Brunch Reads – 10/20/24
Welcome to Bespoke Brunch Reads — a linkfest of some of our favorite articles over the past week. The links are mostly market-related, but there are some other interesting subjects covered as well. We hope you enjoy the food for thought as a supplement to the research we provide you during the week.
If you haven’t had a chance to listen yet, Paul Hickey joined Schwab’s On Investing with Liz Ann Sonders and Kathy Jones. Click the image below to listen.
Sails of Sydney: After fourteen years of construction, the Syndey Opera House officially opened on October 20th, 1973. The world-famous architectural masterpiece on Bennelong Point in Sydney, Australia, was designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon. His design was revolutionary for its time, incorporating a series of precast concrete shells that evoke the image of sails in the Sydney Harbor. The unique shape presented big structural issues, and Utzon resigned in 1966 before the project was ultimately finished. When the opera house finally opened, the ceremony was attended by over 1 million people and broadcast globally with fireworks displays, a speech by Queen Elizabeth II, and a performance of War and Peace. Since its opening, the Sydney Opera House has become a premier performing arts venue, hosting over 1,500 performances annually and drawing millions of visitors worldwide.
Population Trends
Worldwide Efforts to Reverse the Baby Shortage Are Falling Flat (WJ)
Even with perks like cheap loans, tax breaks, and paid leave, Europe’s efforts to boost birth rates aren’t working. In places like Hungary and Norway, where the government throws serious money at families, people still choose to have fewer kids. Much of it seems to come down to personal decisions regarding lifestyle, careers, and not feeling like having kids is the right move. So even with all these benefits, the cultural shift toward smaller families is sticking, and throwing more cash at the problem isn’t changing things. [Link]
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The Bespoke Report – 10/18/24 – 99 Problems, But the Market Ain’t One
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Daily Sector Snapshot — 10/18/24
Bespoke’s Morning Lineup — 10/18/24
See what’s driving market performance around the world in today’s Morning Lineup. Bespoke’s Morning Lineup is the best way to start your trading day. Read it now by starting a two-week trial to Bespoke Premium. CLICK HERE to learn more and start your trial.
“If machines are going to take jobs away from the worker, then he will need to find something else to do. Perhaps he’ll get back to the soil. But we must care for him during the period of change. We must keep him away from red literature, red ruses; we must see that his mind remains healthy.” – Al Capone
Below is a snippet of commentary from today’s Morning Lineup. Start a two-week trial to Bespoke Premium to view the full report.
The S&P 500 is up a half a percent, the Nasdaq 100 is down a half a percent, and the small-cap Russell 2,000 is up 2.2% on the week as we get set for Friday trading. But S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures are trading up about a half a percent ahead of today’s open on the back of strong earnings results from Netflix (NFLX) after the close yesterday.
As shown below, the S&P remains elevated relative to its normal trading range and its 10-day advance/decline line has just ticked slightly back into overbought territory as well.
The Closer – Small Caps, Hurricane Effects, Remodeling – 10/17/24
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Looking for deeper insight into markets? In tonight’s Closer sent to Bespoke Institutional clients, we start with a look into the outperformance of small cap stocks (page 1). We then review the latest manufacturing data from regional Fed banks (page 2) before switching over to a look at hurricane impacts on jobless claims (page 3). After reviewing the latest EIA data (page 4), we finish with a rundown on homebuilder and remodeler sentiment (page 5).
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Chart of the Day – China Corrects
Bespoke’s Weekly Sector Snapshot — 10/17/24
Bespoke’s Morning Lineup — 10/17/24 — TSM Rights the Ship
See what’s driving market performance around the world in today’s Morning Lineup. Bespoke’s Morning Lineup is the best way to start your trading day. Read it now by starting a two-week trial to Bespoke Premium. CLICK HERE to learn more and start your trial.
“Nothing’s worse than a guy who loses fair and square and then whines about it.” – Evel Knievel
Below is a snippet of commentary from today’s Morning Lineup. Start a two-week trial to Bespoke Premium to view the full report.
Retail sales, jobless claims, and the Philly Fed report all came in better than expected a few minutes ago at 8:30 AM ET, and we’ll have more coverage of these indicators later today.
After major chip-equipment manufacturer ASML spooked the Tech world earlier this week with a weaker than expected earnings report, Taiwan Semi (TSM) has helped to right the ship this morning with an earnings triple play (beat EPS, beat sales, raised guidance). The stock is reacting to the news extremely positively in pre-market trading. Shares are currently set to open higher by 9.1%, which would mark a new all-time high for the stock. As shown below, a 9.1% gap higher for TSM this morning would also be its most positive open following an earnings report since at least 2012.
Small-cap indices have been charging higher over the last week with the Russell 2,000 (IWM) up nearly 4% and the Micro-Cap ETF (IWC) up 6%. As shown below, small-cap index ETFs are currently the most overbought, then mid-caps, then large-caps. The Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQ) is actually down over the last week, but its price is still slightly overbought.
The Closer – Earnings, Commodity Check, China – 10/16/24
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Looking for deeper insight into markets? In tonight’s Closer sent to Bespoke Institutional clients, we lead off with a look at the latest earnings (page 1) followed by a check up on commodities (page 2). We then review today’s import and export price indices (page 3) before closing out with an overview in the streak of volatility in China and Bitcoin price action (page 4)
See today’s full post-market Closer and everything else Bespoke publishes by starting a 14-day trial to Bespoke Institutional today!