Investing Research Articles

Based on high return correlation with the S&P 500 Index and strong past performance of the health care sector, a subscriber suggested replacing SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) with iShares U.S. Healthcare ETF (IYH)...

In response to the U.S. stock market timing backtest in “Usefulness of P/E10 as Stock Market Return Predictor”, a subscriber suggested combining a 10-month simple moving average (SMA10) technical signal with a P/E10 (or Cyclically...

Does breadth of equity sector performance predict overall stock market return? To investigate, we relate next-month stock market return to sector breadth (number of sectors with positive past returns) over lookback intervals ranging from 1...

A subscriber suggested implementing several Simple Asset Class ETF Momentum Strategy (SACEMS) asset class proxies with allocations consisting of one third triple-leveraged (3X) versions of the proxies and two thirds cash, thereby accruing the targeted...

Below is a weekly summary of our research findings for 11/14/22 through 11/18/22. These summaries give you a quick snapshot of our content the past week so that you can quickly decide what’s relevant to...

Is option gamma, which indicates how aggressively option market makers must trade underlying stocks to hedge their option positions, a systematic driver of those stock returns? In his October 2022 paper entitled “Option Gamma and...

Below is a weekly summary of our research findings for 11/7/22 through 11/11/22. These summaries give you a quick snapshot of our content the past week so that you can quickly decide what’s relevant to...

A subscriber asked whether the correlation between returns on stocks and bonds is elevated when inflation is above 5%, such that equities and fixed income offer little diversification protection. To investigate, we calculate the U.S....

In response to the U.S. stock market timing backtest in “Usefulness of P/E10 as Stock Market Return Predictor”, a subscriber suggested a modification for exploiting P/E10 (or Cyclically Adjusted Price-Earnings ratio, CAPE). Instead of binary...

Is the level, or changes in the level, of Federal Reserve (Fed) holdings of U.S. Treasuries (bills, notes, bonds and TIPS, measured weekly as of Wednesday) an indicator of future stock market and/or Treasuries returns? To investigate,...

Referring to “SACEMS Top 1 Mean Reversion?”, a subscriber asked about the performance of the equal-weighted (EW) second and third ranked Simple Asset Class ETF Momentum Strategy (SACEMS) assets both as a standalone strategy and...

Below is a weekly summary of our research findings for 10/31/22 through 11/4/22. These summaries give you a quick snapshot of our content the past week so that you can quickly decide what’s relevant to...

Does combining a sentiment indicator with a trend following indicator improve performance of a stocks-bonds timing strategy? In his October 2022 paper entitled “The Complementarity of Trend Following and Relative Sentiment”, Raymond Micaletti investigates effects...

Noting that iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (LQD) and iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) exhibit a moderately positive return correlation, a subscriber asked about substituting Vanguard High-Yield Corporate Fund Investor...

Below is a weekly summary of our research findings for 10/24/22 through 10/28/22. These summaries give you a quick snapshot of our content the past week so that you can quickly decide what’s relevant to...

Is there a best time of the month for measuring momentum within the Simple Asset Class ETF Momentum Strategy (SACEMS)? To investigate, we compare 21 variations of baseline SACEMS by shifting the monthly return calculation cycle...

Are days with strong stock market return reversals predictive of the future trend? To check, we we use daily opens, lows, highs and closes of the S&P 500 Index to define the following: Reversal –...

Does a constant real annual withdrawal rate of 4% of household savings at retirement, derived from U.S. asset return experience, really protect against financial ruin? In their September 2022 paper entitled “The Safe Withdrawal Rate:...

Below is a weekly summary of our research findings for 10/17/22 through 10/21/22. These summaries give you a quick snapshot of our content the past week so that you can quickly decide what’s relevant to...

Subscribers have questioned selecting assets with negative past returns within the “Simple Asset Class ETF Momentum Strategy” (SACEMS). Inclusion of Cash as one of the assets in the SACEMS universe of exchange-traded funds (ETF) prevents...

Below is a weekly summary of our research findings for 10/10/22 through 10/14/22. These summaries give you a quick snapshot of our content the past week so that you can quickly decide what’s relevant to...

Are many accepted equity factors/return anomalies artifacts of the secular decline in interest rates during their discovery sample periods? In their September 2022 paper entitled “The Factor Multiverse: The Role of Interest Rates in Factor...

Do formal asset allocation methods specify a portfolio allocation to bitcoin (BTC)? In his September 2022 paper entitled “Optimal Allocation to Cryptocurrencies in Diversified Portfolios”, Artur Sepp applies four quantitative methods to estimate optimal allocations...

How does elimination of broker commissions on stock trades affect individual investors? In their September 2022 paper entitled “Fee the People: Retail Investor Behavior and Trading Commission Fees”, Omri Even-Tov, Kimberlyn George, Shimon Kogan and...

Market commentators sometimes cite a high Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) Volatility Index (VIX), the options-implied volatility of the S&P 500 Index as an indicator of investor sentiment and therefore a contrarian signal for the...