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>Since 11/21/23 Compass we have discussed weekly that even a minor 2-5% pullback is far from a guarantee, considering "breakaway gaps" and what appeared to be an ongoing "lockout rally"</li>
<li>All we got was a 1% peak to trough decline in the S&amp;P 500, while the Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) pulled back 2.9% (though left the 11/14/23 gap unfilled).</li>
<li>Now, SPX and QQQ are breaking out yet again after a multi-week consolidation period, including SPX breaking above 2-year resistance at 4600-4607. This is what a strong market looks like.</li>
</ul>


Since 11/21/23 Compass we have discussed weekly that even a minor 2-5% pullback is far from a guarantee, considering "breakaway gaps" and what appeared to be an ongoing "lockout rally"
All we got was a 1% peak to trough decline in the S&amp;P 500, while the Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) pulled back 2.9% (though left the 11/14/23 gap unfilled).
Now, SPX and QQQ are breaking out yet again after a multi-week consolidation period, including SPX breaking above 2-year resistance at 4600-4607. This is what a strong market looks like.


Lockout Rally Continues; Breakouts Piling Up; SPX Breakout Above 2-Yr Resistance at 4600-4607

Global Multi-Asset Investment Strategist, True Insights

Jeroen Blokland

Global Multi-Asset Investment Strategist

Build Well-Diversified Multi-Asset Portfolios

True Insights

Our research helps investors build well-diversified multi-asset portfolios and profit from market developments. In addition, our unique and proven Macro – Sentiment – Valuation (MSV) investment framework ensures a consistent flow of new investment opportunities. Together with our market views, these opportunities will be reflected in our live ETF-based Global Multi-Asset Portfolios.

Cross Asset Strategy

<ul>
<li>The recent rise in interest rates is leading to a further shift in cross-asset valuation.</li>
<li>The volatility-adjusted yields of equity-related asset classes have become even less attractive than those of bond-related asset classes.</li>
<li>The case for bond investments becomes even stronger when considering that the correlation between equity and bond returns is remarkably high, diminishing diversification benefits.</li>
</ul>


The recent rise in interest rates is leading to a further shift in cross-asset valuation.
The volatility-adjusted yields of equity-related asset classes have become even less attractive than those of bond-related asset classes.
The case for bond investments becomes even stronger when considering that the correlation between equity and bond returns is remarkably high, diminishing diversification benefits.


Risk-Adjusted Yields and High Correlation Make Equities Unattractive!

<ul>
<li>China could become a ‘Credit Event.’ Despite a slew of new stimulus measures by the Chinese government, they are not comprehensive enough to rule out one or more credit events.</li>
<li>200-Day moving averages hit. Several equity market indices have dipped below their 200-day moving average, including the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. </li>
<li>Response to the latest US inflation figure. In contrast to previous favorable inflation figures, American stocks closed lower on the day following the publication.</li>
</ul>


China could become a ‘Credit Event.’ Despite a slew of new stimulus measures by the Chinese government, they are not comprehensive enough to rule out one or more credit events.
200-Day moving averages hit. Several equity market indices have dipped below their 200-day moving average, including the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. 
Response to the latest US inflation figure. In contrast to previous favorable inflation figures, American stocks closed lower on the day following the publication.


Back with a Bang! – Macro and Sentiment Call for an Underweight in Equities

<ul>
<li>That Bank of England had to increase the pace of interest rate hikes so late in the tightening cycle is incontrovertible evidence that the central bank remains behind the curve. </li>
<li>Based on the historical relationship between consumer and producer prices, with a PPI of 1.0%, German headline inflation should be just below 2%</li>
<li>The NASDAQ Index and the US interest rates are diverging rapidly. This is not what is supposed to happen in a discounted cash flow model for growth stocks.</li>
</ul>


That Bank of England had to increase the pace of interest rate hikes so late in the tightening cycle is incontrovertible evidence that the central bank remains behind the curve. 
Based on the historical relationship between consumer and producer prices, with a PPI of 1.0%, German headline inflation should be just below 2%
The NASDAQ Index and the US interest rates are diverging rapidly. This is not what is supposed to happen in a discounted cash flow model for growth stocks.


The Weekly Market Monitor – Another Hawkish Twist

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<ul>
<li>One reason the Global Fund Manager Survey is interesting is that it often contains contradictions concerning investor positioning.</li>
<li>Global Fund Managers are joining the AI boom, are heavily overweight tech stocks, but only 54% of them expect AI to boost company profits.</li>
<li>We believe global fund managers are long tech stocks because of strong momentum and the market extrapolation of artificial intelligence impacting earnings and sales growth, not because of superior fundamentals. </li>
</ul>


One reason the Global Fund Manager Survey is interesting is that it often contains contradictions concerning investor positioning.
Global Fund Managers are joining the AI boom, are heavily overweight tech stocks, but only 54% of them expect AI to boost company profits.
We believe global fund managers are long tech stocks because of strong momentum and the market extrapolation of artificial intelligence impacting earnings and sales growth, not because of superior fundamentals. 


United States

The NASDAQ Composite Index is a broad-based capitalization-weighted index of stocks in all three NASDAQ tiers: Global Select, Global Market and Capital Market. The index was developed with a base level of 100 as of February 5, 1971.

NASDAQ Composite Index (CCMP INDEX)

Lockout Rally Continues; Breakouts Piling Up; SPX Breakout Above 2-Yr Resistance at 4600-4607

Lockout Rally Continues; Breakouts Piling Up; $SPX Breakout Above 2-Yr Resistance at 4600-4607, $COMP Breakout Above 14,400. This is what a strong...

Vermilion Research

Risk-Adjusted Yields and High Correlation Make Equities Unattractive!

Volatility-adjusted yields are much lower for equity-like asset classes than for bond-like asset classes, which does not bode well when correlation...

Jeroen Blokland

Back with a Bang! – Macro and Sentiment Call for an Underweight in Equities

We lower the weight of Emerging and Developed Market Equities on recent developments in China, indices dropping below their 200-day moving...

Jeroen Blokland

The Weekly Market Monitor – Another Hawkish Twist

The Bank of England confirms central banks and more monetary tightening is coming. Will investors shy away from (very) expensive equities and look...

Jeroen Blokland

Artificial Inconsistencies

Artificial Intelligence brings the Beatles back together, and Global Fund Managers are joining the AI boom. But NOT because of superior fundamentals.

Jeroen Blokland