The Q1 2026 GDP advance estimate prints at 2.0% on three non-repeatable tailwinds — a federal payroll rebound, a tariff-driven inventory surge, and an AI capex pulse accounting for up to 79% of the print on a gross basis. Strip those out and the underlying pace is closer to the high-1s. Core PCE jumped 160 basis points in a single quarter to 4.3%. The Fed cannot cut into 4% inflation and cannot hike into a slowing consumer. The policy trap is set.
RecessionALERT Valuation Index (RAVI)
PART-1 There are currently 4 mainstream models used to forecast 10-year total returns on the SP-500 (dividends re-invested) The Shiller CAPE ratio (PE10) The Warren Buffet Indicator Tobin’s Q-Ratio Average Investor allocation to stocks The non-linear quarterly correlations between these four models (x-axes) and achieved 10-year future total returns (y-axes) on the SP-500 since 1970 are shown below: Whilst there have been successful variations that improve long-run 10-year return correlations slightly (such as John Hussmanns’ Peak Earnings version of the Shiller […]
Valuations not at nose-bleed levels yet
The recent run in the major U.S stock indices has resulted in Shiller-PE charts being trotted out showing how far we are off the historical mean, implying a nasty pullback is in the works. The problem with a historical mean is that it is a single horizontal value on a chart that fails to take cognisance of any long-term trending the underlying valuation series may be experiencing. The static mean implies there is no valid reason stock market participants would be […]
