August 10th, 2020

Chadd Mason, CEO The Cabana Group

The S&P 500 Inches Closer to All-Time Highs, Encouraged by Q2 Earnings
Major equity indices are positive for the year. The Nasdaq is now at all-time highs on the back of blowout performance from Amazon, Google, Facebook and Netflix. These companies, along with the tech sector in general, have thrived amid social distancing and remote working. Technology is the driver of innovation and will continue to benefit as humans are required to adapt to the new world brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Another winner is Walmart, which in its efforts to keep up with Amazon has found itself capable of providing basic necessities to people through a variety of channels. The S&P 500 is within a whisker of its all-time highs reached in February. FactSet Data is reporting that of the companies which have released second quarter earnings, more than 80% have beaten sales and revenue expectations. Some of this is due to outstanding management in navigating this year’s difficult conditions and some is due to analysts having set the bar extremely low. Regardless of the reason, companies are still working and grinding forward.

President Trump unilaterally implemented additional economic relief when it appeared that neither Republicans nor Democrats could reach a consensus. At first glance, he appears to have split the difference in hopes that continued negotiation will occur behind the scenes. Whether you are a Trump fan or not, his action is necessary to prevent a cataclysmic waterfall of defaults and evictions. It remains to be seen if these types of stopgap measures can keep a severe recession or even depression at bay. In my view, we are just buying time until a medical solution is obtained.

One thing appears certain – interest rates are going to remain historically low for a very long time. Real rates (after adjustment for inflation) are deeply negative. This means that you are actually losing money by investing in many bonds, CD’s and money market accounts. That fact alone forces money into equities, preferred shares and other risk assets as investors desperately search for yield. In addition to benefitting stocks, gold has moved above 2000 per ounce. Investors are buying gold because it represents a store of value against a deteriorating U.S. dollar and interest rates are no longer a deterrence. The dollar is now at its lowest level in more than two years. While a strong dollar evidences a strong U.S. economy, a weak dollar benefits our exporting manufacturers, as well as commodity producers. This may not be a bad thing right now. Those sectors can use any help they can get.

Look for a pullback or at least a period of consolidation as the broad markets reach the February highs (3400 on the S&P 500). The ability to break through that level will likely dictate whether we have completed the shortest bear market in history or simply completed the sharpest bear market bounce in history. At Cabana, we remain in our Bullish/Transitional Bullish Scene.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS
This material is prepared by Cabana LLC, dba Cabana Asset Management and/or its affiliates (together “Cabana”) for informational purposes only and is not intended to be relied upon as a forecast, research or investment advice, and is not a recommendation, offer or solicitation to buy or sell any securities or to adopt any investment strategy. The opinions expressed reflect the judgement of the author, are as of the date of its publication and may change as subsequent conditions vary. The information and opinions contained in this material are derived from proprietary and nonproprietary sources deemed by Cabana to be reliable, are not necessarily all-inclusive and are not guaranteed as to accuracy. As such, no warranty of accuracy or reliability is given and no responsibility arising in any other way for errors and omissions (including responsibility to any person by reason of negligence) is accepted by Cabana, its officers, employees or agents.

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The Financial Advisor Magazine 2018 Top 50 Fastest-Growing Firms ranking is not indicative of Cabana’s future performance and may not be   representative of actual client experiences. Cabana did not pay a fee to participate in the ranking and survey and is not affiliated with Financial Advisor magazine. RIAs were ranked based on percentage growth in year-end 2017 AUM over year-end 2016 AUM with a minimum AUM of $250 million, assets per client, and growth in percentage assets per client. Visit www.fa-mag.com for more information regarding the ranking.

The Financial Advisor Magazine 2019 Top 50 Fastest-Growing Firms ranking is not indicative of Cabana’s future performance and may not be representative of actual client experiences. Cabana did not pay a fee to participate in the ranking and survey and is not affiliated with Financial Advisor Magazine. Working with a highly-rated advisor also does not ensure that a client or prospective client will experience a higher level of performance. These ratings should not be viewed as an endorsement of the advisor by any client and do not represent any specific client’s evaluation. RIAs were based on number of clients in 2018, percentage growth in total percentage assets under management from year end 2017 to 2018, and growth in percentage growth in assets per client during the same time period.  Visit www.fa-mag.com for more information regarding the ranking.

No client should assume that the future performance of any specific investment or strategy will be profitable or equal to past performance. All investment strategies have the potential for profit or loss. All strategies have different degrees of risk. There is no guarantee that any specific investment or strategy will be suitable or profitable for any investor. Asset allocation and diversification will not necessarily improve an investor’s returns and cannot eliminate the risk of investment losses. While loss tolerance and targeted “drawdown” are identified on the front end for each portfolio, Cabana’s algorithm does not take any one client’s situation into account. It is the responsibility of the advisor to determine what is suitable for the client. An advisor should not simply rely on the name of any portfolio to determine what is suitable. Cabana manages assets on multiple custodial platforms. Performance results for specific investors may vary based upon differences in associated costs and asset availability.

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