RBC's Markets in Motion

Today in the podcast, our last of 2023, two big things you need to know: First, with just a few trading days left to go in 2023, the S&P 500 is close to a level that our valuation model has been suggesting is a reasonable one. Second, while we remain constructive on the year ahead, several charts that we track regularly are starting to suggest that the rally in the S&P 500 is due for a pau...

Today in the podcast, three big things you need to know: First, similar to the S&P 500, R2000 returns tend to be positive but modest in Presidential election years. Second, the valuation appeal of Small Caps runs deep and exists within both Growth and Value using both equal weighted and market cap weighted P/E’s. But Small Caps’ valuation appeal has only recently emerged on equal weighted P/E’...

Today in the podcast, our initial 2024 outlook. Our year-end 2024 S&P 500 price target is 5,000, for a 10% gain. Today the podcast will work a little bit differently, as we’re running through the top 10 things we’re thinking about in US equities as the new year comes into view. Most of these focus on the math that gets us to 5,000.

Three big things you need to know today: First, Growth sectors are typically the biggest beneficiaries of declining 10-year Treasury yields. This analysis was in focus in our meetings last week where investors were keen to explore what to own if yields have peaked. Second, Small Caps, where balance sheet concerns have overshadowed attractive valuations, were also in focus in our meetings last week...

Today in the podcast, we take a deep dive into the stats and commentary for 3Q23 reporting season, as of late last week with 45% of S&P 500 results in. Three big things you need to know: First, the S&P 500 stats simply aren’t strong enough to get the US equity market out of its recent malaise. Second, Small Cap trends are pretty similar to those in Large Cap, which is good for Small Caps b...

Today in the podcast, we take a deep dive into the outlook for the US equity market from the S&P 500 all the way down to Small Caps. Three big things you need to know: First, we are sticking with our YE2023 S&P 500 price target of 4,250. Though upside risks remain, downside risks have grown, the outlook has become cloudier and we don’t think the pause in the S&P 500 rally that we calle...

Three big things you need to know today: First, we are lifting our S&P 500 EPS forecasts to $223 (up from $220) for 2023 and to $232 (up from $229) for 2024. Second, 3Q23 reporting season is off to a good start in terms of stock price reactions, even though EPS revisions have turned slightly negative and company commentary among the early reporters suggests that the uncertain macro is taking a...

Today in the podcast, three big things you need to know: First, Congress reached a deal to avert a government shutdown, for now, but we aren’t convinced this is the end of the current period of equity market weakness, as our main sentiment indicator still has room to fall. Second, CFO economic confidence rose in the latest Duke survey despite heightened concerns about monetary policy. Third, Energ...

Today in the podcast, three big things you need to know: First, the stock market tends to experience turbulence heading into extended government shutdowns, but the S&P 500 has already done more than half the damage typically seen in those episodes and rebounds that follow tend to be powerful. Second, we view last week’s Fed meeting as a mixed bag for Growth stocks – negative short term but pos...

Today in the podcast, three big things you need to know: First, the Misery Index (inflation plus unemployment) has fallen sharply since last summer, helping explain the surprisingly strong move in the S&P 500 this year. Second, deleveraging was one key theme that jumped out to us from RBC’s Industrials conference last week. Third, other things that jumped out from our high frequency indicators...

Today in the podcast, our thoughts on two sectors that are important to the Cyclical/Value trade. Two big things you need to know. First, Energy still looks interesting on our models despite strong outperformance as summer came to an end. Second, we remain market weight Industrials, but find its been one of the more interesting sectors to discuss in meetings, as we see pluses and minuses for the s...

Today in the podcast, two big things you need to know: First, AI leadership bounced back as the summer came to a close, but tactical problems with the Growth trade remain. Second, things that jumped out in our high frequency indicators last week included improving EPS revisions in Energy and Financials and an improvement in 2024 GDP forecasts, both of which support a transition in stock market lea...

Today in the podcast, three big things you need to know: First, historically, the US equity market tends to have a weak start in Presidential election years before rallying back ahead of the event, while trends tend to turn choppy again in the months around the event itself. 2024 could be different given the unusual circumstances in the upcoming race, but the history is still worth a quick look ba...

Today in the podcast, our thoughts on 2Q23 reporting season as it winds down for the S&P 500. Three big things you need to know: First, the overall stats have been decent, with some clear soft spots. Reporting season has been fine in our view but not good enough to fend off a bit of choppiness in the equity market. Second, Energy stands out positively at the sector level, along with Health Car...

Today in the podcast, an updated overview on our market call. Three big things you need to know: First, we’ve tweaked our S&P 500 EPS forecasts up modestly by $1-2 to $220 for 2023 and $229 for 2024, while leaving our YE 2023E S&P 500 price target of 4,250 unchanged. While one of our models highlights potential upside to ~4,800, and we think the gains in the index so far in 2023 have been...

Today in the podcast, we take a deep dive into the stats and commentary for 2Q23 reporting season, based on data through July 28th when 51% of S&P 500 results were in. Three big things you need to know: First, the stats have improved since our last update and we’re now on track for a more solid reporting season. Second, in terms of the sectors that are shining, Energy and Materials continue to...

Two big things you need to know today: First, actively managed long-only funds are underperforming their benchmarks for the year in most of the US categories we are tracking, with Small Cap Value emerging as a bright spot. Second, the cross currents for US equities are getting more complicated based on our high frequency indicators. We discuss negatives (sentiment, flows, valuations vs. Europe) an...

Today in the podcast, three big things you need to know: First, late last week we lifted our 2023 and 2024 S&P 500 EPS forecasts to $219 and $227, respectively. Second, the rebound in consumer sentiment that’s underway explains a lot about the stock market this year – both have been recovering off recession-like conditions since last year. Third, some of the things that jump out from our high...

Today in the podcast, an update on our outlook for sectors within the US, and some thoughts on sectors from a global perspective based on the results of our latest RBC analyst survey which now includes our teams from Europe, Canada, and Australia in addition to those in the US. Five big things you need to know: First, across the globe, RBC equity analysts are most constructive on Health Care and a...

This week the podcast is back to tackling hot topics and the most interesting things that crossed our desk last week. Three big things you need to know: First, corporate confidence, capex, and balance sheets were all new topics in focus in our investor meetings last week. Second, things that jumped out in our high frequency indicators included one of our main sentiment indicators starting to look...

This week the podcast is a little different. With the mid-point of the year coming up, we’re revisiting the charts we discussed the most, and that resonated the most, in our meetings with investors in the first half of 2023. Although the S&P 500 has now pulled ahead of our recently revised year-end 2023 S&P 500 price target of 4,250, we’ve been north of the consensus tracked by Bloomberg o...

Three big things you need to know today. First, we continue to see expectations for a 2024 economic recovery embedded in GDP forecasts, and a healing process in earnings expectations is also underway – something we’ve been writing about a lot recently. Second, sentiment is embarking on its own recovery, with net bullishness returning to the AAII investor survey. Third, Small Caps appear to be gett...

Today in the podcast, three big things you need to know: First, we looked at S&P 500 performance when market cap concentration in the biggest names has been high and in the 12-month period after fewer than 10% of stocks have been making new highs. Neither suggests concentration and narrow leadership are automatic sell signals. Second, Nasdaq valuations look stretched, but unlike the Tech bubbl...

Today in the podcast, part 2 of our US equity market outlook update, we discuss our views on higher level positioning trades. Three big things you need to know: First, we think the case against US equities relative to non-US equities has been overstated. Second, we think the risk of a pause in Large Cap Growth leadership has grown, even though we think this part of the market has outperformed for...

Today in the podcast, part 1 of our US equity market outlook update, we discuss our revised S&P 500 forecasts and general thoughts on our broader US equity market call. Two big things you need to know: First, we are lifting our YE 2023 S&P 500 price target from 4,100 to 4,250, which represents our base case. The range of outcomes in our modeling spans ~3,800 (our bear case) to ~4,600 (our...