I visited with our accounts in Atlanta and Chattanooga recently. They seemed relatively calm. Most of them believe that the US economy can continue to grow for the foreseeable future. So they aren’t freaking out about the recent inversion of the yield curve. However, they are somewhat anxious about the prospect of negative interest rates in the US, though they think it is a remote possibility. Consider the following:
(1) US bond yields stand out. We discussed in our meetings the expectation that the Bank of Japan (BOJ) is likely to keep its official policy interest rate at -0.10% for the foreseeable future, as it has since 1/29/16, while the Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) is likely to lower its official deposit rate, currently -0.40%, deeper into negative territory at its 9/12 meeting (Fig. 1). The ECB is widely expected to resume quantitative easing at that meeting as well (Fig. 2).
Such expectations have driven the 10-year German government bond yield down to -0.70% on Monday from 0.24% at the start of this year. At 1.50% on Friday, the 10-year US Treasury bond yield is literally outstanding compared to the comparable yields available overseas: UK (0.34%), Japan (-0.27), Sweden (-0.34), France (-0.40), Germany (-0.70) (Fig. 3). The negative-interest-rate policies (NIRPs) of the ECB and BOJ are increasing the amount of negative-interest-rate bonds (NIRBs) around the world.
(2) Dividend & earnings yields stand out. The rationale for remaining bullish on US stocks seems to be shifting from TINA (there is no alternative) and FOMO (fear of missing out) to FONIR (fear of negative interest rates). These fears are inherently bullish for stocks and continue to overcome the bearish fear that an inverted yield curve is predicting an impending recession, i.e., FOIYC (fear of inverted yield curve).
A few of the accounts with whom I met recently noted that the 10-year US Treasury bond yield at 1.50% is below the S&P 500 dividend yield, at 1.90% during Q2-2019 (Fig. 4). That is one very good reason why they remain mostly fully invested in the stock market. I observed that the forward earnings yield of the S&P 500, at 6.06% during August, is even more outstanding compared to the bond yield (Fig. 5).
(3) Performance derby. The 119bps drop in the US bond yield since the beginning of the year certainly has benefited dividend-yielding stocks. The S&P 500 sectors that tend to have lots of dividend-paying companies have outperformed those that tend to have fewer of them: Information Technology (28.0% ytd), Real Estate (26.0), Consumer Discretionary (20.3), Communication Services (20.0), Consumer Staples (19.0), Utilities (17.6), Industrials (17.4), S&P 500 (16.7), Financials (12.6), Materials (11.9), Health Care (4.6), and Energy (-0.5) (Fig. 6).
FONIR should continue to benefit dividend-yielding stocks. Their high valuation multiples reflect investors’ willingness to pay up for these stocks, as evidenced by the relatively high forward P/Es of the S&P 500 sectors with lots of dividend payers: Real Estate (44.0), Consumer Discretionary (21.2), Information Technology (19.6), Consumer Staples (19.6), Utilities (19.4), Communication Services (17.4), Materials (16.9), S&P 500 (16.8), Industrials (15.4), Health Care (14.8), Energy (14.7), and Financials (11.4) (Fig. 7).
(4) Real yields. During July, the US bond yield averaged 2.05%, while the CPI inflation rate was 1.80%. So the inflation-adjusted bond yield was close to zero, at 0.25% (Fig. 8). During August, the bond yield fell below the inflation rate. In other words, in real terms, bond yields are entering negative territory. Meanwhile, the real earnings yield of the S&P 500, using reported earnings, remained solidly in positive territory during Q2-2019, at 3.02% (Fig. 9). The real forward earnings yield of the S&P 500 was 4.03% during July (Fig. 10).
(1) US bond yields stand out. We discussed in our meetings the expectation that the Bank of Japan (BOJ) is likely to keep its official policy interest rate at -0.10% for the foreseeable future, as it has since 1/29/16, while the Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) is likely to lower its official deposit rate, currently -0.40%, deeper into negative territory at its 9/12 meeting (Fig. 1). The ECB is widely expected to resume quantitative easing at that meeting as well (Fig. 2).
Such expectations have driven the 10-year German government bond yield down to -0.70% on Monday from 0.24% at the start of this year. At 1.50% on Friday, the 10-year US Treasury bond yield is literally outstanding compared to the comparable yields available overseas: UK (0.34%), Japan (-0.27), Sweden (-0.34), France (-0.40), Germany (-0.70) (Fig. 3). The negative-interest-rate policies (NIRPs) of the ECB and BOJ are increasing the amount of negative-interest-rate bonds (NIRBs) around the world.
(2) Dividend & earnings yields stand out. The rationale for remaining bullish on US stocks seems to be shifting from TINA (there is no alternative) and FOMO (fear of missing out) to FONIR (fear of negative interest rates). These fears are inherently bullish for stocks and continue to overcome the bearish fear that an inverted yield curve is predicting an impending recession, i.e., FOIYC (fear of inverted yield curve).
A few of the accounts with whom I met recently noted that the 10-year US Treasury bond yield at 1.50% is below the S&P 500 dividend yield, at 1.90% during Q2-2019 (Fig. 4). That is one very good reason why they remain mostly fully invested in the stock market. I observed that the forward earnings yield of the S&P 500, at 6.06% during August, is even more outstanding compared to the bond yield (Fig. 5).
(3) Performance derby. The 119bps drop in the US bond yield since the beginning of the year certainly has benefited dividend-yielding stocks. The S&P 500 sectors that tend to have lots of dividend-paying companies have outperformed those that tend to have fewer of them: Information Technology (28.0% ytd), Real Estate (26.0), Consumer Discretionary (20.3), Communication Services (20.0), Consumer Staples (19.0), Utilities (17.6), Industrials (17.4), S&P 500 (16.7), Financials (12.6), Materials (11.9), Health Care (4.6), and Energy (-0.5) (Fig. 6).
FONIR should continue to benefit dividend-yielding stocks. Their high valuation multiples reflect investors’ willingness to pay up for these stocks, as evidenced by the relatively high forward P/Es of the S&P 500 sectors with lots of dividend payers: Real Estate (44.0), Consumer Discretionary (21.2), Information Technology (19.6), Consumer Staples (19.6), Utilities (19.4), Communication Services (17.4), Materials (16.9), S&P 500 (16.8), Industrials (15.4), Health Care (14.8), Energy (14.7), and Financials (11.4) (Fig. 7).
(4) Real yields. During July, the US bond yield averaged 2.05%, while the CPI inflation rate was 1.80%. So the inflation-adjusted bond yield was close to zero, at 0.25% (Fig. 8). During August, the bond yield fell below the inflation rate. In other words, in real terms, bond yields are entering negative territory. Meanwhile, the real earnings yield of the S&P 500, using reported earnings, remained solidly in positive territory during Q2-2019, at 3.02% (Fig. 9). The real forward earnings yield of the S&P 500 was 4.03% during July (Fig. 10).
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