The stock market experienced swift and deep downward action last week. Part of the market selloff points to typical action by institutional investors and looks very similar to the February decline. This type of trade action includes Option Gamma Hedging strategies, where traders profit from increased sensitivity to an option’s price change measured by gamma. Much of this type of selling is believed to be behind us.
You also have the Trend Following crowd, once indexes made a strong move below the 50-day moving average selling and short exposure increased, which aggravates moves to the downside.
This week Volatility Sensitive Strategies (investment allocations that shift between cash and the S&P 500) and Risk Parity Strategies are expected to be active. Some trading desks suggest there’s around $355Bn allocated to this category of trading. Stock exposure for these strategies is believed to already be down to around 65% from 100%. Another 15% reduction is still expected.
Goldman Sachs reported good flows into their Corporate Buyback desk but as you can see in the chart below (Stockcharts.com & Dightman Capital), it was not enough to establish firm support. Trading volume on Friday was significantly below recovery rallies earlier in the year and selling volume for S&P 500 stocks was significantly higher.
The Tech Premium, the higher cost an investor is willing to pay for tech exposure versus other areas of the stock market has faded a bit and may have further to fall. One area contributing to the compression in tech stocks involves international growth. There is concern international market are going to fall into recession before they kick into a higher growth mode. Rising Costs are also weighing on tech. While top-line growth is steady, margins are being compressed as costs, like wages, are rising.
On the geopolitical front, Trade Talks with China should be quiet (but probably won’t be) leading up to the November G-20 meeting but Saudi trouble and the Price Of Oil is a new issue for the market to digest. Brexit talks are not progressing well with many obstacles remaining so that may be causing traders in Europe to sit on the sidelines.
Q3 Earnings ramp up this week, so we will know more about the health of corporate finance throughout the week. Disappointing results or poor guidance could send stocks lower.
A scenario is developing which could push stocks further into the red in the coming days and weeks, or at least mute any recovery. More downside for the stock market would provide cover for The Fed to become more dovish and slow interest rate hikes. This would likely be a welcome development for stock investors but in the meantime, we may see a bit more pressure on stock prices. From a longer-term perspective this looks like it may end-up being a buying opportunity on the strength of the U.S. economy, a renaissance in innovation and low interest rates globally.
