VFH News and Press, Vanguard Financials From 12/09/21

While inflation was at first believed to be transitory, it is now beginning to look persistent. Biotech stocks are close to 6.5% of the Russell 2000 Value Index benchmark, and only a few have earnings and positive cash flows. We also think the outlook is rosy for small-cap value i...

The latest IHS Markit US Sector PMI revealed that six of the seven broad sectors tracked by the surveys reported higher output in November. Despite some of the supply chain problems having eased in November, the extent to which production growth had been constrained is consistent with...

Data suggest that the Vanguard Financials ETF has delivered small returns (average annual price gain of 5.63% and a dividend yield of about 1.77%) for long-term investors. However, tailwinds in the form of rising Treasury yields and an expected interest rate hike are boosting this ETF...

The problem with market speculation is that it starts to tempt the prudent investor into reckless behavior. What has always been prudent - owning a low-cost index fund - has now become a more speculative investment because of the degree of speculation in the market. The S&P 500 ha...

Investors in 2022 should prepare themselves for lower rates of S&P 500 EPS and revenue growth. It’s a “return-to-normal” market. Financial sector EPS growth is negative since reserve releases are probably expected to be much lower in 2022. Energy and Basic...

Supply chain bottlenecks are hitting sectors including labor, microchips and housing. Some of these disruptions will be around for the longer term, and investors should think about what they mean for portfolios. ETFs can help provide diversified, low-cost access to targeted sector...

Tech stocks have performed exceptionally well in the recent past and, as a result, a lot of investors have decided to heavily overweight tech in their portfolios. But past performance is not indicative of future results and we have good reasons to believe that tech stocks will underpe...

The October Consumer Price Index rose another 0.9% last month, which is a 6.2% year-over-year increase. The current policies of the Fed and Congress don't seem very effective at stopping this, assuming they're even trying to stop inflation at all. The best inflation defense curren...

The major US equity indices moved in concert, but the big disappointment so far this year has been small caps. Energy is clearly where the action is this year. After spending years at the bottom of the tables, Natural Gas, Gasoline, and Crude Oil now lead the pack. For furth...

We noted in our quarterly letter that every brokerage house on the Street was bearish and telling its customers to expect stocks to move into a correction. We also reminded you that one of Reilly’s Rules is that when everyone expects something to happen something else usually does....