Trading Like Fed Is Done, Case For Valuation Expansion, EPS Sentiment Improves

This week in the podcast, we touch on hot topics and interesting things that jumped out in our inbound client questions and high frequency indicators. Four big things you need to know: First, recent sector leadership within the S&P 500 is consistent with what we’ve seen in the past after final Fed rate hikes. Second, we continue to find that investors are interested in debating what kind of P/E multiple the S&P 500 deserves in light of current interest rate and inflation assumptions. With this in mind, we’ve refreshed our valuation model which makes the case for valuation expansion as inflation moderates. Third, earnings revisions trends are getting less negative for most S&P 500 sectors, suggesting that sentiment around earnings is improving at the margin, helping explain why the stock market has surged despite estimates continuing to fall in dollar terms. Fourth, we highlight what jumped out from our high frequency indicators last week. Correlations within the S&P 500 and Russell 2000 are falling, and the most popular stocks in hedge funds are outperforming – positive data points for stock pickers and broader US equity market returns.