AIA Advocate for Absolute Returns : Consumer Confidence

Association of Investor Awareness - Week of 04/30/2009

Research & Editorial Staff — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 14:20:00 GMT

In This Issue:

Signs Of A Better Economy? (Or At Least Not As Bad?)
Stocks For A Weak Recovery
The Bottom Line This Week

Last month investors received another booster shot from Wall Street as the Dow and the Nasdaq rose an additional 1.2% and 5.5% respectively. The gains left stocks up 26% from the rally's jumping off point. With any luck, and a few encouraging numbers from the economy, the rally could continue for another few weeks.

Lest anyone think the bear is finished, however, we must remind you that the market never moves in a straight line very long. Even if this is the start of a new bull market, we must expect to get some nasty shocks along the way. After such a strong rally, the first correction may be close at hand.

Signs Of A Better Economy? (Or At Least Not As Bad?)

Analysts are all over the map when it comes to predicting the future of the economy. Some see improvements, others think the most we have is a slower decline. A few super bears believe the worst hits are still to come, and they are fastening their safety belts.

Because the economic outlook is the most important issue that investors must deal with right now, we will review the three main arguments for each outlook. Of course, we will finish up by giving you our own sterling opinion.

1) The Economy Is Improving:

The strongest indication that economic relief is on the way is the rising stock market. Although many investors are not particularly well informed about economic matters, it's just the opposite with big spenders – and they are buying stocks. Since the market tends to look ahead from six to nine months, economic relief is probably about that far away.

Consumers are also showing greater confidence in the future by traipsing off to the mall a little more often than they did a few months ago. Since consumers are two thirds of the economy, their improving outlook can be a self-fulfilling prophesy. Spending is still very low, but at least the trend appears to be changing.

Business spending is also on the floor, and it will probably remain there for several months. But with consumers beginning to buy goods again, businesses will need to replace them. Inventories are already low for many products. As with consumers, however, a business turnaround is likely to be modest.

Housing remains weak in most markets, but there are signs of life in others. That's not surprising since home affordability, an established measure of housing trends, is higher than it has been in over five years. Many hopeful homebuyers know that prices could go lower, but they also know they might start to go back up again. As a result, many people who can afford to buy at today's prices are deciding to take the plunge. Lower interest rates are another incentive to buy.

Credit for every type of loan is still tight but the situation isn't as bad as the news stories might have you believe. Throughout America, hundreds of regional banks that didn't follow the subprime path to ruin have money for worthy clients. Lending standards are higher than they were during the boom, but that's a good thing. Only an idiot would want to go back to the loosey goosey standards that brought ruin to our country. The bottom line is, people with good credit histories and a respectable down payment can get mortgages. The same is true for business loans, new car financing, and so on.

Oil prices are remaining low, which is probably doing more for the economy than Washington's bailout program. The drop from almost $150 a barrel to under $50 had the same impact as a huge tax cut. Natural gas prices are also on the floor.

Lastly, the bailouts are helping to stimulate several industries, not just banking. Although we are very concerned about the colossal size of the federal debt, the money is a plus right now.

2) No It Isn't:

Naysayers believe the economy is not improving at all, it is just not dropping as quickly. Although the slowdown may be a technical victory, the bears say there is no way to make "less bad" look like "good."

Pessimists also say that the downward trend could continue and take the economy to the same low place it would have reached at the faster pace. This is known as the "we're dead either way" argument.

Other analysts say that even if the economy stops dropping, that doesn't mean a rebound is anywhere in sight. They point to the Great Depression when growth remained at very low levels for several years. During that time the unemployment rate hit 24% and businesses continued to fail.

3) A Disaster Is On The Way:

The toughest crowd are analysts who are certain that a full-blown depression is coming. They call the new calamity the "Greater Depression" to distinguish it from the not-so-bad Great Depression. Arsenic anyone?

The Armageddon crowd believes that the bailout program won't save the banks because they have been too badly damaged to recover. Instead, the depressionists say, the stimulus money will just put off the inevitable for a few months, and make the collapse all the worse.

The super bears also say the huge federal giveaways are putting so much money into the economy that a period of high inflation –and perhaps hyperinflation- is unavoidable. Therefore, the argument goes, even if the economy starts to pick itself up off the floor, inflation will slam it back down again. The result would be super stagflation, a situation where unemployment remains high at the same time prices soar. It's not a pleasant prospect.

As long-time readers know, we place much more faith on what we actually see happening in the world than what statistics and ivory tower number crunchers say. It's a practice that has kept us in the chips on many occasions when most investors were selling.

For example, we remained bullish on energy efficient industries when oil prices were soaring and most analysts thought modern life was ending. We were of the opinion that railroads, inland shipping companies and other fuel misers would actually benefit from more expensive energy because it would hurt the competition. It turned out that we were right, and our recommendations did well.

Of course, past performance does not guarantee future results, and all that. But for what it is worth, we think the first economic outlook is correct, and the economy is more likely to continue to claw its way out of the hole than it is to begin sinking again. Although a typical recovery seems unlikely, growth should be above the zero mark by the end of the year or by early 2010. If we are correct, many top-quality stocks remain oversold.

Stocks For A Weak Recovery

We hate to repeat ourselves in this newsletter, but on the other hand we never get tired of making money. As a result, we are continuing to recommend the boring multinational stocks that have been doing so well of late. We think their biggest moves are yet to come.

If you only want to make a single blue chip investment, an excellent choice would be the iShares Dow Jones Select Dividend Index (DVY), one of our favorite EFTs. http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=DVY The index has been performing very well of late. On March 9, DVY closed at $25.91. By April 28, the fund was up to $34.98, a 35% gain. We take back what we said about boring stocks.

We think investors who prefer to buy individual issues should look at three growth companies that should be headed higher.

The first of the three is Alcoa (AA), the giant aluminum producer. http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=AA Demand for the lightweight metal dropped sharply when the economy fell out of bed and industrial production hit the floor. But even with a small increase in the economy, demand for aluminum should jump smartly.

Deere Company (DE) is another probable winner in an improving economy. http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=DE The biggest potential for Deere isn't its farm machinery, although sales should improve this year. Instead, demand for the company's construction equipment should begin to rebound as President Obama's infrastructure programs ramp up.

General Electric (GE) http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=ge should do well as the company continues to get its troubled financial unit back on track. GE's worldwide sales of everything from locomotives to jet engines should also increase. We think this global powerhouse will be a very big long-term winner. A few years from now many investors will wonder how they could have ever thought that GE might not make it through the recession.

Last month we wrote that Ford http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=F has an excellent "chance for a profitable recovery" and "a small position appears to make sense at today's low price."

That proved to be something of an understatement. When that issue was sent out on March 26, Ford was $2.94. Today Ford closed at $5.45, an 85.4% gain. The worse things get for GM and Chrysler, the better the outlook will be for Ford, the only one of the formerly "big three" automakers that didn't need a bailout. Henry would be pleased.

The Bottom Line This Week

The outlook is improving by inches, but we are a long way from being out of danger. It would not take a very big shock to send the economy and the stock market down again. As a result, we think the best strategy for investors is to use the positive trend we have now and buy blue chip stocks with good outlooks – but protect all your positions with stop-loss orders.

Association of Investor Awareness - Week of 01/29/2009

Research & Editorial Staff — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 13:59:00 GMT

In This Issue:

Reasons For Cautious Optimism Continue To Appear
Many Promising Stocks Attract Long-Term Investors
The Bottom Line This Week

The stock market continued to lose ground last week as the Dow and the Nasdaq declined an additional 2.5% and 3.4% respectively.

A growing number of analysts believe the stock slide will continue until the market tests (reaches) the low point it made on November 20. If so, it will be a classic correction to a bear market rally.

A much bigger issue is what will come next if the November lows are reached. Pessimists believe the market will continue to decline until blue chip P/E ratios get closer to 10. If so, the S&P 500 would drop from today's 832 to 750, or so. Super bears think the index might fall another hundred points.

On the other hand, optimists believe the market will bounce back in a classic stage two bear market rebound. If history repeats, the second time should be the charm as a new rally would typically test its former highs – and then continue up. The 298 point jump the market took during the first three days of this week suggests that the optimists may be right.

Reasons For Cautious Optimism Continue To Appear

We are of the opinion that if another big economic shock doesn't occur, the market will follow the second scenario and begin to move up again.

Our more optimistic outlook isn't based upon wishful thinking. Instead, we see additional indications that the economy may begin to claw its way out of the hole starting late this year. Here are some of the most important changes that suggest this tough recession may not last as long as most people expect:

First, as we reported last week house sales are continuing to pick up as buyers decide to make use of the lower prices that are now available in many markets. Since home prices are continuing to weaken throughout America, we think sales will increase further in the coming months.

Second, cash levels are now at record levels. At the same time, interest rates are at near-record lows. Not surprisingly, cash levels dropped last week and, for the first time since August 2007, volume picked up on Wall Street. We think the numbers indicate that investors are moving some of their cash from fixed income accounts into better-paying stocks.

In our opinion, dividend yields are more important to investors now than P/E ratios. Solid companies with payouts above 3.25% seem unlikely to decline much further even if their multiples are still a bit high for a severe bear market.

Third, oil prices are beginning to tick up again. Part of the rise is due to a reduction in supply by oil producers. But analysts also think higher prices reflect small increases in global economic activity. In the past, oil has been a good barometer of early changes in growth that didn't show up on economists' radar screens for several months.

A similar case can be made for the recent uptick in gold prices. Critics may say the change only indicates that investors are expecting inflation to come back. However, the only way inflation can return is if deflation is on the way out. We can think of few changes that would be more bullish for the economy than a slowdown in the destruction of assets.

Fourth, there are old adages on Wall Street that say, "don't fight the Treasury" and "don't fight the Fed." That means don't bet against the Treasury's ability to rejuvenate the economy by pumping money into it, or the Fed's ability to boost growth by lowering interest rates.

For all the problems that the bailout programs will create, they should also have a positive impact on the economy. However, it will probably take from six to nine months before the beneficial effects begin to show up.

Fifth, consumer confidence is at record lows. As Dr. Steve Sjuggerud at Daily Wealth (www.dailywealth.com) pointed out recently, the lows typically occur just before a recession runs out of steam and growth starts to inch back up. The tougher the recession --as in 1973-74 and 1981-82-- the more reliable the indicator becomes.

Sixth, the more we look at what's happening in America the more it looks like the financial crisis is much worse than the economic crisis. In other words, most of the red ink is pouring out of banks. Nearly all blue chip industries are seeing their profits slashed, but most of them are still in the black. Some companies such as Apple, IBM, Heinz and Google are doing very well – to name only a few.

Any company that is weathering today's storm is a lot stronger than its stock price would suggest. In addition, most companies are rapidly adjusting to the tougher conditions.

Seven, as we discussed last week, credit is continuing to come back. To the great surprise of many investors, the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer was able to raise $22.5 billion to buy Wyeth. To be sure, the lenders took precautions against a default, but that should always be the case. If lenders had been running their businesses responsibly in recent years, there would be no credit crisis.

Although the Pfizer/Wyeth case is attracting a great deal of publicity, thousands of much smaller deals financed by regional banks are doing the most to help turn the economy around.

Eight, people in every walk of life are absolutely certain that the economy is circling the drain. However, what everybody "knows" is often wrong. In this case, the expectations of more pain may be accurate near term, but they are almost certainly off the mark for the longer-term.

Lastly, the Conference Board just announced that the Leading Economic Index rose 0.3% in December. That wasn't a very big increase. However, almost all analysts were expecting another decline. The news didn't attract much attention because one month does not make a trend. But if the index moves up again in January, we think Wall Street will take notice.

Many Promising Stocks Attract Long-Term Investors

Since we are long-term investors, we continue to urge our readers to use the bear market to pick up high quality stocks at bargain prices. Many of the world's finest multinational blue chips are affordable for the first time in over a decade. If you don't buy them now, you may not get another chance to do so for another ten years or so.

Readers who have been with us awhile undoubtedly remember the names of the blue chip value stocks that we have been recommending. We keep waving their flags because we think they are the stocks that most investors should buy.

This week we will discuss two recommendations that we have not featured recently, plus one new one for your consideration.

H.J. Heinz (HNZ) is back in the news, and for good reason. http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=HNZ Heinz is one of the many companies that managed to increase its earnings in fiscal 2008. Nevertheless, the stock price is still very low, and the dividend yield is a very attractive 4.6%. In addition, this solid blue chip raised its dividends in 40 of the past 41 years.

Heinz is also very unlikely to lose its leadership standing in its industry anytime soon. Nearly all of its products are rated either first or second in their markets. And since most of the company's products (such as ketchup, mayo, pickles, etc.) are inexpensive, shoppers are not under any great pressure to switch to cheaper brands.

IBM (IBM) is at the other end of the technology spectrum from Heinz, but it is doing no less well. http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=IBM The company just released its fourth-quarter numbers, and they are impressive. Profits rose 12% during a time when most banks were having staggering losses. Moreover, IBM issued a rosy outlook for 2009. The company is expecting to earn from $10 to $11 a share vs $8.75 predicted by analysts.

IBM is a good example of a giant company that is nevertheless able to think and act quickly as business conditions change. A year ago management noticed that the hardware side of its business was losing ground to an explosion of rivals that were finding it easier to enter the server market. As a result, IBM started to place more emphasis on software and services that are harder for competitors to match.

Home Depot (HD) is a new recommendation that popped up on our value screens this month. http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=HD The company needs little introduction since its home improvement stores can be found in nearly every city.

After soaring in price during the real estate mania, the stock dropped sharply when the bubble ended. However, Home Depot is still profitable. That's not surprising since many people who hoped to purchase new homes have decided to fix up their old places instead. Home Depot has expansion debts, but it has the income to cover them. Meanwhile, the dividend is an attractive 4.1%.

The Bottom Line This Week

The economy is not out of the woods. Far from it. Growth should continue to sink for another few months. However, there are some early signs that the situation will change for the better late this year. Since prices for many blue chip companies are currently very low, and most yields are high, we think investors should take positions for what should be better days ahead. Among the companies that look especially good are Heinz, IBM, and Home Depot.

Association of Investor Awareness - Week of 01/01/2009

Research & Editorial Staff — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 16:18:00 GMT

In This Issue:

The New Year Should Bring Investors Some Relief
Consumers Have More Money Than Holiday Sales Suggest
Most Corporations Are In Good Financial Shape
Economy Gains From Cheaper Dollars, Oil, And Interest Rates
The Faster The Pain, The Quicker The Gain?
If You Don’t Play, You Can’t Win
The Bottom Line This Week

Investors who hoped that Santa might bring them some cheer over Christmas were sorely disappointed. The usually-jolly old gentlemen dropped off a rather large bag of coal. Even that gift was worth a lot less than would have been true a few months ago.

In any event, when the stock market closed on Christmas week, the Dow and the Nasdaq were down another 0.7% and 2.2% respectively. The mood brightened over the weekend when unemployment claims dropped unexpectedly. During the last three trading days of 2008, the market went up 260 points. We suspect that the occasion will be celebrated with a little extra bubbly on New Years Eve.

Of course, Wall Street’s revelers will need to overlook the fact that the S&P 500 went down a dismal 41% during 2008. It wasn’t the worst annual performance in history, but it was the worst in the memory of most investors living now.

The New Year Should Bring Investors Some Relief

On the brighter side, we continue to think that 2009 will be a better year than 2008. Although we can expect to see many stock prices drop to new lows, and many venerable companies go bankrupt, many analysts think the worst of the crisis is probably behind us.

There are even some indications that the economy will begin a partial recovery in 2009. The downward momentum will almost certainly continue during the first quarter when growth is likely to shrink by 4% or so. However, by the third quarter growth should start to slowly improve, although it is likely to remain below water. But by the fourth quarter, the GDP may tiptoe into the black – but not by much.

Consumers Have More Money Than Holiday Sales Suggest

The biggest positive for the economy is consumers are in better shape than the recent retail sales figures would indicate. In the December 26 issue of the Wall Street Journal, Zachary Karabell, president of River Twice Research, www.rivertwice.com pointed out that the U.S. credit system didn’t allow consumers to take on the ruinous leverage that the lenders themselves used. As a result, household wealth is still about $45 trillion. (That’s trillion with a "T".) In addition, a third of U.S. households have no mortgage, much less a sub-prime mortgage.

Consumers also seem to be determined to get out of debt. During the holiday season, most Americans used their credit cards less than in previous years. Their restraint hurt merchants, but the savings will allow the public to spend more in the future. When fears subside, there will be money available to jump start the economy.

Lastly, by the end of 2009 consumers will need to replace many items that will be nearing the end of their useful lives. Everything from clothes to cars will be on the list. Delayed spending led the economy back from many past recessions, and it’s likely to do it again.

Most Corporations Are In Good Financial Shape

Contrary to popular belief, most companies didn’t participate in the debt binge that triggered the credit crisis. Unlike the downturns of the 1980’s and in 2002, corporate debt is low and cash reserves are high. When consumers decide to open their pocketbooks a bit wider, companies will be able to respond quickly to meet the increasing demand.

Companies are also beginning to adjust to the new financial reality. As we have seen during other tough economic periods, businesses are trimming fat as fast as they can. The new "lean and mean" measures are hurting the economy now, but they will lead to improved profits later.

Economy Gains From Cheaper Dollars, Oil, And Interest Rates

As you probably recall, the declining value of the U.S. dollar contributed significantly to the late boom by making U.S products less expensive overseas. But when the economy finally started to fall apart, the dollar jumped back up as millions of investors around the world flocked to safe U.S. Treasuries.

Now the dollar is moving back down again. Although the decline is unlikely to trigger anything like the recent period of growth, it will help many U.S. exporters. That will be welcome news for investors who have been increasing their positions in the blue chip multinational companies that we have been recommending for many months.

Lower oil prices are providing another stimulus for growth. The Energy Information Administration is estimating that regular gasoline will average $2.03 a gallon in 2009. That’s a 38% decrease from the $3.27 we endured in 2008. Richard DeKaser, chief economist at National City Corporation, believes the reduction will add 1% to whatever growth rate the 2009 economy creates on its own.

The Fed’s ultra-low interest rates will also stimulate growth, particularly in the housing market. Wells Fargo is already offering some 30-year loans at 4.9%. Mortgage rates may sink to 4.5% within a few months. If so, home sales in many oversold markets may recover much faster than most investors expect.

The Faster The Pain, The Quicker The Gain?

When the credit crisis got underway there was a heated debate about what, if anything, the government should do about it. Many economists thought that Washington should stay out of the mess. They argued that the country would be better off having a terrible –but short- downturn that would clear out the bad debts, kill off the weak companies, and quickly lead to a recovery.

The recession isn’t the problem. The boom is the problem, the recession is the cure.

Peter Schiff, President of Euro Pacific Capital www.europac.net

That option appeared to have been taken off the table when the federal rescue funds began to flow. However, the pace of the downturn remained very high. As a result, more analysts are beginning to think that an equally surprising rebound may be on the way.

We have been saying the same thing about oversold stocks. Our analysis indicates that a rebound in many blue chips will occur even if the economy remains weak. If the economy does better than expected, the same should be true of America’s strongest companies.

If You Don’t Play, You Can’t Win

Investors are understandably nervous about venturing into the stock market after suffering big losses in 2008. But for people who stay on the bench, those losses will be locked in. Only by taking advantage of today’s low stock prices will it be possible to turn the gut wrenching declines of the past year into attractive gains.

In truth, investors who stay on the sidelines will probably do worse than we just indicated. That’s because returns from fixed income investments are so low, investors who stick with them won’t even keep up with inflation. On the other hand, stocks of successful companies typically stay ahead of inflation and deliver real wealth to their investors.

A look back at the Crash of 1929, the Crash of 1987, and several mini-crashes tells the tale. After each collapse, most investors retired to the sidelines to lick their wounds. When the emergencies ended, the sideliners were still in the hole.

Wiser investors looked at the high quality companies that were selling for half or less of their former values - and they bought them. When America started to move forward again, these investors made huge gains.

Now we have another once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to buy the cream of America's companies at prices nobody ever expected to see again. We are convinced that if you stand aside from the fear that grips the markets, and you buy the best-of-the-best companies, you will be handsomely rewarded.

The Bottom Line This Week

The year that just ended will go down in history as one of the toughest the U.S. economy and stock market ever had. Although there is a chance that 2009 will be even worse, we think a partial recovery is far more likely.

As a result, we are confident that our advice to invest in high-quality blue chip stocks will result in excellent long-term profits. The best stocks to buy are from companies that provide products and services that meet the basic needs of people all over the world.

Companies with good dividends are the most attractive of all because they will pay investors to wait for the bigger gains that are expected. Please review recent issues of the AIA Advocate for our recommendations.

We wish everyone a Healthy, Happy, and Prosperous New Year!

AIA Advocate for Absolute Returns : Consumer Confidence

Association of Investor Awareness - Week of 04/30/2009

Signs Of A Better Economy? (Or At Least Not As Bad?)

Stocks For A Weak Recovery

The Bottom Line This Week

Association of Investor Awareness - Week of 01/29/2009

Reasons For Cautious Optimism Continue To Appear Many Promising Stocks Attract Long-Term Investors The Bottom Line This Week

Reasons For Cautious Optimism Continue To Appear

Many Promising Stocks Attract Long-Term Investors

The Bottom Line This Week

Association of Investor Awareness - Week of 01/01/2009

The New Year Should Bring Investors Some Relief

Consumers Have More Money Than Holiday Sales Suggest

Most Corporations Are In Good Financial Shape

Economy Gains From Cheaper Dollars, Oil, And Interest Rates

The Faster The Pain, The Quicker The Gain?

The recession isn’t the problem. The boom is the problem, the recession is the cure.

If You Don’t Play, You Can’t Win

The Bottom Line This Week

We wish everyone a Healthy, Happy, and Prosperous New Year!

Reasons For Cautious Optimism Continue To Appear
Many Promising Stocks Attract Long-Term Investors
The Bottom Line This Week