Cross-Asset Strategist & Quantitative Analyst, Pennock Idea Hub

Cam Hui

Cross-Asset Strategist & Quantitative Analyst

Pennock Idea Hub

We are creators of independent equity research. The Pennock Idea Hub team are veterans of the investment industry. Much of our team has spent their careers at Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank, RBC Capital Markets and Wood Gundy. We have taken every aspect of research back to the studs and returned to first principles. The Pennock Idea Hub marries the interests of the sell and buy side. 

We offer the best research for institutional investors by:

-Only publishing research from veteran analysts
-Eliminate the inherent conflicts of the traditional sell and buy side relationship
-Ensure our team is always accessible; collaboration with clients nurtures our collective success

Cross-Asset & Quantitative Research

Cross Asset Strategy

<ul>
<li>We recently suggested a number of long/short pair trades, with inflation hedge vehicles forming the long portion of a number of pairs.</li>
<li>Inflation hedge factors have begun to underperform, and the subsequent performance of the pairs is revealing of the factors driving the current market environment.</li>
<li>We are inclined to give the long inflation hedge pairs the benefit of the doubt. They are being sold along in a panic liquidation where all correlations converge to 1.</li>
</ul>


We recently suggested a number of long/short pair trades, with inflation hedge vehicles forming the long portion of a number of pairs.
Inflation hedge factors have begun to underperform, and the subsequent performance of the pairs is revealing of the factors driving the current market environment.
We are inclined to give the long inflation hedge pairs the benefit of the doubt. They are being sold along in a panic liquidation where all correlations converge to 1.


Pairs Monitor: Are Correlations Converging to 1?

<ul>
<li>The U.S. equity market outlook is undergoing an unusual bifurcated condition.</li>
<li>Intermediate-Term technical indicators remain bearish but survey-based sentiment indicates crowded short conditions, which is contrarian bullish. </li>
<li>As long as our pairs trading factors remain in uptrends, we are inclined to remain cautious on the equity outlook.</li>
</ul>


The U.S. equity market outlook is undergoing an unusual bifurcated condition.
Intermediate-Term technical indicators remain bearish but survey-based sentiment indicates crowded short conditions, which is contrarian bullish. 
As long as our pairs trading factors remain in uptrends, we are inclined to remain cautious on the equity outlook.


The Canaries in the Bifurcated Market Coalmine

<ul>
<li>While we are intermediate term cautious, our working hypothesis for the near-term outlook is a choppy market, but the S&amp;P 500 is unlikely to breach its 2022 lows.  </li>
<li>It is with this chaotic environment in mind that we suggest pairs trading as a more risk-controlled way of finding better returns.</li>
<li>We will update all of the pairs periodically. Feedback and expressions of interest are appreciated so we know how much resources to devote to the regular update to this strategy.</li>
</ul>


While we are intermediate term cautious, our working hypothesis for the near-term outlook is a choppy market, but the S&amp;P 500 is unlikely to breach its 2022 lows.  
It is with this chaotic environment in mind that we suggest pairs trading as a more risk-controlled way of finding better returns.
We will update all of the pairs periodically. Feedback and expressions of interest are appreciated so we know how much resources to devote to the regular update to this strategy.


Achieving Stable Alpha in a Chaotic Bear Market

Technical Analyst, Vermilion Research

Joe Jasper

Technical Analyst

Technical and Quantitative Research

Vermilion Research

Vermilion’s objective is to deliver timely, actionable, and unique technical research to professional investors through the application of our various technical indicators.

Our research strategists seek to highlight securities which we believe are at major inflection points, based on our various technical and quantitative indicators, and offer asymmetric risk/return profiles. Our unique research methodology, centered on relative strength, enables our strategists to deliver superior investment recommendations.

Our process begins by organizing the universe of actively traded stocks into discrete sectors, then into industry groups. We then apply our technical and quantitative tools to identify developing price trends. Once attractive trends are identified within a selected sector or group, we screen for individual stocks which we believe offer the best risk/reward profile. We provide a historical perspective that often reveals, through our long-term charts, how price patterns often repeat themselves over time.

Technical Analysis

<ul>
<li>Our neutral outlook has come down to price supports holding on the broad global indexes, including $54 on MSCI ACWIex-US (ACWX-US), $76.50 on EAFE (EFA-US), and $99 on ACWI (ACWI-US).</li>
<li>These support levels are now breaking which tilts our stance to bearish at the index level as long as the aforementioned indexes remain below their previous support levels.</li>
<li>We still see the EURO STOXX 50 and TOPIX as holding above support, while the Hang Seng and Bovespa appear to be bottoming, none of which paint a bearish picture.</li>
</ul>


Our neutral outlook has come down to price supports holding on the broad global indexes, including $54 on MSCI ACWIex-US (ACWX-US), $76.50 on EAFE (EFA-US), and $99 on ACWI (ACWI-US).
These support levels are now breaking which tilts our stance to bearish at the index level as long as the aforementioned indexes remain below their previous support levels.
We still see the EURO STOXX 50 and TOPIX as holding above support, while the Hang Seng and Bovespa appear to be bottoming, none of which paint a bearish picture.


Broad Indexes Violate Support But Bright Spots Remain; Buying Energy, Staples, and Utilities

Managing Director

Elan Gore

TMI Data Science

TMI Data Science utilizes Natural Language Processing to build custom leading indicators using unstructured data sourced from the global financial, trade & traditional media.  Our proprietary software, TMI Machine, is a text-mining platform designed with the buy-side & capital markets professional in mind, text-mining the global media to discern and quantify nuanced qualitative shifts in press coverage as they apply to macroeconomics, equity indexes/ETFs, commodities, currencies, fixed income & individual equities.  TMI provides custom leading indicators and systematic trading strategies, operating at the nexus of linguistics & statistics drawing on vast experience in investment banking and hedge fund settings in senior quantitative and fundamental roles.  

TMI Data Science was founded by Elan Gore, an award-winning Senior Global Basic Materials Equity Analyst & China Economist with 15 years of experience in North American hedge funds & institutional managers; and Alessandro Porrino, Ph.D., an Algorithmic Trading Analyst and Programmer with 10 years of front-office experience ranging from complex FX option pricing to auto-hedging strategies at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Standard Chartered.  Mr. Gore holds an MBA in Finance from New York University Stern School of Business, and Mr. Porrino holds a Ph.D. in Systems Engineering from Brunel University London.

Macroeconomics

<p>In early July, our sentiment indicators flagged a pending downturn in Brazilian equities as we saw the emergence of political risk in a wave of anti-Bolsonaro protests and new corruption scandals, along with Lula's re-emergence as the favored candidate for '22 (see <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/tmi-snapshots-brazil-macro-sentiment-peaking-pboc-easing-not-a-buy-signal-yet-crypto-sentiment" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:54390" rel="noopener">TMI Snapshots:  Brazil Macro Sentiment Peaking, PBOC Easing Not a Buy Signal Yet, Crypto Sentiment.)</a> In addition, we flagged Brazil's hydro crisis as key potential driver of inflationary shock, with spot electricity pricing set to double.</p><p>Although Brazil remains fragile, we are seeing early signs of a bottoming process as sentiment momentum has turned less negative following the Q3 selloff, and is no longer accelerating to the downside after 3 months of relentless deterioration from June to September:</p><section class="figure"><figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/233/606/original/BRAZIL_SENTIMENT_OCTOBER.png?1633429628" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="233606"></figure><div class="content-caption">Brazil Sentiment Momentum (90D, STDEV Units) vs. EWZ</div> Correlation between our Brazil Macro Sentiment indicator and the iShares MSCI Brazil (EWZ) has been 92% in the T6M, 48% T12M and 47% T24M.  Brazil underperformed sharply in Q3, down -21% in USD terms vs. MSCI EM's -9%, with BRL down -9%.  Following this outlier move, it appears that EM fund positioning has turned neutral to slightly OW Brazil (along with only 2 other OWs in EM - Russia and India - as per EPFR.)</section><section class="figure"></section><div class="content-highlight"><section class="figure">TMI Data Science utilizes Natural Language Processing to build custom leading indicators using unstructured data sourced from the global financial, trade &amp; traditional media. Our proprietary tools text-mine the global media to discern and quantify nuanced qualitative shifts in press coverage as they apply to macroeconomics, equity indexes/ETFs, commodities, currencies, fixed income &amp; individual equities. </section></div>

In early July, our sentiment indicators flagged a pending downturn in Brazilian equities as we saw the emergence of political risk in a wave of anti-Bolsonaro protests and new corruption scandals, along with Lula's re-emergence as the favored candidate for '22 (see TMI Snapshots:  Brazil Macro Sentiment Peaking, PBOC Easing Not a Buy Signal Yet, Crypto Sentiment.) In addition, we flagged Brazil's hydro crisis as key potential driver of inflationary shock, with spot electricity pricing set to double.Although Brazil remains fragile, we are seeing early signs of a bottoming process as sentiment momentum has turned less negative following the Q3 selloff, and is no longer accelerating to the downside after 3 months of relentless deterioration from June to September:Brazil Sentiment Momentum (90D, STDEV Units) vs. EWZ Correlation between our Brazil Macro Sentiment indicator and the iShares MSCI Brazil (EWZ) has been 92% in the T6M, 48% T12M and 47% T24M.  Brazil underperformed sharply in Q3, down -21% in USD terms vs. MSCI EM's -9%, with BRL down -9%.  Following this outlier move, it appears that EM fund positioning has turned neutral to slightly OW Brazil (along with only 2 other OWs in EM - Russia and India - as per EPFR.)TMI Data Science utilizes Natural Language Processing to build custom leading indicators using unstructured data sourced from the global financial, trade &amp; traditional media. Our proprietary tools text-mine the global media to discern and quantify nuanced qualitative shifts in press coverage as they apply to macroeconomics, equity indexes/ETFs, commodities, currencies, fixed income &amp; individual equities. 

TMI Snapshot:  Early Signs of Bottoming in Brazil Macro Sentiment

Brazil

iShares MSCI Brazil Capped ETF is an exchange-traded fund in the USA. The ETF's objective is to provide investment results that correspond to the performance of the MSCI Brazil 25/50 Index.

iShares MSCI Brazil Capped ETF (EWZ US)

Pairs Monitor: Are Correlations Converging to 1?

Give long inflation hedge pairs the benefit of the doubt. In all likelihood, they are being sold along with other equity positions in a panic...

Cam Hui

The Canaries in the Bifurcated Market Coalmine

Intermediate technical indicators remain bearish but survey-based sentiment indicates crowded short conditions. Stay cautious as long as our pairs...

Cam Hui

Achieving Stable Alpha in a Chaotic Bear Market

It is with a chaotic bearish environment in mind that we suggest pairs trading as a more risk-controlled way of finding better returns.

Cam Hui

Broad Indexes Violate Support But Bright Spots Remain; Buying Energy, Staples, and Utilities

We are highlighting Energy again because it is easily our favorite Sector. Additionally, defensive Sectors including Staples and Utilities display...

Vermilion Research

TMI Snapshot: Early Signs of Bottoming in Brazil Macro Sentiment

Our Brazil macro sentiment indicators are showing early signs of bottoming as we see improvement in the hydro crisis, "peak unrest" and other...

Elan Gore