The Lance Roberts Show Podcast

Will the 2025 Election be The Most Important Election Ever? Yes...until 2028. Vote for the policy, not the personality: Child Care Credits case study. Markest are hangin' on ahead of the election, setting up for a post-election rally. Bond yields are the result of pre-election positioning; bond auction is next week. It's hard to buy when it's unpopular. Why are Small Caps having a hard time: They'...

Markets have been holding support at the 50-DMA level for the past several days, in a wait-and-see mode ahead of today's election. Markets are oversold on a short term basis, and still on a sell signal, which is limiting market upside. Traders have been de-risking portfolios until the outcomes are known. That sell-off has set up markets to rally post-election. Doesn't mean it's not going to get a...

It's 2024 Election-eve: Hedge funds are long on a presumed outcome; watch for a pick up in volatility. The Fed meets on the day after the election; there are still about 100 S&P Companies left to report. Reference Lance's weekend article on buy backs, Wolf in Sheep's Clothing: Apple spent $100-B on stock buy backs, when they could have purchased Intel for $99-B and produced their own chips. Bu...

Don't do anything today: Virtually anything you do today, ahead of the elections, could be wrong. There was a considerable amount of pre-election de-risking last week.  Managers were saying, "I've had a good run, I'm taking money off the table," because no one knows the outcome of the election. On Thursday we saw a sell off, hit the 50-DMA, and that support held on Friday. No one wants to be...

2024 isn’t over yet. So here are 10 smart money moves to make right now. Saving money should be a year-round endeavor, but life gets in the way just like anything else. So with 2024 coming to a swift, thankful end, take advantage of the fourth quarter to accelerate your financial acumen, bolster your balance sheet and successfully springboard into the new year. Danny and Matt share year-end financ...

Markets have now had the best 12-months risk-adjusted returns since 2018. Sadly, that is unsustainable. The S&P is not doing much, with very narrow price compression, and markets are quietly de-risking behind the scenes as the election draws near. Markets are holding support at the 20-DMA, but that could get taken out today. All of the algorithms are watching the 20-DMA.  Upside in the ma...

Halloween preview & earnings parade; pre-election bond market auction action. Markets are hedging a bit ahead of elections. The latest JOLTS report was weaker than expected - more evidence of a slowing economy? Meanwhile, consumer confidence continues to confound, bouncing up in the latest Conference Board Confidence Index reading, especially for forward expectations for stock prices into 2025...

The Conference Board's latest Consumer Confidence Survey shows an increase in consumer confidence, a nice bounce from the recent downtrend; both present and future expectation metrics increased. The overall survey remains low, but surprisingly, consumer confidence in stock prices over the next year is at an all-time high. Accordingly, markets continue to hold on around the 20-DMA. No one is really...

A barrage of earnings reports this week reveals companies are beating lowered expectations, and revenue is down. McDonald's foot traffic is off (and interesting economic barometer); the story is surely unfolding of an economy that is slowing down. What do markets sell signals tell us? There are two ways for markets to correct: Consolidation, or pull back in prices. Lance rants on the realities of...

Markets continue to do their thing, still sitting on a sell signal, which is limiting upside. How can markets move up while under a sell signal? Sell signals don't necessarily mean markets correct, it just means markets don't go anywhere. Sell signals simply suggest there are more buyers than sellers, and things are beginning to slow down. Markets can correct in two ways: Either in consolidation o...

Wrapping up the Month of October and beginning the strongest period for markets, November - April; what could throw a wrench into the works? (How about an election upset?) Markets are positioning for a specific, anticipated outcome. Life with the Roberts': Child #4 accepted at Baylor! The Halloween dress-rehearsal. Markets' positioning for election outcome: What if...? Market risks to election out...

Markets have begun positioning for the winner of the 2024 Election. What we don't know for certain is who that winner will be...but trading actions we can see are clearly pointing to a win by a particular candidate by their positioning in certain groups of companies that would benefit from policies the winner might implement. Meanwhile, the S&P continues to grind its way higher, on a nice, upw...

Gold Fish are changing their name to Chilean Sea Bass, and Spam will henceforth be known as Filet Mignon; the world has gone awry, and Richard & Jonathan discuss the surprise results from Tesla, Polymarket odds for the 2024 Election, and goal scooping and setting expectations for 2025. Richard compares the Saudi's newest, biggest building in the world to the Tiny Homes trend, and Gen-Z's housi...

The Conference Board's Economic Surprise Index gauges exactly that: How surprised economists are when things don't pan out as they expected. Like the economy doing better than they think it ought, under the current conditions. Economists are setting themselves up for disappointment; more Americans are living paycheck-to-paycheck. Lance and Michael discuss market psychology and a subset of PTSD kno...

We've been noting a rising wedge pattern in the markets, and on Wednesday markets broke out of that to the downside. The good news is that markets came down to the 20-DMA, tested, and held. So the first level of support is holding; the next level will be at around 5,650, which is the 50-DMA, so risk of additional correction remains as we head into the election. This should not be surprising: While...

Markets sold off on Tuesday to break even. following six straight weeks of gains; still, markets have no fear of recession. Lance shares his personal strategy for Bonds (using his own money, not clients') When everyone is hating on Bonds is the time to buy. After the Election, the focus will return to Yields and Interest Rates. Lance next provides a primer on the Technical Analysis tools he uses a...

Lance explains why he took a long position in TLT, and bought call options on TLT for December in his personal account; not in clients' accounts...yet. That's because there is an extreme level of pessimism about Bonds: The options skew on bonds is as negative as it has been going back to Bonds' rally last November. Everybody is back to hating Bonds again, which is great for Bonds. There has been a...

What does it mean when the Conference Board's Index of Leading Indicators (a predictor of the next six months' economic activity) post's a negative .5 reading...while markets seem to be able to find no ceiling? Who's right? Markets continue to be "just fine," although a potential for pullback by the end of October or beginning of November is anticipated to provide a better entry point for portfoli...

 Markets have now gone 6 weeks with gains without some kind of pullback or a negative week. Pay attention: The market is continuing in a rising-wedge pattern, and prices are becoming more compressed. Given that markets are over-bought on several levels, and volume in this rally is beginning to pullback, and the MACD indicator is slowing and starting to roll over, will likely break out to the...

Earnings estimates remain exceptionally optimistic, raising the question of whether consumer spending can sustain present levels (the source of earnings!) Investors should be careful averages, and remember that records are recrods for a reason. Why we're still expecting acorrection; we've had six strong weeks in a row, and a seventh is not out of the question this week. Lance looks at where earnin...

 Markets are hitting brand new records this year because they hitting levels which previously marked the peak of the market. Records are records for a reason. The seasonal buy signal was triggered last week, which typically suggests that markets will be high over the next six months, which is the seasonally-strong period of the year. That does not, however, mean that there cannot be a correct...

Richard & Jonathan recap their recent recruiting visit on the campus of Texas A&M University: There is hope for the next generation. Earnings season continues, discussion of Netflix and Lance's coffee rants. Anti-globalization & the China effect; the fallacy of International buys; "I love Lucy" & Vitametavegamin. Why fasting should be called slowing; Medicare Open Enrollment and ch...

Retail Sales numbers today, and earnings recaps (so far) and previews; looking for an outsized seasonal adjustment to Retail Sales due to calendar anomalies; there's nothing overly concerning to markets. The big focus will be the election and it's outcome and control of House & Senate: The market hates uncertainty, and loves gridlock. Lance refutes rash of negative videos: Markets see nothing...

Despite a plethora of negative videos proclaiming the imminence of market crashes, this market looks like 2007, and the end of the world is upon us (and there were plenty of headlines about a "soft landing" and a Goldilocks economy back then, too), markets currently are not suggesting any of that.: Markets have continued to make new highs, grinding along an upward trendline. Where does this leave...

Will the strength (or weakness) of the consumer be revealed in this week's Retail Sales report? Liquidity is continuing to flow into markets; if things are so good, why all the liquidity flows? Stock buy backs resume in 10-days, adding $6-B/day of more liquidity (which is NOT a return of capital to investors.) Energy stock exposure exoansion: As interest rates rise, so have oil prices. MACD Sell s...