BRIAN BELSKI: We Should Have The Necessary Ingredients To Keep This Bull Market Going Longer-Term
We Have The Necessary Ingredients To Keep This Bull Market Going Longer-Term (BMO Capital Markets)
Geopolitical tensions in Ukraine and Israel, along with Argentina's default have weighed on U.S. stocks. "After five solid months, July was the first negative monthly performance since January," writes Brian Belski at BMO Capital Markets. But that isn't reason to worry just yet.
"Indeed, the path of US stocks in 2014 appears to be following the script we laid out in our market outlook last December and nothing in our models suggest a change is warranted at the moment-positive trends in EPS growth and revisions continued to be counterbalanced by sluggish economic growth forecasts (2Q notwithstanding) and slightly higher interest rates," he writes.
"As such, we expect that the next few months will be difficult to navigate but we do not envision any sort of prolonged or protracted periods of market weakness. Recent improvement in economic conditions and earnings growth should provide the necessary ingredients to keep this bull market going longer-term, in our view."
Wall Street's "Posh Recognition Junkets" For Top Brokers Are Back (The Wall Street Journal)
"With the stock market at record levels and wealth-management fees rising, Wall Street is reviving posh "recognition'' junkets that were abruptly suspended in the 2008-2009 financial meltdown, when banks taking government bailouts wanted to avoid the appearance of extravagance," reports Corrie Driebusch at the Wall Street Journal.
Morgan Stanley sent its top stockbrokers to Hawaii in April for an all expenses paid trip. "Morgan Stanley's Hawaii gathering was its most lavish since the crisis and its first outside of the continental U.S., according to advisers," she writes. As the bull market continues and the market gets increasingly competitive firms are starting to pull out all the stops to retain top talent. "Still, trips aren't as costly as those in pre-crisis days, and many now include work-related education and training."
The Bull Market Appears Healthy (Ineichen Research & Management)
"The table is a 'tick-the-box approach' to risk management," writes Alexander Ineichen at Ineichen Research & Management. "It allows a comparison of the current US equity bull market with previous peaks. There are currently fewer 'alerts' than during March 2000 or October 2007."
A new report from Cogent, cited by Kathy Lynch at FA Mag, finds that advisors have, on average, over $42 million in mutual funds, compared with $36.8 million a year ago. "The proportion of mutual fund assets being managed by an advisor's primary provider increased to 39 percent in 2014, from 33 percent in 2013," Lynch writes. "However, advisors reported working with fewer asset managers this year; about 10.1, down from 10.8 in 2013." The report surveyed 1,400 advisors with $5 million or more in assets under management (AUM). The report also found that 23% said they would lower their fixed income investments between now and 2016.