Institutional - Commentary & Outlook
April 15, 2024
Stocks powered ahead in the first quarter, adding to strong fourth quarter gains. Continued enthusiasm for all things artificial intelligence (AI), along with US economic resilience and expectations for eventual rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, provided an attractive platform for equity market investors. An economic soft landing, deemed a far-fetched hope early in 2023, became the consensus call in the first quarter of 2024, as the fears of a Fed-induced recession faded.
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April 11, 2024
Stocks continued their upward ascent in March, with investors gaining increased confidence in the economic environment. After looking over their shoulder toward the possibility of imminent recession over the past two years, investors finally seem to be coming around to the idea that maybe a recession is not in the cards. Continued resiliency in the economic data, despite a persistent inversion in the yield curve, and moderating inflation have increasingly made an economic soft landing a likely scenario. Late in the month, some investors were even calling for a “no landing” scenario, which means no interest rate cuts, but also means above-trend economic growth and more dependable corporate profit growth as we move through 2024.
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March 11, 2024
Stocks resumed their upward momentum in February, led once again by the surging artificial-intelligence related stocks. New all-time records were hit for the Standard & Poors’ 500 and NASDAQ Composite, both of which have significant exposure to the large cap Technology stocks that are seen as the early winners in the AI boom. These index gains came despite the scaling back of interest rate cut expectations by investors vs. the end of 2023, when pundits were forecasting as many as seven rate cuts in 2024.
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March 11, 2024
The February earnings season was a tumultuous few weeks for the Small Capitalization Value (SCV) Portfolio. We had several companies that produced fine 4th Quarter earnings but delivered somewhat cautious and/or disappointing forward outlooks.
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February 13, 2024
Pinnacle makes the case that current market conditions are encouraging for small caps to reward investors in its recent white paper entitled “It’s Time to Own U.S. Small Capitalization Equities,” as highlighted in a recent issue of Institutional Investor.
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February 13, 2024
Small-cap stocks have been underperforming larger ones for the second longest stretch since the 1930s. But there are signals that small-cap stocks may be coming out of their dark stretch. As outlined in a report by advisor Pinnacle Associates, the widening gap began in December 2016. In the subsequent seven years ending November 30, 2023, small caps returned 46.25 percent, compared to the S&P 500 generating returns nearly triple that mark at 130.9 percent.
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February 13, 2024
After a ferocious market rally in November and December, stocks were mixed in January. Some consolidation was to be expected, after a two-month rally that saw the stock indexes rise anywhere from roughly 15% (large caps), to 20% (mid caps), to 23% (small caps). Developments during the month were generally positive, as economic and inflation data continued to be favorable. Hanging over the market were continued geopolitical concerns over events in the Middle East, most notably the attacks on commercial shipping by the Iran-allied Houthis in Yemen and a potential widening of the war.
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January 17, 2024
According to our preliminary results, the Small Capitalization Portfolio Composite was up 12.12%, net of fees, for the quarter, slightly behind the 14.03% gain for the Russell 2000 Index and the 15.26% gain of the Russell 2000 Value Index1. For the year, the Portfolio Composite was up 12.53%, net of fees, versus up 16.93% for the Russell 2000 Index and up 14.65% for the Russell 2000 Value Index.
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January 17, 2024
After nearly a decade of underperformance, is the tide finally shifting in favor of small cap stocks? For a host of reasons (primarily, rising interest rates and exogenous economic concerns), investors have been hesitant to scale down the market cap ladder, leaving many high-quality small cap stocks under-owned and undervalued.
Read MoreRead MoreInstitutional - Commentary & Outlook
January 8, 2024
Stocks posted their second consecutive month of robust gains, as a powerful two month rally off of the late October lows pushed the quarterly and annual returns solidly into positive territory. The reason for December’s rally was similar to that for the previous month’s rally: another favorable inflation reading that led observers to see disinflation in the data, with the Fed following up with increasingly dovish comments.
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December 12, 2023
Stocks rebounded in November, posting robust returns across the board after three consecutive weak months. November was not only the best month for the market since July 2022, but it was the second-best November since 1980. The main driver of such strong gains during the month was a meaningful decline in yields.
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November 15, 2023
It was another difficult month for stocks in October, with unsettling developments on the macroeconomic, political and geopolitical front taking a toll on investor sentiment. In early October, the world was shocked by events in the Middle East, namely Hamas’ brutal attack on Israeli citizens. The subsequent furious response by Israel’s military led to fears of a wider war involving other Arab countries, with negative implications for oil prices and overall global economic growth. This conflict comes on top of already-existing tensions with China and the continued destructive implications from the Russia-Ukraine war.
Read MoreRead MoreInstitutional - Commentary & Outlook
October 16, 2023
Central banks are determined to slow the economy in an ongoing effort to control inflation. Despite this, conditions have remained resilient with +3% growth expected in the third quarter. This is both the bear case and the bull case for the stock market. Both statements are true, and the conflict was evident throughout the quarter.
Read MoreRead MoreInstitutional - Commentary & Outlook
October 13, 2023
September lived up to its billing as the worst performing month of the year for stocks, with small and large caps declining across the board. This was the second consecutive down month for stocks, representing the first back-to-back monthly declines since (interestingly) August and September of 2022.
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September 20, 2023
For much of this year, the markets have seen significant hype around artificial intelligence (AI) and AI-related stocks. The term artificial intelligence refers to machines that can not only mimic human responses and learn but can also adapt and evolve like human beings. Many experts are calling generative AI the “next frontier” of AI, given its ability to digest huge amounts of data to identify patterns and structures within that existing data to quickly generate new content, including text, images, audio and synthetic data.
Read MoreRead MoreInstitutional - Commentary & Outlook
September 15, 2023
Stocks posted their first losing month since February, and only their second down month overall this year. The indexes fell in the first three weeks of August, in response to rising interest rates, mixed inflation news and some consolidation in the heretofore surging technology stocks. They rebounded near month’s end, but not by enough to offset earlier losses.
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September 15, 2023
Stocks posted yet another positive month in July, as investors increasingly anticipated a “Goldilocks”, soft landing scenario of stable economic trends and declining inflationary pressures.
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September 15, 2023
Defying all expectations, stocks posted another quarter of robust gains. Enthusiasm around artificial intelligence (AI) led to a surge in Technology stocks, propelling the major averages higher in the second quarter.
Read MoreRead MoreInstitutional - Commentary & Outlook
September 15, 2023
Stocks continued their upward ascent in June, in a broad-based rally that lifted all of the market sectors to positive monthly returns. Investors were heartened by the Fed’s pause of its year-long interest rate tightening campaign, as well as by fading fears of imminent recession as economic indicators continued to outpace expectations.
Read MoreRead MoreInstitutional - Commentary & Outlook
September 15, 2023
Stocks traded in a narrow range in May, masking what was actually a very eventful month. It wasn’t only the contentious negotiations on the US debt ceiling, which raised the specter of a technical US debt default.
Read MoreRead MoreInstitutional - Commentary & Outlook
September 15, 2023
Stocks traded in a narrow range in April, finishing mixed. For the second consecutive month, large caps posted positive gains and smaller stocks mostly negative returns, although the differential between the two asset classes was narrower than last month.
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September 15, 2023
In the first half of the year, we saw the failure of three mid-sized banks, a marked slowdown in the growth of the largest technology firms, and a round of debt ceiling negotiations that pushed the US closer than ever to default. Despite all of this, the S&P 500 built on its gains from the first quarter, generating a total return of +8.7% in the second and bringing year-to-date returns to +16.9%.
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September 15, 2023
Stocks posted mixed returns in March, with considerable volatility along the way. Investors came into the month still worried about the stronger-than-expected economic data and stubbornly-high inflation readings that were seen in February.
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September 15, 2023
After a powerful rally in January, stocks were down across the board in February as investors responded negatively to stronger-than-expected economic data and persistently high inflation readings.
Read MoreRead MoreInstitutional - Commentary & Outlook
September 15, 2023
After a dismal 2022, stocks came surging out of the gates in 2023. And it wasn’t just stocks that gained. Unlike 2022, when almost all asset classes posted negative returns, the near opposite occurred in January, and positive returns were seen across the board.
Read MoreRead MoreInstitutional - In the News
September 15, 2023
We are very excited to announce our partnership with Investment Management of Virginia, LLC (IMVA). The path ahead is bright and we are excited to have the IMVA team join us on that journey!
Read MoreRead MoreInstitutional - In the News
September 15, 2023
Pinnacle Associates Portfolio Manager @Randy Baron joined @The Business Brew podcast this week to discuss his #investment philosophy and interest in the #synthetic biology space. Bill and Randy explore the ethos of high conviction investing, especially in the current market backdrop.
Read MoreRead MoreInstitutional - In the News
September 15, 2023
Pinnacle Associates Portfolio Manager @Randy Baron explains to @Forbes why @MiX Telematics (MIXT) is unlikely to be the first name that comes to mind when speaking about tech, but it has an important spot in how tech supports the global supply chain as one of the biggest players in tracking vehicle fleets.
Read MoreRead MoreInstitutional - Commentary & Outlook
April 15, 2024
Stocks powered ahead in the first quarter, adding to strong fourth quarter gains. Continued enthusiasm for all things artificial intelligence (AI), along with US economic resilience and expectations for eventual rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, provided an attractive platform for equity market investors. An economic soft landing, deemed a far-fetched hope early in 2023, became the consensus call in the first quarter of 2024, as the fears of a Fed-induced recession faded.
Read MoreRead MoreInstitutional - Commentary & Outlook
April 11, 2024
Stocks continued their upward ascent in March, with investors gaining increased confidence in the economic environment. After looking over their shoulder toward the possibility of imminent recession over the past two years, investors finally seem to be coming around to the idea that maybe a recession is not in the cards. Continued resiliency in the economic data, despite a persistent inversion in the yield curve, and moderating inflation have increasingly made an economic soft landing a likely scenario. Late in the month, some investors were even calling for a “no landing” scenario, which means no interest rate cuts, but also means above-trend economic growth and more dependable corporate profit growth as we move through 2024.
Read MoreRead MoreInstitutional - Commentary & Outlook
March 11, 2024
Stocks resumed their upward momentum in February, led once again by the surging artificial-intelligence related stocks. New all-time records were hit for the Standard & Poors’ 500 and NASDAQ Composite, both of which have significant exposure to the large cap Technology stocks that are seen as the early winners in the AI boom. These index gains came despite the scaling back of interest rate cut expectations by investors vs. the end of 2023, when pundits were forecasting as many as seven rate cuts in 2024.
Read MoreRead MoreInstitutional - Commentary & Outlook
March 11, 2024
The February earnings season was a tumultuous few weeks for the Small Capitalization Value (SCV) Portfolio. We had several companies that produced fine 4th Quarter earnings but delivered somewhat cautious and/or disappointing forward outlooks.
Read MoreRead MoreInstitutional - Commentary & Outlook
February 13, 2024
Pinnacle makes the case that current market conditions are encouraging for small caps to reward investors in its recent white paper entitled “It’s Time to Own U.S. Small Capitalization Equities,” as highlighted in a recent issue of Institutional Investor.
Read MoreRead MoreInstitutional - Commentary & Outlook
February 13, 2024
Small-cap stocks have been underperforming larger ones for the second longest stretch since the 1930s. But there are signals that small-cap stocks may be coming out of their dark stretch. As outlined in a report by advisor Pinnacle Associates, the widening gap began in December 2016. In the subsequent seven years ending November 30, 2023, small caps returned 46.25 percent, compared to the S&P 500 generating returns nearly triple that mark at 130.9 percent.
Read MoreRead MoreInstitutional - Commentary & Outlook
February 13, 2024
After a ferocious market rally in November and December, stocks were mixed in January. Some consolidation was to be expected, after a two-month rally that saw the stock indexes rise anywhere from roughly 15% (large caps), to 20% (mid caps), to 23% (small caps). Developments during the month were generally positive, as economic and inflation data continued to be favorable. Hanging over the market were continued geopolitical concerns over events in the Middle East, most notably the attacks on commercial shipping by the Iran-allied Houthis in Yemen and a potential widening of the war.
Read MoreRead MoreInstitutional - Commentary & Outlook
January 17, 2024
According to our preliminary results, the Small Capitalization Portfolio Composite was up 12.12%, net of fees, for the quarter, slightly behind the 14.03% gain for the Russell 2000 Index and the 15.26% gain of the Russell 2000 Value Index1. For the year, the Portfolio Composite was up 12.53%, net of fees, versus up 16.93% for the Russell 2000 Index and up 14.65% for the Russell 2000 Value Index.
Read MoreRead MoreInstitutional - Commentary & Outlook
January 17, 2024
After nearly a decade of underperformance, is the tide finally shifting in favor of small cap stocks? For a host of reasons (primarily, rising interest rates and exogenous economic concerns), investors have been hesitant to scale down the market cap ladder, leaving many high-quality small cap stocks under-owned and undervalued.
Read MoreRead MoreInstitutional - Commentary & Outlook
January 8, 2024
Stocks posted their second consecutive month of robust gains, as a powerful two month rally off of the late October lows pushed the quarterly and annual returns solidly into positive territory. The reason for December’s rally was similar to that for the previous month’s rally: another favorable inflation reading that led observers to see disinflation in the data, with the Fed following up with increasingly dovish comments.
Read MoreRead MoreInstitutional - Commentary & Outlook
December 12, 2023
Stocks rebounded in November, posting robust returns across the board after three consecutive weak months. November was not only the best month for the market since July 2022, but it was the second-best November since 1980. The main driver of such strong gains during the month was a meaningful decline in yields.
Read MoreRead MoreInstitutional - Commentary & Outlook
November 15, 2023
It was another difficult month for stocks in October, with unsettling developments on the macroeconomic, political and geopolitical front taking a toll on investor sentiment. In early October, the world was shocked by events in the Middle East, namely Hamas’ brutal attack on Israeli citizens. The subsequent furious response by Israel’s military led to fears of a wider war involving other Arab countries, with negative implications for oil prices and overall global economic growth. This conflict comes on top of already-existing tensions with China and the continued destructive implications from the Russia-Ukraine war.
Read MoreRead MoreInstitutional - Commentary & Outlook
October 16, 2023
Central banks are determined to slow the economy in an ongoing effort to control inflation. Despite this, conditions have remained resilient with +3% growth expected in the third quarter. This is both the bear case and the bull case for the stock market. Both statements are true, and the conflict was evident throughout the quarter.
Read MoreRead MoreInstitutional - Commentary & Outlook
October 13, 2023
September lived up to its billing as the worst performing month of the year for stocks, with small and large caps declining across the board. This was the second consecutive down month for stocks, representing the first back-to-back monthly declines since (interestingly) August and September of 2022.
Read MoreRead MoreInstitutional - Commentary & Outlook
September 20, 2023
For much of this year, the markets have seen significant hype around artificial intelligence (AI) and AI-related stocks. The term artificial intelligence refers to machines that can not only mimic human responses and learn but can also adapt and evolve like human beings. Many experts are calling generative AI the “next frontier” of AI, given its ability to digest huge amounts of data to identify patterns and structures within that existing data to quickly generate new content, including text, images, audio and synthetic data.
Read MoreRead MoreInstitutional - Commentary & Outlook
September 15, 2023
Stocks posted their first losing month since February, and only their second down month overall this year. The indexes fell in the first three weeks of August, in response to rising interest rates, mixed inflation news and some consolidation in the heretofore surging technology stocks. They rebounded near month’s end, but not by enough to offset earlier losses.
Read MoreRead MoreInstitutional - Commentary & Outlook
September 15, 2023
Stocks posted yet another positive month in July, as investors increasingly anticipated a “Goldilocks”, soft landing scenario of stable economic trends and declining inflationary pressures.
Read MoreRead MoreInstitutional - Commentary & Outlook
September 15, 2023
Defying all expectations, stocks posted another quarter of robust gains. Enthusiasm around artificial intelligence (AI) led to a surge in Technology stocks, propelling the major averages higher in the second quarter.
Read MoreRead MoreInstitutional - Commentary & Outlook
September 15, 2023
Stocks continued their upward ascent in June, in a broad-based rally that lifted all of the market sectors to positive monthly returns. Investors were heartened by the Fed’s pause of its year-long interest rate tightening campaign, as well as by fading fears of imminent recession as economic indicators continued to outpace expectations.
Read MoreRead MoreInstitutional - Commentary & Outlook
September 15, 2023
Stocks traded in a narrow range in May, masking what was actually a very eventful month. It wasn’t only the contentious negotiations on the US debt ceiling, which raised the specter of a technical US debt default.
Read MoreRead MoreInstitutional - Commentary & Outlook
September 15, 2023
Stocks traded in a narrow range in April, finishing mixed. For the second consecutive month, large caps posted positive gains and smaller stocks mostly negative returns, although the differential between the two asset classes was narrower than last month.
Read MoreRead MoreInstitutional - Commentary & Outlook
September 15, 2023
In the first half of the year, we saw the failure of three mid-sized banks, a marked slowdown in the growth of the largest technology firms, and a round of debt ceiling negotiations that pushed the US closer than ever to default. Despite all of this, the S&P 500 built on its gains from the first quarter, generating a total return of +8.7% in the second and bringing year-to-date returns to +16.9%.
Read MoreRead MoreInstitutional - Commentary & Outlook
September 15, 2023
Stocks posted mixed returns in March, with considerable volatility along the way. Investors came into the month still worried about the stronger-than-expected economic data and stubbornly-high inflation readings that were seen in February.
Read MoreRead MoreInstitutional - Commentary & Outlook
September 15, 2023
After a powerful rally in January, stocks were down across the board in February as investors responded negatively to stronger-than-expected economic data and persistently high inflation readings.
Read MoreRead MoreInstitutional - Commentary & Outlook
September 15, 2023
After a dismal 2022, stocks came surging out of the gates in 2023. And it wasn’t just stocks that gained. Unlike 2022, when almost all asset classes posted negative returns, the near opposite occurred in January, and positive returns were seen across the board.
Read MoreRead MoreInstitutional - In the News
September 15, 2023
We are very excited to announce our partnership with Investment Management of Virginia, LLC (IMVA). The path ahead is bright and we are excited to have the IMVA team join us on that journey!
Read MoreRead MoreInstitutional - In the News
September 15, 2023
Pinnacle Associates Portfolio Manager @Randy Baron joined @The Business Brew podcast this week to discuss his #investment philosophy and interest in the #synthetic biology space. Bill and Randy explore the ethos of high conviction investing, especially in the current market backdrop.
Read MoreRead MoreInstitutional - In the News
September 15, 2023
Pinnacle Associates Portfolio Manager @Randy Baron explains to @Forbes why @MiX Telematics (MIXT) is unlikely to be the first name that comes to mind when speaking about tech, but it has an important spot in how tech supports the global supply chain as one of the biggest players in tracking vehicle fleets.
Read MoreRead More