Today, half of the top 10 ranking companies by market capitalization are technology and communications companies. While these companies like Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet (Google) and Facebook may receive the lion’s share of attention, technology and communication companies as a whole have surged to become the dominant sector in financial markets over the past few decades. And despite the stronger fundamentals of these companies relative to the dot-com boom 20 years ago, there are still questions about the sustainability of the dominance of this sector going forward. So what does the history of the U.S. stock market tell us about sector dominance?
Monthly Archives: February 2019
OUR JANUARY RESULTS
Our weighted average return in January was +8.22%. Since 2015, we have generated a net return of +38.15%.
In terms of investment strategy performance, our weighted average net returns for January were (a) +2.36% for conservative strategies, (b) +7.64% for balanced strategies, and (c) +11.17% for aggressive strategies.
January was a considerably better month than December. As mentioned in last month’s commentary, US Fed Chairman Powell’s statement that the Fed was “listening closely to markets” on January 4th proved to be just what the market needed to stop panicking about the prospect of rising rates. The partial resolution of the US government shutdown added to positive sentiment, as did more positive dialogue regarding trade tariff negotiations between the US and China. As such, the S&P 500 (SPY US) rose +8.01%, Emerging Market equities surged +10.34% (EEM US) and Emerging Market bonds gained +4.78% (EMB US).
Apple 1Q FY19 Commentary
On Tuesday, Apple reported “disappointing” 1Q FY19 results, as total revenue fell 5% y/y to only $84.3 billion. Net income was $20 billion, essentially flat y/y, while earnings per share were an all-time high of $4.18 (+7.5% y/y), although this growth was helped by a reduced share count due to buybacks. The fall in revenue was mainly attributed to iPhone revenue (61.7% of total revenue) falling 15% y/y, and management explained that this was entirely due to weakness in Greater China. Guidance for the next quarter also wasn’t very remarkable, with gross margins expected to decrease and operating expenses expected to grow. So why did the Apple’s stock price increase by almost 7% the next day?