TSLA - The State Of The Stock Market In 18 Charts | Benzinga
Stocks rallied last week with the S&P 500 rising 1.9% to close at 5,222.68. The index is now up 9.5% year to date and up 46% from its October 12, 2022 closing low of 3,577.03.
It was one of the quieter weeks for economic data, earnings announcements, and other major market-moving events.
So, in lieu of riffing off a news event, here’s a bunch of charts that caught my eye in recent weeks:
The Stock Market Likes The Absence Of News
From BofA: "Historically, quiet weeks have been the best weeks for stocks. No news is good news."
(Source: BofA)
The S&P 500 Gets You Exposure To China
From Piper Sandler (HT Blake Millard): "S&P large caps have near-record exposure to a China that is wobbly economically, with an increasingly authoritarian Heavy Hand of regulation."
S&P 500 companies employ a lot of people
From Apollo Global’s Torsten Slok: "Total global employment in the S&P 500 companies is 29 million, and total employment in the US economy is 158 million, see chart below. Put differently, more than 80% of total employment in the US economy is outside the S&P 500 companies."
(Source: Apollo Global)
It’s worth noting that S&P 500 companies do a lot of business outside of the U.S., which means many of those 29 million employees aren’t based in the U.S.
Higher Rates Don’t Spell Doom For Stocks
From Ritholtz Wealth Management’s Ben Carlson: "The relationship between interest rates and stock market performance is murky at best… It’s certainly not a one-to-one correlation where higher rates lead to lower returns. The lowest returns have come in the 3-4% and 7-8% ranges. The best returns have come when rates are 2% or less, which makes sense when you consider rates were only that low during two of the biggest crises this century (the GFC and Covid). Look at the 4% to 6% range, which is where we are now. The returns have been pretty good. Maybe one of the reasons for this is because the average 10 year yield since 1950 is 5.4% (the median is 4.7%). Rates like this occur during normal times (if such a thing exists)."
(Source: Ben Carlson)
Interest Expenses Remain Cool
Despite tight monetary policy and elevated interest rates, corporate net interest costs remain low. This is thanks to a combination of debt that’s largely locked in low rates and elevated cash balances earning more ...