contrarian investing

2015: Year In Review

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As we think about the year now ending, we would love to say “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” That would not be accurate. However, it truly was “the spring of hope, the winter of despair.”

Nobody has ever conveyed the concept of a mixed bag as well as Charles Dickens did in the opening lines of ‘A Tale of Two Cities.’ And nothing is more fitting when we think about 2015 in the investment markets.

The parts of the market that appeared to be cheapest at the start of the year mostly got cheaper, and cheaper, all year long. Meanwhile, interest rates remained at seemingly impossibly low levels—expensive bonds remained expensive all year. Natural resources that had been sliding for years continued to slide.

Back in the real economy, new jobs were created each month. Retail sales and most measures of economic activity moved higher through the year. Inflation remained quiet, and consumers paid astonishingly little for gasoline. The low prices for natural resources and energy fed into low input costs for businesses, which helped business profits remain near record levels.

The kinds of excesses that cause the end of the growth cycle were simply not present in 2015. The ‘irrational exuberance’ of investors that usually accompanies major peaks in the market is also scarce.

Our principles remain unchanged, but we are always seeking to improve our strategies and tactics. Avoiding stampedes, owning the orchard for the fruit crop, and seeking the biggest bargains are always going to make sense. Putting these principles into practice is the hard part. The new year will see a continuation of the increased attention to diversification, the search for new sources of portfolio income, and new ways to think about effective portfolio construction.

We are ready to say goodbye to 2015, a year when the S&P 500 crossed the breakeven line more than twenty times. But we do so with the spirit of “the spring of hope,” given what we know about how things work. Please call us with your questions or comments.

The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. </p>

Investing involves risk including loss of principal. No strategy assures success or protects against loss.

Annual Market Forecast

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It is that time of year. Prognosticators and pundits issue their forecasts for the year ahead. Wouldn’t it be nice to know what the future holds! Some forecasts are hedged, and don’t really say much. Our prediction is quite specific.

Many of those who have visited our offices know that we actually do have a crystal ball. It forecasts the direction of the stock market for the coming year. It does not say how far the market will go, but it always predicts the direction.

If you knew which way the stock market was going to go, could you make money investing?

Here’s the catch: our crystal ball has only been 76% accurate. So perhaps the question should be, if you knew which way the stock market was going to go 76% of the time, could you make money investing?

Without further ado, here is what my crystal ball says about the direction of the stock market for the year beginning January 1: it will go up.

Long-time observers will not be surprised. The crystal ball always says the market is going up. It has never predicted a down year. And checking back over the past hundred years, according to Standard & Poor’s, it has been right 76% of the time.

We don’t know how well its track record will hold up, but we believe this presents a favorable backdrop to buy bargains, avoid stampedes in the markets, and seek to own the orchard for the fruit crop. In other words, to keep on keeping on, following our plans and strategies.

It is tempting to include a discussion of the economy, the strengths we perceive, and the faint possibility of recession. We’ll leave that to people with more time on their hands. If your plans or planning will be evolving in the new year and require our attention, please call.

The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.

Investing involves risk including loss of principal. No strategy assures success or protects against loss.

The Philosophy Lurking in Your Portfolio

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Modernism is a philosophical movement that arose from the far-reaching transformations Western society underwent in the late 19th century. This gave way to the skepticism of the late 20th century which led to the movement we call Post-Modernism.

This sets the stage for our discussion of Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT), and our response to it.

If you have ever seen the customary asset allocation pie chart or heard talk of getting exposure to all the major ‘asset classes’ then you have been exposed to MPT. It presumes that historical data about the behavior of all the various kinds of investments enables computers to calculate the best mix of holdings to get the returns we desire with the lowest level of risk. One investment zigs when another one zags, leaving the total portfolio steadier than it otherwise would be.

Great theory. Here are the problems that arise in practice:

1. At times of greatest stress in the markets, when you most need MPT to work, the historical correlations go away and the most overpriced assets get slammed regardless of what the computer thought.
2. Common sense and fundamental investment analysis often reveal that one slice of the asset pie is likely to leave a very bitter taste. Large growth stocks in 2000, real estate in 2007, commodities in 2011…everybody knows now that the best allocation to these overpriced bubbles was ZERO.
3. Although the discipline of MPT reduces the damage from counterproductive crowd behavior, it neither eliminates the damage nor allows one to profit from the madness of crowds.

Our investment management approach, forged in the skepticism born of deep knowledge of MPT, is based on three fundamental principles. We believe these principles are timeless, suitable for any market. We have written about them before, we will write about them again, and we have talked incessantly about them for twenty years. For now let us simply note that, as a reaction to Modern Portfolio Theory, they might collectively best be known as “Postmodern Portfolio Theory.”

The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.

There is no guarantee that a diversified portfolio will enhance overall returns or outperform a non-diversified portfolio. Diversification does not protect against market risk.

What Happened to my Account?

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2015 has been a difficult year, investment-wise.

Most of us know how this works. We have periods where we laugh and laugh about how much money we’ve made, and other times where we want to cry and cry.

In addition to the ups and downs of the market, our accounts have spells where they behave differently than the broad market averages. Everyone has noticed the divergence this year.

So 2015 reminds us a lot of 1999, when the tech stock boom was in full swing. Midyear, we turned negative on large growth companies. But that was what everyone was buying. We preferred the bargains in “old economy” stocks like railroads and food companies and tractor makers. They went down and down while technology stocks went up and up. We seemed awfully stupid as our favorites ground lower month by month.

Of course, that all changed when the bubble burst. The high fliers ended up declining about 80% over the next two and a half years (the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index slid from a high of 5,408 in 2000 to a mere 1,108 in 2002), while the “old economy” stocks staged a good rally. In other words, we turned smart.

In trying to understand the carnage of 2015, one glaring fact stands out. All year long we have held the strong opinion that the best bargains in the market could be found in the natural resource sector. Companies that had anything to do with extracting minerals or oil from the ground started the year at amazingly depressed levels—bargain prices, in our view. Then they became cheaper. Then they became cheaper. Then they became cheaper. We seem awfully stupid, again!

We know how this works. At some point the gluts that have been so painful for many of our holdings will turn into shortages. Higher prices and growing revenues are the likely result. We’ve been through this with other holdings in the past, watching values getting chopped in half before tripling or quadrupling.

What we do takes patience. We never wanted 2015 to require so much of it, to require an explanation of performance divergences. But we believe the tide will turn, as it always seems to. Thank you for your business.

The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.

Investing involves risk including loss of principal. No strategy assures success or protects against loss.

Anatomy of a Bubble

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The above chart was formulated by Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue in 2006, in the middle of the developing housing bubble. It illustrates the general pattern that most market bubbles tend to follow.

Early on, a small number of money managers and other sophisticated investors begin speculating that a given asset may be undervalued and establish small investments in the hopes of future gains. As these initial investments start to pay off, other managers begin to notice their success and follow suit, slowly ramping up prices. There may be one or more temporary sell-offs as early investors decide that their speculation has paid off and pull out of assets that they now perceive as overvalued.

Sometimes, this is as far as a price fluctuation will go. When a rising price starts to attract media attention, however, it creates the potential for a true bubble. At this point the price may already be significantly over asset value and the original “smart money” investors’ reasons for buying no longer apply. But as the general public becomes more aware of the success stories that the rising prices have created, more and more people buy in. This drives the price up even further, reinforcing the public perception that an easy money-making proposition has been discovered.

As the bubble nears its peak, wise investors quietly pull out as it becomes clear that the price is unjustified and unsustainable. Latecomers with little understanding of their holdings invent new explanations to rationalize the extreme overvaluations the bubble has created. They believe the old rules no longer apply and the inflated price is the new “normal.”

At some point, reality sets in and triggers a cascade in price. The bubble begins to deflate, although bullish investors may try to deny that this is happening. They see the initial decline as a buying opportunity, creating short-lived recoveries before the bubble goes into its final plunge. Often, the aftermath of the bubble leaves the asset so despised it becomes badly undervalued, creating buying opportunities for savvy investors—which may eventually generate the start of the next bubble, many years down the line.

We already know the lesson here: avoid the stampede. When we hear everyone else is buying something, it’s tempting to join in. But even when it seems like the price just keeps going up and up, we know what’s eventually around the corner.

The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.

Investing involves risk including loss of principal. No strategy assures success or protects against loss.

The Next Recession is Coming!

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The next recession is always coming—and the next recovery, and so forth. Like the seasons and the tides, the economy runs in cycles. But after reviewing all the evidence, we don’t think it will arrive any time soon.

LPL Financial’s Research Department put together a useful summary on this issue. This is the short version, with other thoughts on the topic.

The first thing to understand is that two of the most popular fears about the cause of recessions are unfounded. The growth part of the cycle does not end because of old age. And the start of interest rate increases usually marks the midpoint, not the end, of the growth cycle.

So what are the causes of recession? LPL Financial believes that imbalances are the culprit. “In a healthy economy, there is a balance of responsible levels of borrowing, confidence, and spending.” So recessions are likely to occur after we see over-borrowing, over-spending, and overconfidence.

LPL Research has actually constructed numerical indicators to test for these three “overs” and calculated back through history. But it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that confidence is poor and spending has been weak. Borrowing has not gotten anywhere close to danger levels, either. Their conclusion is that the probability of a recession in the near future is unlikely.

The LPL “Over” Index agrees with another set of recession warnings we monitor, the Four Horsemen: home building, auto sales, business investment, and inventories. When one or more of these areas becomes overheated, trouble may ensue. All four are all at fairly subdued levels, or close to long term averages—not overheated.

There is one other indicator which may be both instructive and profitable. The price of raw materials usually peaks at around the same time the economy does, near the onset of recession. Crude oil, iron ore, copper and other natural resources tend to rise during expansions. But the prices for these goods have been falling for more than four years. We expect to see a sustained move up prior to the next recession.

We look at the facts and act accordingly, after considering all the pertinent information we can find. Our conclusion is that optimism is warranted. We will continue to follow our principles: search for bargains, “own the orchard for the fruit crop,” and avoid stampedes in the markets.

The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. All performance referenced is historical and is no guarantee of future results.

The economic forecasts set forth in the presentation may not develop as predicted and there can be no guarantee that strategies promoted will be successful.

Investing involves risk including loss of principal.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

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Thirteen years ago, Oakland manager Billy Beane turned the world of professional baseball on its head. As depicted in the movie Moneyball, Beane knew that the Oakland Athletics didn’t have the budget to compete head to head with better-funded teams from larger markets. He looked to advanced statistics to give him an advantage, realizing that baseball’s conventional wisdom did a poor job of judging player performance. Traditional baseball skills like speed and contact hitting were being overvalued, while game-winning skills like patience at the plate and slugging power were being undervalued. By focusing on what really mattered over what was popular, Beane was able to find the best bargains in the baseball universe.

While many baseball franchises grudgingly followed suit after Beane, traditionalist manager Ned Yost has stuck to the old wisdom. Under him the Kansas City Royals have broken every rule set forth in Moneyball, emphasizing speedy contact hitters who will swing at anything to get the ball in play and steal bases at the slightest opportunity. Despite that, he’s taken the Royals to two consecutive championships and a long-awaited World Series pennant, leading some fans to hail his success as the death of Moneyball-style statistics.

In fact, Ned Yost apparently took to heart the one true lesson behind Moneyball: never follow the crowd.

The Oakland Athletics were able to win because they turned aside from what “everybody knew” about baseball. After their successes were highlighted by Moneyball, what “everybody knew” changed. When everybody else started chasing after the same statistics that led the Oakland A’s to victory, they started undervaluing old-fashioned baseball skills like speed and contact. Ned Yost ignored what “everybody knew” about those old baseball skills and built a great team around them.

Billy Beane is fond of comparing the baseball world to investment markets, and the comparison is an apt one. Both baseball and investment markets are prone to cycles as people chase after the crowd—creating opportunities for those who avoid the common wisdom of what “everybody knows.” The Royals’ pennant is a testament to the value of going against the grain.

The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.

The Times, They Are A-Changing

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Forty years ago, poet Bob Dylan wrote a song that echoes a universal theme, the idea of constant change. One may trace this concept through all of history, from the ancient civilizations of Greece, Rome, Egypt, India and China down to our day. Dylan’s lyrics borrow from both the Bible and Aesop’s fables.

Yet there is a tension between constant change and our very human tendency to believe that current conditions and trends will continue. It is appealing to believe that we can know the future by extending past trends. When gasoline first hit $4 per gallon a few years ago, the media was full of predictions that the price would rise to $7.

We call this tendency “straight line thinking” because it involves looking back over a limited time to identify a straight line that can be extended into the future. Gasoline was $1.50 in 2002 and $4 in 2008; anybody could see the trend and many concluded that $7 gas was coming.

Yet nature abhors straight lines. When you open up your view to take in a longer time frame, you see cycles of up-down, up-down. Like the tides or the seasons, cycles seem to offer a more useful way to think about the world.

So our quest is to find good values, bargains, that may be due for a change in direction as the cycle turns. This contrarian method of investing is no guarantee of success. All of our clients have had the experience of owning a supposed bargain that became cheaper or even much cheaper. Yet it is the most promising way to approach investing, in our opinion.

Why is this? The first one now will later be last, the slow one now will later be fast, and the times… they are a-changing.

The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.

Investing involves risk including loss of principal. No strategy assures success or protects against loss.