Latest from BCA Research
In this Strategy Outlook, we present the major investment themes and views we see playing out for the rest of 2023 and beyond.
Despite higher oil prices, Colombian risk assets will underperform their EM peers in the months ahead. The domestic economy is evolving from stagflation into recession, and fiscal and political risks will raise the risk premium of Colombian assets. Take profits on the yield curve inversion trade and stay short COP vs. USD.
Magnificent Seven have outperformed the market by 42.3% YTD, but over the past few weeks, their rally has stalled. This short insight explores the reasons why and ultimately concludes that the pull back is justified and likely has more to go.
Bulls and bears have capitulated, and the majority of the clients surveyed expect a rangebound market in the near term. Our fair value PE NTM indicates that the S&P 500 is only modestly overvalued. The continued outperformance of the Magnificent Seven faces multiple hurdles. Meanwhile, fiscal spending is unlikely to create an impetus for another leg up in equity performance.
European stocks and the euro continue to weaken; soon, they will test the bottom of their recent trading range. Which sectors can protect investors against this downdraft?
US fiscal, monetary, and foreign policies are unlikely to deliver any dovish surprises for investors in Q4, due to the impending government shutdown, persistent inflation, and instability among OPEC+ and China.
Emergency pandemic fiscal and monetary policy measures buffered households and nonfinancial corporate businesses in ways that have acted to lengthen the lags between monetary policy changes and their effect on the economy. We believe, however, the extended lags are merely delaying the recession, not cancelling it. We expect to downgrade equities on a tactical basis from equal weight to underweight soon.
We continue to expect Brent crude to trade just above $101/bbl in 4Q23, and to average $118/bbl in 2024. Higher volatility looms. We expect Russia will cut oil production next year as part of a concerted effort to undermine Biden’s re-election. Oil-demand volatility is set to rise in response to divergent policy imperatives. We continue to favor equity exposure to oil and gas via the XOP ETF; direct exposure via the COMT ETF, and long Dec23 $100/bbl Brent calls. We are getting long Jan-Feb-Mar 2024 Brent futures vs. short the same months in 2025 expecting steeper backwardation as inventories draw and markets tighten.
The global downturn will be shallower than it was in 2008 and in 2020 but will last for longer. The primary reason for a more prolonged downturn is that policymakers in the US, Europe, and China will be reluctant to proactively and aggressively stimulate. The combination of rising oil prices, an appreciating US dollar, and mounting US bond yields constitutes a triple whammy for US share prices.