States (known as repatriation), providing an additional lift to business spending. As a result, some measures of capex, manufacturing, and business confidence climbed to their highest levels of the business cycle in 2018.
Corporate America produced another outstanding earnings season. We expected another quarter of strong earnings growth, and corporate America delivered even more than we anticipated. Third quarter numbers were excellent, even if the boost from the new tax law is excluded, as has been the case throughout this year. Revenue and earnings upside compared with expectations was particularly impressive, making prior assertions of an earnings growth peak premature. We’re also impressed by the resilience of companies’ outlooks in the face of tariffs and ongoing trade policy uncertainty.
The U.S.-China trade dispute has carried on for about eight months, with no agreement in sight. To date, the U.S. has imposed tariffs on about $250 billion in Chinese goods, representing about half of what the U.S. imported from China last year. In turn, China has retaliated with its own tariffs on $100 billion in imported U.S. goods.
So far, the global economy has avoided a trade breakdown, as exports and imports are growing steadily for both the U.S. and China. However, small cracks are forming in the global economy due to the indirect impact of trade tensions, and leading trends show a prolonged dispute or more severe tariffs could exacerbate these effects.
In last week’s midterm election, Republicans held onto the Senate and the Democrats claimed control of the House, bringing potential gridlock to Congress. This week we discuss some investment implications, including highlighting the positive seasonal tailwinds now in place for stocks. We also discuss potential winners and losers at the sector level post-election, and some risks that the leadership change in Washington may present. Most importantly, with the election out of the way, we welcome the opportunity to focus on fundamentals, which we believe remain quite positive.
U.S. wage growth has been one of the most highly scrutinized economic trends recently. Investors watch average hourly earnings and employment cost data to gauge inflationary pressures, as wages represent up to 70% of business costs, and the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) dual mandate includes achieving stable prices.
So far, wage growth has been contained, but recent reports show wage pressures are rising. The October jobs report showed average hourly earnings grew at a 3.1% pace year over year, the first time annual growth has eclipsed 3% since April 2009. Employment Cost Index (ECI) data for the third quarter confirmed that compensation costs are growing at their fastest pace of the cycle [Figure 1].
