August Recap & 2 Strategies to Break the "Sept Curse"!
Major stock indexes mixed in August, with $S&P/ASX 200(XJO.AU)$ , $Straits Times Index(STI.SI)$ Index rising slightly and all of the U.S. indexes $S&P 500(.SPX)$ , $DJIA(.DJI)$ ,$NASDAQ(.IXIC)$ falling over 4%, while $Cboe Volatility Index(VIX)$ surged 21.28%.
August Sector and Stock Performances:
From the above chart, in August, the energy sector rose by 3.6%, and all other sectors fell. In particular, the technology sector led the decline by -5.24%, followed by the Healthcare sector, and the Communication Services sector, fell -5.06% and -4.57% respectively.
In the technology sector, most of the stocks that we saw fell the most were the semiconductor industry stocks. $NVIDIA Corp(NVDA)$ fell 18.52%, $Intel(INTC)$ fell 11.36%, $AMD(AMD)$ fell 14.52%, and $Qualcomm(QCOM)$ fell 10.04%.
In addition, giant stocks by market value like $Microsoft(MSFT)$ fell 4.86%, $Alphabet(GOOG)$ fell 5.82%, $Amazon.com(AMZN)$ fell 5.51%, $Tesla Motors(TSLA)$ fell 8.13%, and $Apple(AAPL)$ fell 1.74%, $Berkshire Hathaway(BRK.B)$ fell 3.89% and $MasterCard(MA)$ fell 7%.
Among the three major indexes, the stocks that rose the best in August were as follows:
$S&P 500(.SPX)$ Top 10 in August:$Devon(DVN)$ , $ConocoPhillips(COP)$ , $Cardinal Health(CAH)$ , $Nielsen Holdings PLC(NLSN)$ ,$EOG Resources(EOG)$ ,$Occidental(OXY)$ ,$Pioneer Natural Resources(PXD)$ ,$Hess(HES)$ ,$APA Corporation(APA)$ ,$AES Corp(AES)$
$DJIA(.DJI)$ Top 5 stocks return over 1% in August:$Walt Disney(DIS)$ ,$Travelers(TRV)$ ,$Chevron(CVX)$ , $Wal-Mart(WMT)$ , $Caterpillar(CAT)$ .
$NASDAQ(.IXIC)$ TOP 10 peformers are $Shuttle Pharmaceuticals Inc(SHPH)$ ,$Minerva Neurosciences(NERV)$ ,$Reviva Pharmaceuticals Holdings, Inc.(RVPH)$ ,$FlexShopper Inc(FPAY)$ ,$American Virtual Cloud Technologies, Inc.(AVCT)$ ,$Globalink Investment Inc(GLLIR)$ ,$BioAtla, Inc.(BCAB)$ ,$Venus Acquisition Corp(VENAR)$ , $Infinity Pharmaceuticals(INFI)$ ,$Nuwellis, Inc.(NUWE)$ .
Other Markets:
The international gold price fell for five consecutive months, the longest record since 2018. $Gold - Aug 2022(GC2208)$ COMEX gold futures for December delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell about 3.0% in August to $1,726.20 an ounce.
International oil prices fell for the third consecutive month, the longest continuous decline since the first half of 2020, under pressure from demand concerns and rumors about the Iran nuclear deal. WTI crude oil fell by 9.2% in August to $89.55 per barrel; Brent crude oil fell by 12.3% in August to $96.49 per barrel.
Break the "September Curse"? Check Out These Metrics!
August ADP employment data worse than expected: the US ADP private sector employment increased by 132,000 in August, lower than market expectations of 300,000, and employment growth slowed for the second consecutive month;
Wage growth flattened in August: While annual wages rose 7.6% year-over-year in August, in line with monthly data from spring 2022, growth has flattened.
Aggressive interest rate hikes in September: After Fed Chairman Powell made a tough speech last Friday, Cleveland Fed President Mester said that he expected the federal funds rate to stand at 4% by early next year, and also said that she did not expect the Fed to not. With a rate cut in 2023, fears are sweeping the market again.
U.S. bond yields rose: 2-year U.S. Treasury bonds linked to short-term interest rates broke through the 3.5% mark and hit a new high since 2007, benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury bonds rose 8.6 basis points to 3.196%, 30-year U.S. Treasury bonds 7.9 basis points to 3.299%.
Market liquidity be underestimated: The pace of the FED's balance sheet reduction has begun to accelerate.This week, the Fed will increase the monthly maturity limit of Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities (MBS) to $60 billion and $35 billion, respectively. At the same time, when the coupon maturity limit is lower than the monthly cap, it will use a treasury bill position of 326 billion US dollars to supplement, and its impact on market liquidity should not be underestimated.
Market Expectations and 2 Strategies for September:
Tim Ghriskey, senior portfolio strategist at Ingalls & Snyder, said:
"Right now we're in a volatile market with a lot of volatility and there's a fear that this is a bear market rally that will continue to challenge the lows going forward."
Peel Hunt economics and strategy research analyst Ian Williams said,
"Volatility risks cannot be ignored given the light late-summer trading volume and lingering concerns that more aggressive Fed rate hikes could slow the U.S. economy."
Gerard Cassidy, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, wrote in a research note:
"The biggest boost to bank profitability over the next 12 to 18 months will be the continued improvement in net interest margins (NIM), driven by rising short-term interest rates and the reallocation of excess liquidity into higher yielding assets.
Strategies Options 1-Inverse ETFs:
- $ProShares Short QQQ(PSQ)$
- $ProShares Short S&P500(SH)$
- $ProShares Short Dow30(DOG)$
- Bear 2X ETF $ProShares UltraShort QQQ(QID)$
- $S&P 500 Bear 2X ETF(SDS)$
- Bear 2X ETF $ProShares UltraShort Dow30(DXD)$
- $Nasdaq100 Bear 3X ETF(SQQQ)$
- $S&P 500 Bear 3X ETF(SPXU)$
- $Dow30 Bear 3X ETF(SDOW)$
- $ProShares Short Russell2000(RWM)$
- $ProShares UltraShort Russell2000(TWM)$
- $Direxion Daily Small Cap Bear 3X Shares(TZA)$
Strategies Options 2-Single-Stock Bear ETFs
Interest rate hikes are bad for technology stocks. Investors can also consider investing in Single-Stock Bear ETFs that short Tesla, Apple, and Nvidia single stocks to hedge risks or amplify returns.
- $Tesla Motors Bear ETF-AXS(TSLQ)$
- $NVIDIA Bear 1.25X ETF-AXS(NVDS)$
- $PayPal Bear 1.5X ETF-AXS(PYPS)$
- $Direxion Daily AAPL Bear 1X Shares(AAPD)$
- $Direxion Daily TSLA Bear 1X Shares(TSLS)$
- $GraniteShares 1x Short TSLA Daily ETF(TSLI)$
You May interested in reading:
The 1st Single-Stock Bear ETF of TESLA: TSLQ Starts On Trading
Charts| U.S. Stocks May Enter Into a "Last Drop" in September?
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Thanks @TigerObserver for your excellent article on how to break the September Curse. I also love the August recap on the markets too. Yes shorting the markets is certainly an important option to consider. I will check out the counters you recommended.