Step Away From This Unhealthy Market
By Tim Melvin
Street.com Contributor
6/18/2009 8:10 AM EDT
Let's cover this one more time. "Less bad" is not good. Coming off life support does not mean the patient is healthy. The economy is still very weak, and I believe that is going to be reflected in stocks' prices. We have had a tremendous rally over the past few months, based largely on "green shoots" and expectations. Hoping and dreaming make wonderful lyrics for pop songs but are a poor basis for investing your hard-earned dollars.
FedEx (FDX) is a huge tell for the future direction of economic activity. The company warned that profits will be hard to come by for the immediate future. The company does not see any improvement for at least two quarters. If FedEx is not shipping products, the obvious conclusion is that no one is buying. That means the producers and retailers are going to have tough time making money. There is only so much cost-cutting that can be done to prop up the bottom line. If revenue continues to decline, profits will evaporate.
James Altucher pointed out that demand for fertilizer is slackening [siehe K+S Kurs]. Forecasts are being reduced, and the stocks are starting to roll over in the group. The commodity rally of the past few weeks is starting to fall back as the reality of reduced demand for even the most basic of food products sets in. That is somewhat of a long-term positive in my view, but in the intermediate term it probably means lower profits for commodity and raw-materials companies.
The rally in financials is probably over as well. The new regulations proposed by the administration are a bucket of cold water on the sector. The Fed will gain increased power to oversee any institution that is deemed to be too big to fail. A new agency will be created to oversee what type of financial products are available and to protect the consumer. Everything from credit cards to retirement plans will be vetted by the new watchdog. Hedge funds and mutual funds will have a new set of regulations and requirements to deal with.
Interestingly, one function of this agency will be to make sure that financial products are available to lower-income Americans. I know that as I get older, short-term memory is less certain, but I am pretty sure that providing unnecessary products to those who neither need nor can afford them was part of how this whole mess was created. Increased regulation and oversight is going to reduce margins and profits in the financial sector.
There is no group I can see here that can provide any further leadership for a sustained advance. Health care stocks are faced with the clouds of health care reform. No matter what form the reform takes, it will surely limit profits for health care companies. Stocks such as Merck (MRK) and Pfizer (PFE) look cheap by historical comparisons, but until the reform issue is past, there is no reason to rally.
Retail is undergoing a massive reshaping, and no one knows exactly what the group will look like this time next year. Utility companies are facing the impact of eventual carbon taxes. The credit crisis and the steps that have been taken to avert disaster are going to be strong headwinds for virtually every sector of the economy and the stock market.
In my opinion, you have to reduce your exposure to the stock market right now. We have a strong rally that is not supported by the fundamentals. Depending whose estimate you use, we are between 15% and 22% above forecasted earnings for the S&P 500. That is far too high for a market facing the prospects of little to no growth for the next two years.
I said a few weeks ago that I was going to start reducing, and I have been. Economically sensitive stocks such as Ashland (ASH) and Cleveland Cliffs (CLF) were sold outright. Even my long-term, five-year stocks like Darling International (DAR) and News Corp. (NWS) have been trimmed or hedged. I have learned over the years that when market movements start to make no sense at all, it is time to step aside. I will hang on to my net-cash stocks, as I do not let market fluctuations enter into the equation where those types of stocks are involved.
Talking about green shoots may make us feel better about the current economic mess, but they are not reality. There is no way to know if the little green showing up is the start of healthy, fruit-bearing tree or poison oak. Until we have a better idea, most investors should be very cautious and stand aside. Cash is the seed stock of wealth, and right now you need to preserve it.