Brian Regan is Focused on the 2nd Half

Focus on the 2nd Half – As we enter the second half of 2025 with the stock market at record high
levels, Senior Portfolio Manager Brian Regan joins Chris Boyd and Jeff Perry for a detailed
review of the first half of the year and an outlook for the remainder of 2025. With a focus on
valuation metrics, Brian offers general commentary on the stock market as well as specific
sectors, including utilities and semiconductors. Brian also provides thoughts on the importance
of “AI” relative to the growth in corporate earnings. Chris inquires with Brian whether
international stocks are worthy of consideration. #financialplanning #geo-political #stockmarket
#utilitystocks #semiconductors #corporateearnings #stocks #internationalstocks
Click the link below to register for our upcoming webinar, “Don’t leave a digital mess.”
https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/6040334700710880088
For more information or to reach TEAM AMR, click the following link:
https://www.wealthenhancement.com/s/advisor-teams/amr
00:00:00,900 --> 00:00:03,420
Welcome to Something More with Chris Boyd.
2
00:00:03,820 --> 00:00:06,600
Chris Boyd is a certified financial planner, practitioner,
3
00:00:06,860 --> 00:00:09,360
and senior vice president and financial advisor at
4
00:00:09,360 --> 00:00:11,660
Wealth Enhancement Group, one of the nation's largest
5
00:00:11,660 --> 00:00:13,260
registered investment advisors.
6
00:00:13,800 --> 00:00:15,700
We call it Something More because we'd like
7
00:00:15,700 --> 00:00:17,820
to talk not only about those important dollar
8
00:00:17,820 --> 00:00:20,000
and cents issues, but also the quality of
9
00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:22,440
life issues that make the money matters matter.
10
00:00:22,960 --> 00:00:26,200
Here he is, your fulfillment facilitator, your partner
11
00:00:26,200 --> 00:00:29,340
in prosperity, advising clients on Cape Cod and
12
00:00:29,340 --> 00:00:30,400
across the country.
13
00:00:30,740 --> 00:00:33,220
Here's your host, Jay Christopher Boyd.
14
00:00:34,400 --> 00:00:36,580
Welcome to Something More with Chris Boyd.
15
00:00:36,600 --> 00:00:39,000
I'm here with Jeff Perry and Brian Regan.
16
00:00:39,100 --> 00:00:41,220
All of us are with the AMR team
17
00:00:41,220 --> 00:00:43,820
at Wealth Enhancement, and glad to have you
18
00:00:43,820 --> 00:00:45,120
joining us for a segment.
19
00:00:45,400 --> 00:00:46,320
So glad to have you back.
20
00:00:46,420 --> 00:00:48,100
You each were on vacation last week.
21
00:00:48,200 --> 00:00:48,760
Not together.
22
00:00:50,360 --> 00:00:51,120
Fair enough.
23
00:00:51,640 --> 00:00:52,740
But I missed you both.
24
00:00:53,040 --> 00:00:54,080
Would it be that bad, Jeff?
25
00:00:55,260 --> 00:00:56,960
I don't know, based upon- You don't
26
00:00:56,960 --> 00:00:58,060
have the time of your life.
27
00:00:58,780 --> 00:00:59,980
Maybe for the first two days.
28
00:00:59,980 --> 00:01:01,420
After that, it would probably be downhill.
29
00:01:02,940 --> 00:01:04,680
I think we both feel that way, as
30
00:01:04,680 --> 00:01:05,940
previously discussed.
31
00:01:06,160 --> 00:01:07,780
It's that time of year, a great time
32
00:01:07,780 --> 00:01:08,900
of year to take a vacation.
33
00:01:09,180 --> 00:01:11,000
So you guys picked the perfect week, I
34
00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:11,260
think.
35
00:01:11,440 --> 00:01:14,200
I billed this previously, Brian, that we were
36
00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:16,260
going to talk to you about, hey, where
37
00:01:16,260 --> 00:01:17,640
are we at at the half, and how
38
00:01:17,640 --> 00:01:18,320
are things going?
39
00:01:19,100 --> 00:01:20,640
And then I forgot you were on vacation.
40
00:01:20,900 --> 00:01:23,460
So I billed it again last week for
41
00:01:23,460 --> 00:01:23,940
this week.
42
00:01:24,060 --> 00:01:24,900
So here we are.
43
00:01:25,500 --> 00:01:26,760
Lots to think about.
44
00:01:26,900 --> 00:01:28,920
So much going on in the world in
45
00:01:28,920 --> 00:01:31,860
terms of foreign policy issues.
46
00:01:32,080 --> 00:01:36,580
We've had issues with Iran that came up
47
00:01:36,580 --> 00:01:38,280
a month ago, maybe.
48
00:01:38,860 --> 00:01:42,980
We've had the looming question of what's happening
49
00:01:42,980 --> 00:01:46,560
with tariffs that's evolving and developing.
50
00:01:46,880 --> 00:01:50,540
We had this big legislation, which we'll talk
51
00:01:50,540 --> 00:01:53,280
about in another episode shortly.
52
00:01:54,280 --> 00:01:57,820
So there's so much going on.
53
00:01:58,260 --> 00:02:01,580
I think investors look at things and say,
54
00:02:01,740 --> 00:02:03,920
well, it seems like things are going well.
55
00:02:04,440 --> 00:02:06,760
How should I be thinking about the second
56
00:02:06,760 --> 00:02:07,520
half of the year?
57
00:02:07,620 --> 00:02:09,840
And so I just wanted to have an
58
00:02:09,840 --> 00:02:11,440
opportunity for you to talk a little bit
59
00:02:11,440 --> 00:02:14,100
about some of this, and maybe offer some
60
00:02:14,100 --> 00:02:18,200
insight and guidance for our listeners as to
61
00:02:18,200 --> 00:02:20,760
how do we think about all that's going
62
00:02:20,760 --> 00:02:22,660
on in the world, and how does that
63
00:02:22,660 --> 00:02:25,400
play into some of the thinking people might
64
00:02:25,400 --> 00:02:28,540
want to give consideration to with their portfolio
65
00:02:28,540 --> 00:02:31,060
as we look into the latter part of
66
00:02:31,060 --> 00:02:31,380
the year?
67
00:02:31,780 --> 00:02:33,880
So if you fell asleep on January 1st
68
00:02:33,880 --> 00:02:36,220
and you woke up on June 30th, you'd
69
00:02:36,220 --> 00:02:38,180
probably be pretty thrilled with your investment returns,
70
00:02:38,320 --> 00:02:40,200
or at least happy, would be my guess.
71
00:02:40,340 --> 00:02:42,620
Maybe not thrilled when you compare it to
72
00:02:42,620 --> 00:02:45,020
2024 and 2023.
73
00:02:45,740 --> 00:02:49,140
The reality is, for better or for worse,
74
00:02:49,880 --> 00:02:52,140
we don't go into a coma for six
75
00:02:52,140 --> 00:02:52,880
months at a time.
76
00:02:53,940 --> 00:02:55,100
I'll say that's better.
77
00:02:55,540 --> 00:03:01,560
But year to date through July 9th, the
78
00:03:01,560 --> 00:03:05,120
S&P 500 was up 7.16%
79
00:03:05,120 --> 00:03:06,860
total returns, so that includes dividends.
80
00:03:07,640 --> 00:03:10,800
The aggregate bond index was up 3.64%.
81
00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:13,240
So objectively, that's pretty nice.
82
00:03:13,320 --> 00:03:15,380
You're getting something from your fixed income.
83
00:03:16,280 --> 00:03:18,520
You're tracking at over 7% on your
84
00:03:18,520 --> 00:03:20,740
fixed income, which is much higher than the
85
00:03:20,740 --> 00:03:22,680
stated yields that you're going to get on
86
00:03:22,680 --> 00:03:24,260
investment grade fixed income right now.
87
00:03:25,600 --> 00:03:28,380
And you're tracking for close to 14%
88
00:03:28,380 --> 00:03:31,100
on the S&P 500, which is around
89
00:03:31,100 --> 00:03:32,960
the 10-year average.
90
00:03:32,960 --> 00:03:36,140
We've had a very good decade for stocks.
91
00:03:36,540 --> 00:03:38,200
So if you just fell asleep and woke
92
00:03:38,200 --> 00:03:39,860
up, that'd be nice.
93
00:03:40,780 --> 00:03:43,260
Of course, we all lived through the end
94
00:03:43,260 --> 00:03:45,800
of the first quarter though, and a quote
95
00:03:45,800 --> 00:03:49,620
unquote liberation day where we had some wild
96
00:03:49,620 --> 00:03:52,260
tariff policy that came into effect.
97
00:03:52,740 --> 00:03:56,380
And I have this interesting chart from JP
98
00:03:56,380 --> 00:03:56,860
Morgan.
99
00:03:57,740 --> 00:03:59,560
If you bear with me a second, I
100
00:03:59,560 --> 00:04:04,040
can just take a comment.
101
00:04:04,860 --> 00:04:11,520
So on April 8th, the effective tax rate
102
00:04:11,520 --> 00:04:14,500
on imports was going to be 30%, which
103
00:04:14,500 --> 00:04:17,519
is basically the highest it had ever been
104
00:04:17,519 --> 00:04:19,760
going back to the year 1900.
105
00:04:24,100 --> 00:04:26,940
I'm happy to say that as of June
106
00:04:26,940 --> 00:04:28,660
30th, it's down to 15%.
107
00:04:28,660 --> 00:04:33,660
So we've dialed back the tariff dramatically and
108
00:04:33,660 --> 00:04:35,580
we've started kicking the can down the road
109
00:04:35,580 --> 00:04:37,940
on tariffs.
110
00:04:38,300 --> 00:04:41,480
The reciprocal tariffs, the deadline was July 4th.
111
00:04:41,680 --> 00:04:42,760
I think we all know that was a
112
00:04:42,760 --> 00:04:43,320
soft deadline.
113
00:04:43,740 --> 00:04:45,320
Now it's going to be August 1st.
114
00:04:45,880 --> 00:04:47,020
We'll see what happens.
115
00:04:47,220 --> 00:04:48,540
There's been a lot of rhetoric and a
116
00:04:48,540 --> 00:04:51,840
lot of threats about copper and pharmaceutical tariffs
117
00:04:51,840 --> 00:04:54,040
as of late, but the general trend has
118
00:04:54,040 --> 00:04:57,200
been a softening of the tariffs from the
119
00:04:57,200 --> 00:05:00,540
peak issue that we were seeing.
120
00:05:00,900 --> 00:05:05,720
So there was a lot of investment considerations
121
00:05:05,720 --> 00:05:06,800
based on that.
122
00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:09,560
So we had a dramatic sell-off when
123
00:05:09,560 --> 00:05:12,720
the effective tariff rate was at 30%.
124
00:05:12,720 --> 00:05:15,880
And as we've ratcheted down to 15%, we've
125
00:05:15,880 --> 00:05:17,040
seen a recovery in the market.
126
00:05:17,960 --> 00:05:21,540
And last quarter, I said, if we have
127
00:05:21,540 --> 00:05:24,520
a continued tariff war with these outrageous rates,
128
00:05:24,520 --> 00:05:25,960
we're probably going to have a global recession.
129
00:05:26,600 --> 00:05:28,020
And the S&P 500 could be looking
130
00:05:28,020 --> 00:05:28,900
at 4,000.
131
00:05:29,060 --> 00:05:30,840
At the time, the S&P 500 was
132
00:05:30,840 --> 00:05:32,080
around 5,000.
133
00:05:32,840 --> 00:05:34,680
And as we've come down, we're back at
134
00:05:34,680 --> 00:05:35,440
all-time highs.
135
00:05:36,240 --> 00:05:39,360
It begs the question, what would have happened
136
00:05:39,360 --> 00:05:42,160
if we didn't have this friction in the
137
00:05:42,160 --> 00:05:45,500
economy and these additional tariffs?
138
00:05:45,540 --> 00:05:48,520
Would we be having even a better year?
139
00:05:49,160 --> 00:05:51,680
The other consequence of this is the dollar
140
00:05:51,680 --> 00:05:54,660
has fallen dramatically to the tune of around
141
00:05:54,660 --> 00:05:54,920
10%.
142
00:05:56,180 --> 00:05:58,600
This has been a direct tailwind for international
143
00:05:58,600 --> 00:05:59,100
stocks.
144
00:05:59,680 --> 00:06:02,320
If you look at international stocks on a
145
00:06:02,320 --> 00:06:06,120
dollar basis, you see that it's done about
146
00:06:06,120 --> 00:06:09,260
18%, 19% year-to-date, much better
147
00:06:09,260 --> 00:06:12,040
than the S&P 500.
148
00:06:12,380 --> 00:06:13,800
If you were to strip out the effects
149
00:06:13,800 --> 00:06:15,520
of the dollar, it's only about 8%, 9%.
150
00:06:15,520 --> 00:06:17,560
A little bit better than the S&P
151
00:06:17,560 --> 00:06:20,520
500, but not dramatically different.
152
00:06:20,780 --> 00:06:23,680
So the tariffs have had a negative effect
153
00:06:23,680 --> 00:06:29,380
on the dollar, where less exporting of dollar
154
00:06:29,380 --> 00:06:33,620
or less imports are devaluing the dollar.
155
00:06:33,760 --> 00:06:35,380
In addition to that, the confidence in the
156
00:06:35,380 --> 00:06:37,800
United States has likely gone down as well
157
00:06:37,800 --> 00:06:38,420
because of this.
158
00:06:38,460 --> 00:06:40,340
So this has been a tailwind to international
159
00:06:40,340 --> 00:06:40,840
stocks.
160
00:06:41,400 --> 00:06:47,380
This is interesting because it's really been an
161
00:06:47,380 --> 00:06:48,060
underperformer.
162
00:06:48,120 --> 00:06:50,040
International stocks have been underperforming against the S
163
00:06:50,040 --> 00:06:52,040
&P 500 for a very long time, as
164
00:06:52,040 --> 00:06:52,680
we've talked about.
165
00:06:53,100 --> 00:06:56,580
So if you maintained some diversification, some allocation
166
00:06:56,580 --> 00:07:01,300
to international stocks, you did very, very well
167
00:07:01,300 --> 00:07:03,240
relative to the S&P 500.
168
00:07:04,460 --> 00:07:06,400
So that's the good news, right?
169
00:07:06,460 --> 00:07:07,780
We've had a good year.
170
00:07:08,220 --> 00:07:09,480
International stocks have done well.
171
00:07:09,580 --> 00:07:11,240
If you've been diversified, you've done well.
172
00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:13,600
But the tough thing is there is some
173
00:07:13,600 --> 00:07:17,960
friction in the economy, and we can all
174
00:07:17,960 --> 00:07:19,880
hope that the progress we're seeing on the
175
00:07:19,880 --> 00:07:21,020
tariff front continues.
176
00:07:21,280 --> 00:07:22,820
Now, if the progress on the tariff front
177
00:07:22,820 --> 00:07:25,660
does continue, I would expect some strengthening in
178
00:07:25,660 --> 00:07:27,440
the dollar since the tariffs were the issue
179
00:07:27,440 --> 00:07:29,500
for the dollar in the first place.
180
00:07:29,540 --> 00:07:31,800
And then you might see some reversal in
181
00:07:31,800 --> 00:07:33,080
leadership in the second half.
182
00:07:33,340 --> 00:07:36,360
So when we think about the second half,
183
00:07:36,720 --> 00:07:39,380
and I've said this to my colleagues at
184
00:07:39,380 --> 00:07:41,820
Wealth Enhancement and our macro meeting, I would
185
00:07:41,820 --> 00:07:44,940
be very careful to chase international stocks because
186
00:07:44,940 --> 00:07:47,240
if we do have a continued reversal of
187
00:07:47,240 --> 00:07:51,180
this tariff policy, we could see some leadership
188
00:07:51,180 --> 00:07:54,800
from domestic stocks going forward.
189
00:07:55,540 --> 00:07:57,120
Now, if we're going to drill into, if
190
00:07:57,120 --> 00:07:58,300
we're going to double click or we're going
191
00:07:58,300 --> 00:08:00,180
to dig into whatever you want to use
192
00:08:00,180 --> 00:08:06,560
for your segue into domestic stocks, where do
193
00:08:06,560 --> 00:08:07,180
you want to be?
194
00:08:08,440 --> 00:08:11,740
We have been focused on a few areas.
195
00:08:12,060 --> 00:08:14,680
We've been focused on utilities and semiconductors.
196
00:08:15,320 --> 00:08:15,720
And why?
197
00:08:15,960 --> 00:08:19,060
Because there's, and mega cap growth themes.
198
00:08:19,380 --> 00:08:19,500
Why?
199
00:08:19,600 --> 00:08:22,240
Because there's been an enormous investment in the
200
00:08:22,240 --> 00:08:22,860
AI trend.
201
00:08:23,280 --> 00:08:28,280
That means for power generation, queue up utilities.
202
00:08:28,520 --> 00:08:31,140
That also means for semiconductors because you need
203
00:08:31,140 --> 00:08:34,120
computers to generate all this new content.
204
00:08:35,220 --> 00:08:37,059
You need GPUs, you need CPUs, you need
205
00:08:37,059 --> 00:08:40,820
inference chips, you need everybody's working on custom
206
00:08:40,820 --> 00:08:42,260
chips for inferencing, for example.
207
00:08:43,660 --> 00:08:47,880
So we keep seeing that spend grow.
208
00:08:47,980 --> 00:08:50,400
And even at faster rates from the quote
209
00:08:50,400 --> 00:08:54,560
unquote hyperscalers than we expected just six months
210
00:08:54,560 --> 00:08:56,940
ago, it keeps growing at a great, great
211
00:08:56,940 --> 00:08:57,340
clip.
212
00:08:57,680 --> 00:08:59,840
So, you know, I think that is going
213
00:08:59,840 --> 00:09:01,340
to lead to a competitive advantage for the
214
00:09:01,340 --> 00:09:02,280
mega cap growth names.
215
00:09:02,520 --> 00:09:04,660
It's going to be a competitive advantage for
216
00:09:04,660 --> 00:09:08,680
the semiconductor equipment and semiconductor design companies, most
217
00:09:08,680 --> 00:09:11,780
notably Nvidia and the design capabilities.
218
00:09:12,480 --> 00:09:13,800
And I think you've seen that.
219
00:09:13,880 --> 00:09:15,360
Now, what do you, what do I think
220
00:09:15,360 --> 00:09:19,220
is going to suffer or where you need
221
00:09:19,220 --> 00:09:21,120
to be less focused on?
222
00:09:21,200 --> 00:09:24,020
I think discretionary and cyclicals you need to
223
00:09:24,020 --> 00:09:25,040
be careful with.
224
00:09:25,260 --> 00:09:27,700
So why do I say that?
225
00:09:27,820 --> 00:09:32,100
Well, Ed Bastian, the CEO of Delta was
226
00:09:32,100 --> 00:09:38,220
on CNBC this morning after discussing his first
227
00:09:38,220 --> 00:09:38,840
quarter results.
228
00:09:39,700 --> 00:09:40,760
And what we're seeing is the front of
229
00:09:40,760 --> 00:09:43,080
the cabin is up 5% in revenue
230
00:09:43,080 --> 00:09:44,520
and the back of the cabin is down
231
00:09:44,520 --> 00:09:45,380
5% in revenue.
232
00:09:45,560 --> 00:09:48,060
So we do have this dichotomy of who's
233
00:09:48,060 --> 00:09:49,600
doing well in America and who's not doing
234
00:09:49,600 --> 00:09:49,920
well.
235
00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:53,260
And that's one interesting data point that's top
236
00:09:53,260 --> 00:09:54,820
of mind, but you could find this data
237
00:09:54,820 --> 00:09:56,720
basically anywhere, right?
238
00:09:56,820 --> 00:10:02,320
Credit card spend is higher, delinquencies on autos
239
00:10:02,320 --> 00:10:04,920
are higher, things of that nature.
240
00:10:04,960 --> 00:10:09,100
You're seeing the lower part of the consumer
241
00:10:09,100 --> 00:10:12,140
not doing as well as the upper end.
242
00:10:13,400 --> 00:10:15,460
So, you know, for me, that means that
243
00:10:15,460 --> 00:10:17,060
you kind of want to be careful around
244
00:10:17,060 --> 00:10:18,000
discretionary goods.
245
00:10:18,260 --> 00:10:23,060
We've generally seen a decline in discretionary spend.
246
00:10:24,560 --> 00:10:25,980
So, you know, let's just be careful.
247
00:10:26,120 --> 00:10:27,400
Let's not over-allocate there.
248
00:10:28,220 --> 00:10:31,060
When it comes to staples, well, to me,
249
00:10:31,100 --> 00:10:34,400
they're pretty expensive and you're not getting the
250
00:10:34,400 --> 00:10:34,760
growth.
251
00:10:35,260 --> 00:10:36,840
So they might be consistent, but they're not
252
00:10:36,840 --> 00:10:37,780
necessarily growing.
253
00:10:38,720 --> 00:10:40,020
You know, where am I, am I going
254
00:10:40,020 --> 00:10:41,400
to get any bang for my buck there?
255
00:10:42,160 --> 00:10:45,120
People have really liked industrials and that's basically
256
00:10:45,120 --> 00:10:46,560
because of the onshoring theme.
257
00:10:47,440 --> 00:10:48,900
That can be great, right?
258
00:10:48,960 --> 00:10:50,620
But there's different kinds of industrials, right?
259
00:10:50,660 --> 00:10:53,200
We can have industrials that tend to be
260
00:10:53,200 --> 00:10:56,760
cyclical and we can have industrials that are
261
00:10:56,760 --> 00:10:57,380
more consistent.
262
00:10:58,060 --> 00:11:00,880
And, you know, I'd be careful in ETF
263
00:11:00,880 --> 00:11:03,400
and mutual fund portfolio, for example, allocating to
264
00:11:03,400 --> 00:11:05,440
the whole sector, because I think as a
265
00:11:05,440 --> 00:11:08,120
sector as a whole, it can act more
266
00:11:08,120 --> 00:11:08,760
cyclically.
267
00:11:09,220 --> 00:11:11,040
But I think you could definitely find individual
268
00:11:11,040 --> 00:11:15,240
stocks that could be consistent and growing and
269
00:11:15,240 --> 00:11:16,560
take advantage of that trend.
270
00:11:17,040 --> 00:11:18,760
I just think you need to be more
271
00:11:18,760 --> 00:11:19,360
discerning.
272
00:11:19,880 --> 00:11:22,500
When it comes to interest rates, we just
273
00:11:22,500 --> 00:11:26,200
had the quote unquote big, beautiful bill passed.
274
00:11:26,800 --> 00:11:31,240
This is extending the previous Trump tax cuts
275
00:11:31,240 --> 00:11:34,660
and making them permanent, you know, permanent until
276
00:11:35,290 --> 00:11:38,020
we have a different government likely, but, you
277
00:11:38,020 --> 00:11:39,840
know, permanent for the foreseeable future.
278
00:11:40,780 --> 00:11:43,920
This is deficit spending, you know, it's adding
279
00:11:43,920 --> 00:11:44,500
to the debt.
280
00:11:45,160 --> 00:11:47,760
Typically that is stimulative and inflationary.
281
00:11:48,080 --> 00:11:50,800
So when you have stimulative and inflationary, likely
282
00:11:50,800 --> 00:11:53,080
you're going to have higher rates for longer.
283
00:11:53,540 --> 00:11:56,420
That might be frustrating to people, including the
284
00:11:56,420 --> 00:11:57,260
president of the United States.
285
00:11:57,580 --> 00:12:00,060
But typically that is what we're going to
286
00:12:00,060 --> 00:12:00,340
see.
287
00:12:01,000 --> 00:12:04,480
One caveat to that is I think it's
288
00:12:04,480 --> 00:12:07,880
the debatable, it's not debatable, you know, that
289
00:12:07,880 --> 00:12:09,960
this is going to add four or five
290
00:12:09,960 --> 00:12:13,120
trillion dollars in debt over 10 years, or,
291
00:12:13,140 --> 00:12:14,600
you know, maybe it is in some circles,
292
00:12:14,600 --> 00:12:16,240
but I think generally there's some agreement on
293
00:12:16,240 --> 00:12:16,500
that.
294
00:12:17,120 --> 00:12:19,080
But what I think is interesting is how
295
00:12:19,080 --> 00:12:21,400
stimulative and how inflationary the bill is going
296
00:12:21,400 --> 00:12:24,740
to be going forward.
297
00:12:25,000 --> 00:12:26,360
And the reason I say that is it's
298
00:12:26,360 --> 00:12:28,260
really building off of the tax rates that
299
00:12:28,260 --> 00:12:29,820
already existed in 2024, right?
300
00:12:29,820 --> 00:12:32,460
It just kind of extended them with certain
301
00:12:32,460 --> 00:12:33,140
caveats, right?
302
00:12:33,180 --> 00:12:34,540
And we can discuss that if you want.
303
00:12:35,820 --> 00:12:37,940
But if you're looking at the bulk of
304
00:12:37,940 --> 00:12:39,320
it and you're just comparing what's going to
305
00:12:39,320 --> 00:12:42,900
change between 2024, 2025 and 2026 based on
306
00:12:42,900 --> 00:12:44,820
the changes in the big beautiful bill, you're
307
00:12:44,820 --> 00:12:46,480
probably not going to see that big of
308
00:12:46,480 --> 00:12:46,900
a change.
309
00:12:47,020 --> 00:12:49,060
I mean, personally, my tax return might not
310
00:12:49,060 --> 00:12:52,600
change that much and Jeff and Chris, I
311
00:12:52,600 --> 00:12:55,220
imagine your tax returns might not change that
312
00:12:55,220 --> 00:12:55,500
much.
313
00:12:56,080 --> 00:12:58,700
But for certain folks, you know, it will.
314
00:12:59,260 --> 00:13:01,340
But in aggregate, you know, I think we're
315
00:13:01,340 --> 00:13:04,420
going to see some stimulus and some inflationary
316
00:13:04,420 --> 00:13:10,300
effects, but nothing hugely concerning, you know, that
317
00:13:10,300 --> 00:13:12,760
that I think would be a huge driver
318
00:13:12,760 --> 00:13:14,220
of of inflation.
319
00:13:14,500 --> 00:13:17,260
So, you know, all things equal, if we
320
00:13:17,260 --> 00:13:20,380
are a little tight right now on interest
321
00:13:20,380 --> 00:13:24,040
rates, maybe the big beautiful bill makes us
322
00:13:24,040 --> 00:13:27,380
more in equilibrium than where we previously were,
323
00:13:27,380 --> 00:13:29,940
and it makes it easier for the Fed
324
00:13:29,940 --> 00:13:33,560
to sit tight at the position they're in
325
00:13:33,560 --> 00:13:35,560
right now, which I think is going to
326
00:13:35,560 --> 00:13:36,120
be the case.
327
00:13:36,200 --> 00:13:37,940
At the very least, you know, there's a
328
00:13:37,940 --> 00:13:39,840
lot going on right now between tariffs and
329
00:13:39,840 --> 00:13:42,140
the new tax bill where they're likely going
330
00:13:42,140 --> 00:13:43,440
to want to continue to see some more
331
00:13:43,440 --> 00:13:43,700
data.
332
00:13:45,800 --> 00:13:50,280
Finally, we had another initial claims and another
333
00:13:50,280 --> 00:13:54,800
continuing claims data point this week, and they
334
00:13:54,800 --> 00:13:55,640
were very benign.
335
00:13:56,220 --> 00:13:57,980
So, you know, that's a good thing.
336
00:13:58,160 --> 00:13:59,200
Nobody wants a recession.
337
00:13:59,760 --> 00:14:02,800
But what we are seeing is slowly the
338
00:14:02,800 --> 00:14:06,900
continuing claims tick up, while initial claims basically
339
00:14:06,900 --> 00:14:09,260
kind of stay around the same area.
340
00:14:09,460 --> 00:14:11,920
So, you know, this is basically means that
341
00:14:11,920 --> 00:14:15,260
people aren't quitting, people aren't getting laid off.
342
00:14:15,680 --> 00:14:18,020
But it does seem like the people who
343
00:14:18,020 --> 00:14:19,820
do lose their jobs are having a lot
344
00:14:19,820 --> 00:14:20,880
of trouble finding a new one.
345
00:14:21,720 --> 00:14:26,200
A great analogy from Neil Dutta from Ren
346
00:14:26,200 --> 00:14:30,060
Mac Research, he's the macroeconomist there, he says
347
00:14:30,060 --> 00:14:32,320
it's like a bathtub that's dripping water.
348
00:14:33,120 --> 00:14:35,180
It's not a heavy flow, but it's dripping
349
00:14:35,180 --> 00:14:36,720
and the bathtub's filling up.
350
00:14:36,960 --> 00:14:38,520
So I think we do want to keep
351
00:14:38,520 --> 00:14:41,040
an eye on, you know, how heavy that
352
00:14:41,040 --> 00:14:43,100
flow is into the bathtub, which is initial
353
00:14:43,100 --> 00:14:45,000
claims and the water level in the bathtub,
354
00:14:45,140 --> 00:14:46,280
which is continuing claims.
355
00:14:46,500 --> 00:14:48,540
But so far, so good.
356
00:14:48,840 --> 00:14:53,100
So if you put all this together, you
357
00:14:53,100 --> 00:14:57,280
know, interest rate related sectors, I think, are
358
00:14:57,280 --> 00:14:59,440
going to struggle, I think, because I think
359
00:14:59,440 --> 00:15:01,040
we're going to be higher for longer, at
360
00:15:01,040 --> 00:15:01,700
least on the short end.
361
00:15:02,560 --> 00:15:05,580
I think discretionary names might struggle a little
362
00:15:05,580 --> 00:15:08,760
bit, but we don't have a crazy unemployment
363
00:15:08,760 --> 00:15:09,360
problem.
364
00:15:09,360 --> 00:15:11,260
So we might just get, you know, a
365
00:15:11,260 --> 00:15:14,000
muddling along in those types of areas.
366
00:15:14,260 --> 00:15:16,240
And I think we're going to have continued
367
00:15:16,240 --> 00:15:22,180
strength in the B2B onshoring and AI type
368
00:15:22,180 --> 00:15:24,720
themes in the second half of the year.
369
00:15:25,340 --> 00:15:27,480
So I gave you guys a lot of
370
00:15:27,480 --> 00:15:28,180
information there.
371
00:15:29,060 --> 00:15:30,840
Love to hear your thoughts or questions.
372
00:15:31,100 --> 00:15:33,020
And, you know, let's have an interesting conversation
373
00:15:33,020 --> 00:15:33,400
about this.
374
00:15:34,380 --> 00:15:35,900
So Brian, one area that you didn't talk
375
00:15:35,900 --> 00:15:38,900
about, it's implicit in all your comments, though,
376
00:15:39,160 --> 00:15:41,200
is earnings, corporate earnings.
377
00:15:41,400 --> 00:15:44,220
There was, you know, a lot of commentary
378
00:15:44,220 --> 00:15:48,180
about tariffs slowing down, movement of corporations, investments
379
00:15:48,180 --> 00:15:52,580
in different things, and consumers maybe taking a
380
00:15:52,580 --> 00:15:53,160
step back.
381
00:15:53,660 --> 00:15:55,860
What have you seen with consumer spending and
382
00:15:55,860 --> 00:15:58,300
how it has related to corporate earnings?
383
00:15:59,400 --> 00:16:02,680
Consumer spending, it's been very hard to tell,
384
00:16:02,740 --> 00:16:02,900
right?
385
00:16:02,960 --> 00:16:05,160
So Q1, earnings were very good.
386
00:16:06,160 --> 00:16:10,280
The some companies withdrew guidance, some gave guidance
387
00:16:10,280 --> 00:16:12,900
with tariffs, some gave without tariffs, but generally
388
00:16:12,900 --> 00:16:14,940
speaking, it was viewed as very good.
389
00:16:15,360 --> 00:16:17,720
The problem with that is it's very hard
390
00:16:17,720 --> 00:16:19,580
to tell how much was pulled forward.
391
00:16:19,940 --> 00:16:23,040
So, for example, if you're a company and
392
00:16:23,040 --> 00:16:25,640
you wanted to get inventory in before the
393
00:16:25,640 --> 00:16:28,160
tariffs hit, you might have overbought, which might
394
00:16:28,160 --> 00:16:30,140
have been stimulative to your vendors.
395
00:16:30,320 --> 00:16:32,460
If you're a consumer, you might want to
396
00:16:32,460 --> 00:16:37,360
get ahead of price increases or shortages, so
397
00:16:37,360 --> 00:16:40,300
you might have gone out and bought where
398
00:16:40,300 --> 00:16:42,860
you might not have otherwise, and that might
399
00:16:42,860 --> 00:16:45,460
have been stimulative for earnings there.
400
00:16:45,780 --> 00:16:47,600
So I think, you know, in the second
401
00:16:47,600 --> 00:16:48,960
and third quarters, people are going to be
402
00:16:48,960 --> 00:16:51,060
looking for drop-offs or possible drop-offs.
403
00:16:51,460 --> 00:16:53,720
If there's not drop-offs, then I think
404
00:16:53,720 --> 00:16:55,960
we're going to be in very good shape.
405
00:16:56,280 --> 00:16:59,060
If there is drop-offs, I think we
406
00:16:59,060 --> 00:17:02,260
could definitely see some additional volatility.
407
00:17:03,020 --> 00:17:05,640
On a personal note, if anecdotes mean too
408
00:17:05,640 --> 00:17:07,760
much to you, I certainly spent forward.
409
00:17:09,180 --> 00:17:11,040
I bought a car, a refrigerator, a washing
410
00:17:11,040 --> 00:17:11,500
machine.
411
00:17:12,319 --> 00:17:14,260
I went on a spending spree because I
412
00:17:14,260 --> 00:17:18,079
didn't want to be caught with a broken
413
00:17:18,079 --> 00:17:20,359
down car that I can't fix because I
414
00:17:20,359 --> 00:17:22,319
can't get the parts or because they're too
415
00:17:22,319 --> 00:17:22,720
expensive.
416
00:17:23,240 --> 00:17:25,880
So I remedied a situation with an old
417
00:17:25,880 --> 00:17:26,640
car, for example.
418
00:17:26,780 --> 00:17:27,720
I had an old refrigerator.
419
00:17:28,080 --> 00:17:29,160
I have two young kids.
420
00:17:29,320 --> 00:17:31,600
I need to have a working refrigerator, so
421
00:17:31,600 --> 00:17:34,600
I just got ahead of replacing my 20
422
00:17:34,600 --> 00:17:35,420
-year-old refrigerator.
423
00:17:35,720 --> 00:17:37,620
So that type of activity is what I
424
00:17:37,620 --> 00:17:38,420
mean by pull forward.
425
00:17:39,420 --> 00:17:41,200
So it'll be interesting to see what happens
426
00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:41,840
going forward.
427
00:17:42,040 --> 00:17:44,520
Now, on the biggest stocks in the market,
428
00:17:44,740 --> 00:17:45,880
right, if we're talking about the S&P
429
00:17:45,880 --> 00:17:47,480
500, the biggest stocks in the market, they
430
00:17:47,480 --> 00:17:49,100
don't necessarily have to worry about pull forward
431
00:17:49,100 --> 00:17:49,580
too much.
432
00:17:50,560 --> 00:17:55,920
Microsoft, Amazon, Amazon a little bit, but a
433
00:17:55,920 --> 00:17:58,100
lot of their revenue comes from Amazon Web
434
00:17:58,100 --> 00:18:00,960
Services just as much as retailing.
435
00:18:02,340 --> 00:18:07,200
They're not part of this inventory good cycle,
436
00:18:07,360 --> 00:18:07,460
right?
437
00:18:07,780 --> 00:18:09,920
A lot of it is subscription-based.
438
00:18:10,100 --> 00:18:12,660
A lot of it is considered, Windows, for
439
00:18:12,660 --> 00:18:14,720
example, I think would be considered a staple,
440
00:18:15,040 --> 00:18:15,400
right?
441
00:18:15,500 --> 00:18:17,940
It's a business-to-business type product, but
442
00:18:17,940 --> 00:18:18,500
it's a staple.
443
00:18:18,680 --> 00:18:19,180
We need it.
444
00:18:19,820 --> 00:18:22,340
And they're continuing to grow at a very,
445
00:18:22,400 --> 00:18:26,300
very rapid pace in a secular manner.
446
00:18:26,940 --> 00:18:28,620
So when we're talking about the overall market
447
00:18:28,620 --> 00:18:30,480
and we talk about concentration in the market,
448
00:18:30,800 --> 00:18:32,900
the concentration in the market might actually be
449
00:18:32,900 --> 00:18:35,700
helping us with this situation right now because
450
00:18:35,700 --> 00:18:38,000
those companies are less exposed to the potential
451
00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:38,900
effects of tariffs.
452
00:18:42,680 --> 00:18:45,860
Brian, you're probably tired of me asking about
453
00:18:45,860 --> 00:18:50,180
this because it's something I bring up routinely.
454
00:18:50,660 --> 00:18:51,620
I can ask him if you want.
455
00:18:51,700 --> 00:18:52,440
I know your question.
456
00:18:53,180 --> 00:18:54,520
I could just answer it.
457
00:18:56,620 --> 00:18:59,000
Maybe for the listeners, you should ask, Chris.
458
00:18:59,360 --> 00:18:59,680
Okay.
459
00:18:59,800 --> 00:19:03,580
Just to put it out there, why not
460
00:19:03,580 --> 00:19:06,780
be worried about valuation, the market valuation?
461
00:19:07,060 --> 00:19:10,260
The forward PE is near 22 times at
462
00:19:10,260 --> 00:19:10,800
the half.
463
00:19:12,640 --> 00:19:15,800
That's relatively high in historical terms.
464
00:19:16,720 --> 00:19:18,700
Why shouldn't we be concerned about that?
465
00:19:19,620 --> 00:19:21,540
I think you should be concerned about valuation.
466
00:19:21,660 --> 00:19:22,780
I think you should always be concerned about
467
00:19:22,780 --> 00:19:23,240
valuation.
468
00:19:23,360 --> 00:19:25,620
I want to buy good companies at good
469
00:19:25,620 --> 00:19:26,060
prices.
470
00:19:26,460 --> 00:19:28,000
I just think the PE ratio is a
471
00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:30,820
terrible way to measure valuation.
472
00:19:31,460 --> 00:19:33,660
The PE ratio on a trailing basis, if
473
00:19:33,660 --> 00:19:35,280
you look at a trailing PE, only takes
474
00:19:35,280 --> 00:19:39,520
into account companies' earnings versus the price today
475
00:19:39,520 --> 00:19:40,600
over the last 12 months.
476
00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:44,060
The forward PE ratio is arguably even worse.
477
00:19:44,180 --> 00:19:46,480
It only takes into account expected earnings in
478
00:19:46,480 --> 00:19:47,360
the next 12 months.
479
00:19:48,200 --> 00:19:51,060
There is a lot wrong with this.
480
00:19:51,300 --> 00:19:54,920
We don't think about stocks within a one
481
00:19:54,920 --> 00:19:56,080
year time period.
482
00:19:56,200 --> 00:19:58,900
We talk about how stocks are long-term
483
00:19:58,900 --> 00:19:59,340
assets.
484
00:20:00,100 --> 00:20:02,500
The fact that that doesn't take into growth
485
00:20:02,500 --> 00:20:04,340
at all is a problem for me.
486
00:20:05,900 --> 00:20:08,860
The Mag 7 names are expected to grow
487
00:20:08,860 --> 00:20:11,320
at 30%, and the total S&P 500
488
00:20:11,320 --> 00:20:12,800
is expected to grow at 9%.
489
00:20:12,800 --> 00:20:17,300
We have had historic growth for years now,
490
00:20:17,940 --> 00:20:19,640
and we're in a productivity boom.
491
00:20:21,040 --> 00:20:27,040
If you add on growth to the historical
492
00:20:27,040 --> 00:20:29,300
market just there, you should expect that you
493
00:20:29,300 --> 00:20:31,780
would pay a higher PE ratio for better
494
00:20:31,780 --> 00:20:32,920
expected growth in the future.
495
00:20:33,780 --> 00:20:35,540
Now it's true that if that better expected
496
00:20:35,540 --> 00:20:37,180
growth in the future does not pan out,
497
00:20:37,180 --> 00:20:42,180
then the valuation is definitely a big concern
498
00:20:42,180 --> 00:20:45,580
because the PE ratio is too high.
499
00:20:45,840 --> 00:20:48,080
Right now, that's the reason why it's pricing
500
00:20:48,080 --> 00:20:48,460
that in.
501
00:20:49,400 --> 00:20:51,120
Another reason why I think it's pricing in
502
00:20:51,120 --> 00:20:52,900
a high PE ratio is interest rates.
503
00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:54,540
We have interest rates at four and a
504
00:20:54,540 --> 00:20:56,800
quarter on the 10-year, which is historically
505
00:20:56,800 --> 00:20:57,380
very low.
506
00:20:57,520 --> 00:20:58,900
If we're going to look at historic PE
507
00:20:58,900 --> 00:21:01,680
ratios, we have to think about PE ratios
508
00:21:01,680 --> 00:21:02,760
in historic terms.
509
00:21:03,420 --> 00:21:06,520
The 10-year interest rate in the late
510
00:21:06,520 --> 00:21:08,420
90s was above 6%.
511
00:21:09,160 --> 00:21:12,040
So when we're comparing today's PE ratio to
512
00:21:12,040 --> 00:21:14,180
the PE ratio of the late 90s and
513
00:21:14,180 --> 00:21:15,580
you're saying, hey, look, we're in a similar
514
00:21:15,580 --> 00:21:17,660
ballpark of the dot-com bust, I would
515
00:21:17,660 --> 00:21:18,880
argue we're nowhere close.
516
00:21:22,100 --> 00:21:24,240
Those interest rates were 50% higher than
517
00:21:24,240 --> 00:21:24,740
they are today.
518
00:21:26,300 --> 00:21:29,960
I get comfort there as well.
519
00:21:31,600 --> 00:21:33,680
Finally, the economy is much different.
520
00:21:35,500 --> 00:21:37,620
Historically, if let's say we were around a
521
00:21:37,620 --> 00:21:41,540
14, 15, 16 PE ratio going back to
522
00:21:41,540 --> 00:21:46,620
the 50s, capital expenditures were enormous back then
523
00:21:46,620 --> 00:21:48,380
because we were a bits and bytes economy.
524
00:21:50,220 --> 00:21:52,680
The stock market was also, I would argue,
525
00:21:52,780 --> 00:21:53,300
less understood.
526
00:21:53,600 --> 00:21:55,400
People were very concentrated on dividend yields, for
527
00:21:55,400 --> 00:21:57,680
example, rather than things that we have today
528
00:21:57,680 --> 00:21:58,460
like buybacks.
529
00:21:58,800 --> 00:22:00,900
They weren't necessarily concerned about growth.
530
00:22:02,020 --> 00:22:05,180
Free cash flow yields were arguably lower or
531
00:22:05,180 --> 00:22:07,660
in future free cash flow yields were definitely
532
00:22:07,660 --> 00:22:08,140
lower.
533
00:22:08,400 --> 00:22:10,380
So this is what I call a difference
534
00:22:10,380 --> 00:22:12,560
between the bricks and mortar economy versus the
535
00:22:12,560 --> 00:22:13,400
bytes and bits economy.
536
00:22:14,540 --> 00:22:16,780
We have transitioned to a bytes and bits
537
00:22:16,780 --> 00:22:19,580
economy where we have everything is as a
538
00:22:19,580 --> 00:22:19,900
service.
539
00:22:20,060 --> 00:22:21,840
And as a service just means that it's
540
00:22:21,840 --> 00:22:22,480
a subscription.
541
00:22:22,880 --> 00:22:25,620
It's a lower cost that you can more
542
00:22:25,620 --> 00:22:26,820
predictably pay for.
543
00:22:26,980 --> 00:22:30,100
So your cash flows are more consistent, they're
544
00:22:30,100 --> 00:22:32,700
more predictable, and your margins are much higher
545
00:22:32,700 --> 00:22:36,900
because you can deliver software that's already been
546
00:22:36,900 --> 00:22:40,720
written without the use of another human being,
547
00:22:41,080 --> 00:22:43,440
without the use of another truck, without the
548
00:22:43,440 --> 00:22:44,580
reuse of a lot of other things.
549
00:22:47,920 --> 00:22:50,260
I've learned about this in college, CDs don't
550
00:22:50,260 --> 00:22:52,480
exist anymore, but it costs almost nothing to
551
00:22:52,480 --> 00:22:53,540
stamp out another CD.
552
00:22:54,540 --> 00:22:57,760
But it costs a lot more to make
553
00:22:57,760 --> 00:23:03,320
another movie, for example, or make another widget.
554
00:23:04,420 --> 00:23:06,340
So what we've seen is margins just continue
555
00:23:06,340 --> 00:23:07,000
to increase.
556
00:23:07,140 --> 00:23:08,900
And the bigger the company, the more the
557
00:23:08,900 --> 00:23:09,920
margins are increasing.
558
00:23:10,200 --> 00:23:12,060
So we have companies that are more profitable,
559
00:23:12,260 --> 00:23:13,820
we have companies that are more consistent, and
560
00:23:13,820 --> 00:23:15,080
we have companies that are growing at a
561
00:23:15,080 --> 00:23:15,900
much faster rate.
562
00:23:16,340 --> 00:23:17,800
And we have lower interest rates.
563
00:23:17,880 --> 00:23:19,700
You combine all those things together, and I
564
00:23:19,700 --> 00:23:22,180
think it's rational that we have a higher
565
00:23:22,180 --> 00:23:22,860
PE ratio.
566
00:23:23,360 --> 00:23:25,360
And if we did have a significant dip,
567
00:23:26,360 --> 00:23:28,000
it's likely a buying opportunity.
568
00:23:29,060 --> 00:23:31,460
So that's where I come out on that.
569
00:23:32,080 --> 00:23:34,040
It's not that I don't worry about valuation,
570
00:23:34,140 --> 00:23:34,900
I absolutely do.
571
00:23:35,900 --> 00:23:39,540
PE is not a very good indicator of
572
00:23:39,540 --> 00:23:39,660
it.
573
00:23:39,660 --> 00:23:42,520
Brian, how much does AI play into those
574
00:23:42,520 --> 00:23:47,500
previous comments about future expansions, future growth, accelerated
575
00:23:47,500 --> 00:23:48,720
growth, however you want to frame it?
576
00:23:49,220 --> 00:23:49,700
Significantly.
577
00:23:49,900 --> 00:23:51,440
I mean, the biggest names in the market
578
00:23:51,440 --> 00:23:52,880
are the biggest names in the market because
579
00:23:52,880 --> 00:23:53,820
they're AI names.
580
00:23:54,680 --> 00:23:56,840
And why are they growing at 30%
581
00:23:56,840 --> 00:23:57,200
a year?
582
00:23:57,540 --> 00:23:59,940
It's because they're the AI players.
583
00:24:00,260 --> 00:24:01,640
I mean, that's going to be the productivity
584
00:24:01,640 --> 00:24:02,760
boom of the future.
585
00:24:03,620 --> 00:24:05,160
There's consensus around that.
586
00:24:05,160 --> 00:24:06,540
I believe it to be true.
587
00:24:06,900 --> 00:24:08,480
I think we all use it and we're
588
00:24:08,480 --> 00:24:09,720
all getting better at it regularly.
589
00:24:10,320 --> 00:24:12,580
I don't think there's really any doubt in
590
00:24:12,580 --> 00:24:13,340
my mind.
591
00:24:13,580 --> 00:24:15,240
I do think there's overhype.
592
00:24:15,560 --> 00:24:18,480
I've talked about Tesla, for example, many times.
593
00:24:18,600 --> 00:24:19,980
I don't understand why it has a trillion
594
00:24:19,980 --> 00:24:20,760
dollar valuation.
595
00:24:22,240 --> 00:24:24,060
The reason why it has a trillion dollar
596
00:24:24,060 --> 00:24:26,040
valuation is because people think they're going to
597
00:24:26,040 --> 00:24:28,300
be able to build humanoid robots and have
598
00:24:28,300 --> 00:24:30,720
driverless taxis.
599
00:24:31,260 --> 00:24:34,120
And basically, they just believe that Elon Musk
600
00:24:34,120 --> 00:24:35,040
is going to be able to do it
601
00:24:35,040 --> 00:24:36,640
better and faster than anybody else.
602
00:24:37,600 --> 00:24:41,140
I think there's reason to believe that's wrong.
603
00:24:42,460 --> 00:24:43,780
And that's one of the biggest things in
604
00:24:43,780 --> 00:24:44,000
the market.
605
00:24:44,220 --> 00:24:45,700
So there's certainly risks, right?
606
00:24:47,080 --> 00:24:50,640
We jump from being able to write our
607
00:24:50,640 --> 00:24:54,320
emails better to having humanoid robots like the
608
00:24:54,320 --> 00:24:54,800
Jetsons.
609
00:24:56,380 --> 00:24:57,200
That idea- Rosie.
610
00:24:57,780 --> 00:24:58,220
Yeah.
611
00:24:59,120 --> 00:25:01,020
Rosie jumped in our head real quick inside
612
00:25:01,020 --> 00:25:03,280
of a year, I feel like, where I
613
00:25:03,280 --> 00:25:05,320
don't think people were giving Rosie too much
614
00:25:05,320 --> 00:25:06,240
credit.
615
00:25:06,640 --> 00:25:09,300
So I think there's going to be a
616
00:25:09,300 --> 00:25:09,800
hype cycle.
617
00:25:11,780 --> 00:25:15,800
But at the same time, these companies, they're
618
00:25:15,800 --> 00:25:16,940
not relatively inexpensive.
619
00:25:18,220 --> 00:25:19,760
They're not relatively expensive, right?
620
00:25:19,820 --> 00:25:21,220
So if you look at the dot-com
621
00:25:21,220 --> 00:25:23,500
as a comparison, we're companies that had zero
622
00:25:23,500 --> 00:25:23,860
revenue.
623
00:25:24,560 --> 00:25:26,200
These are the biggest companies in the world
624
00:25:26,200 --> 00:25:28,740
by revenue, by profit, by margins, by every
625
00:25:28,740 --> 00:25:33,320
statistical financial measurement you can think of.
626
00:25:33,540 --> 00:25:36,040
Given what you've said about the US economy
627
00:25:36,040 --> 00:25:39,800
and its valuations, and this year we've seen
628
00:25:39,800 --> 00:25:45,860
outperformance from international companies, some of that you
629
00:25:45,860 --> 00:25:48,040
talked about with reference to the dollar, but
630
00:25:48,040 --> 00:25:50,740
what's that tell us?
631
00:25:51,360 --> 00:25:52,680
What's your take then?
632
00:25:52,840 --> 00:25:55,880
How does that play into the consideration about
633
00:25:55,880 --> 00:26:01,040
foreign exposure and whether it should be cheaper
634
00:26:01,040 --> 00:26:04,700
valuations, but should it be an increasing part
635
00:26:04,700 --> 00:26:07,360
of the portfolio for people?
636
00:26:07,440 --> 00:26:09,820
Of course, you don't know what everyone's individual
637
00:26:09,820 --> 00:26:15,020
exposure is, but thematically speaking, what's your take
638
00:26:15,020 --> 00:26:18,320
as it relates to different kinds of economic
639
00:26:18,320 --> 00:26:24,460
drivers in terms of other economies?
640
00:26:24,460 --> 00:26:26,640
How does that play into the thoughts around
641
00:26:26,640 --> 00:26:27,040
foreign?
642
00:26:29,500 --> 00:26:33,080
So every investor has a home country bias.
643
00:26:33,820 --> 00:26:35,280
It's pretty interesting, right?
644
00:26:35,460 --> 00:26:37,160
So if you are an American, you're likely
645
00:26:37,160 --> 00:26:38,500
going to hold more American stocks.
646
00:26:38,720 --> 00:26:40,760
If you are German, you're going to have
647
00:26:40,760 --> 00:26:42,360
more German or whatever, yeah.
648
00:26:44,280 --> 00:26:46,440
But reality is when you look at the
649
00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:49,080
global stock market, the United States is more
650
00:26:49,080 --> 00:26:53,000
than 60% of the market and Nvidia
651
00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:54,940
is like the size of the UK alone.
652
00:26:55,340 --> 00:26:58,380
So the investable universe in the United States
653
00:26:58,380 --> 00:27:00,640
is bigger than it is internationally.
654
00:27:00,800 --> 00:27:02,480
So we just start there.
655
00:27:02,600 --> 00:27:05,580
You're probably going to have more US stock
656
00:27:05,580 --> 00:27:08,660
under most circumstances with any advisor.
657
00:27:09,020 --> 00:27:15,020
We've made the active decision that we always
658
00:27:15,020 --> 00:27:17,000
would like to have some international exposure in
659
00:27:17,000 --> 00:27:17,540
our portfolio.
660
00:27:18,320 --> 00:27:20,060
And I think there's good reason for that.
661
00:27:20,120 --> 00:27:23,980
I think it's helped diversify our clients this
662
00:27:23,980 --> 00:27:24,200
year.
663
00:27:24,480 --> 00:27:27,040
And I think it will in future years
664
00:27:27,040 --> 00:27:27,740
as well.
665
00:27:28,640 --> 00:27:30,680
So why have we done that?
666
00:27:30,680 --> 00:27:33,420
There's different types of companies in different parts
667
00:27:33,420 --> 00:27:34,240
of the world, right?
668
00:27:34,480 --> 00:27:38,540
So France, for example, is very good at
669
00:27:38,540 --> 00:27:41,320
luxury, much better than the United States is.
670
00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:46,780
LVMH has been around for hundreds of years.
671
00:27:47,840 --> 00:27:49,920
Hermes has been around for hundreds of years.
672
00:27:50,120 --> 00:27:52,860
They're not as good at technology.
673
00:27:53,380 --> 00:27:55,860
They have never generated a meta.
674
00:27:56,200 --> 00:28:00,640
They have never generated an Nvidia where the
675
00:28:00,640 --> 00:28:03,440
United States tends to do this fairly regularly,
676
00:28:03,540 --> 00:28:04,220
it seems like.
677
00:28:04,460 --> 00:28:06,260
Now that doesn't mean that there's not good
678
00:28:06,260 --> 00:28:08,580
companies in Europe that specialize in technology.
679
00:28:08,760 --> 00:28:09,060
There is.
680
00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:11,700
There's ASML, there's SAP.
681
00:28:12,820 --> 00:28:15,680
They historically have had some good car manufacturers.
682
00:28:16,240 --> 00:28:18,600
So Volvo is one of the biggest car
683
00:28:18,600 --> 00:28:21,160
manufacturers in the world by revenue.
684
00:28:21,540 --> 00:28:25,280
Ferrari has been a very good stock historically.
685
00:28:25,880 --> 00:28:28,620
So there are good stocks internationally.
686
00:28:29,260 --> 00:28:33,260
As an index, it hasn't done as well
687
00:28:33,260 --> 00:28:38,740
for what I think is cultural, structural, and
688
00:28:38,740 --> 00:28:39,720
structural reasons.
689
00:28:40,180 --> 00:28:44,960
The United States has one benefit where, it
690
00:28:44,960 --> 00:28:46,280
might not seem this way, but the 50
691
00:28:46,280 --> 00:28:49,120
states are much more united than the countries
692
00:28:49,120 --> 00:28:50,300
in the European Union.
693
00:28:52,880 --> 00:28:57,860
The European Union struggles to keep everybody in
694
00:28:57,860 --> 00:29:00,240
line with their rules, for example, which is
695
00:29:00,240 --> 00:29:01,420
part of the reason why we had a
696
00:29:01,420 --> 00:29:03,600
Greek tech crisis 12 years ago, for example.
697
00:29:05,220 --> 00:29:07,380
China is a huge economy.
698
00:29:07,840 --> 00:29:11,100
It's growing at a rapid rate, but there's
699
00:29:11,100 --> 00:29:13,000
good reason to be concerned about capital controls.
700
00:29:15,340 --> 00:29:18,820
Technically, in a lot of ways, it's illegal
701
00:29:18,820 --> 00:29:21,000
for foreigners to hold domestic stocks.
702
00:29:22,820 --> 00:29:26,180
There could be an adversary in some ways
703
00:29:26,180 --> 00:29:29,480
of thinking, which could bifurcate their economy and
704
00:29:29,480 --> 00:29:31,140
what are the impacts of that.
705
00:29:32,020 --> 00:29:34,080
Generally, I think we've made a decision that
706
00:29:34,080 --> 00:29:36,660
we'd like to avoid that area as much
707
00:29:36,660 --> 00:29:37,260
as possible.
708
00:29:38,100 --> 00:29:40,720
But that can be painful if China spikes
709
00:29:40,720 --> 00:29:43,940
as it has in the last six months.
710
00:29:44,320 --> 00:29:46,180
But over time, I don't think we've given
711
00:29:46,180 --> 00:29:48,940
anything back by not being allocated in China
712
00:29:48,940 --> 00:29:50,040
in any significant way.
713
00:29:51,000 --> 00:29:52,800
Chris, I'm not sure the answer- This
714
00:29:52,800 --> 00:29:55,520
relates to what you're describing there relates particularly
715
00:29:55,520 --> 00:30:00,020
to the AMR team strategies as differentiated from
716
00:30:00,020 --> 00:30:03,940
some of the other wealth enhancement strategies, just
717
00:30:03,940 --> 00:30:07,200
to be clear, our own discretionary accounts for
718
00:30:07,200 --> 00:30:08,000
our clientele.
719
00:30:08,220 --> 00:30:11,240
In any case, yeah, I think that answers
720
00:30:11,240 --> 00:30:15,060
my question, that notion that as much as
721
00:30:15,060 --> 00:30:18,860
there can be opportunities in economies around the
722
00:30:18,860 --> 00:30:24,940
world, you still lean toward a domestic bias
723
00:30:24,940 --> 00:30:28,400
because of the quality of the companies and
724
00:30:28,400 --> 00:30:30,680
the kind of profitability that they are generating,
725
00:30:31,000 --> 00:30:33,860
which doesn't mean we don't want some international
726
00:30:33,860 --> 00:30:39,740
exposure, but it still justifies perhaps our view
727
00:30:39,740 --> 00:30:42,320
of why we're benefited by having an overweight
728
00:30:42,320 --> 00:30:46,720
U.S. relative to perhaps a benchmark or
729
00:30:46,720 --> 00:30:49,880
some comparative perspective.
730
00:30:51,020 --> 00:30:52,840
I think it's a great way to sum
731
00:30:52,840 --> 00:30:53,260
it up, Chris.
732
00:30:53,460 --> 00:30:53,800
Thank you.
733
00:30:53,800 --> 00:30:55,100
All right.
734
00:30:55,880 --> 00:30:56,740
You summed up nicely.
735
00:30:57,160 --> 00:30:58,680
Well, you're the content.
736
00:31:00,820 --> 00:31:01,920
Well, terrific.
737
00:31:02,060 --> 00:31:02,560
That's great.
738
00:31:02,700 --> 00:31:04,740
So gives us a view of sort of
739
00:31:04,740 --> 00:31:06,660
where we're at, lots of possibilities.
740
00:31:06,940 --> 00:31:10,520
Seems I'd say fair to characterize your overall
741
00:31:10,520 --> 00:31:15,000
view as generally optimistic or maybe cautiously optimistic
742
00:31:15,000 --> 00:31:17,060
as we go into the second half of
743
00:31:17,060 --> 00:31:17,440
the year.
744
00:31:19,440 --> 00:31:21,940
Yeah, I'd say I'm neutral.
745
00:31:22,140 --> 00:31:23,260
I'm not pessimistic.
746
00:31:23,380 --> 00:31:25,400
I'm not optimistic and neutral is good, right?
747
00:31:25,420 --> 00:31:26,860
When I say neutral, I mean, I think
748
00:31:26,860 --> 00:31:28,460
we're going to have average returns in the
749
00:31:28,460 --> 00:31:29,220
next 12 months.
750
00:31:30,060 --> 00:31:31,100
And why do I say that?
751
00:31:31,160 --> 00:31:33,060
Well, if you want to strap some numbers
752
00:31:33,060 --> 00:31:36,640
to it, that chart you showed of the
753
00:31:36,640 --> 00:31:38,720
PE ratio, if you were invert that and
754
00:31:38,720 --> 00:31:40,140
get the earnings yield, you're going to get
755
00:31:40,140 --> 00:31:40,960
something around 5%.
756
00:31:42,260 --> 00:31:44,280
I think we're going to have 2.5
757
00:31:44,280 --> 00:31:45,020
% inflation.
758
00:31:45,460 --> 00:31:47,560
We're probably going to have some growth of
759
00:31:47,560 --> 00:31:48,480
2%.
760
00:31:48,480 --> 00:31:50,780
We're going to have margins expand by 1%.
761
00:31:50,780 --> 00:31:53,020
And just there, you get the 10%.
762
00:31:53,020 --> 00:31:55,720
And if we have growth in the S
763
00:31:55,720 --> 00:31:58,020
&P 500 beyond what I just described that
764
00:31:58,020 --> 00:31:59,260
we're probably going to see in the overall
765
00:31:59,260 --> 00:32:02,540
economy, then you could get beyond that 10%.
766
00:32:02,540 --> 00:32:05,320
You maybe track for the 14% that
767
00:32:05,320 --> 00:32:06,800
we're tracking for now.
768
00:32:08,260 --> 00:32:10,140
Certainly, we could get some curveballs.
769
00:32:10,280 --> 00:32:11,860
I mean, April 2nd was certainly a curveball.
770
00:32:11,860 --> 00:32:16,380
And that's why you need to be diversified
771
00:32:16,380 --> 00:32:19,580
into a portfolio that is reflective of the
772
00:32:19,580 --> 00:32:21,860
amount of volatility that you personally are willing
773
00:32:21,860 --> 00:32:23,320
to take and withstand.
774
00:32:23,780 --> 00:32:26,240
And that's personal to most people.
775
00:32:27,380 --> 00:32:30,240
One thing that we have a particular client
776
00:32:30,240 --> 00:32:33,720
that likes to ask a lot is, what
777
00:32:33,720 --> 00:32:36,560
do you think is going to happen in
778
00:32:36,560 --> 00:32:37,300
the next six months?
779
00:32:37,820 --> 00:32:40,460
And I'm always reluctant to answer the question
780
00:32:40,460 --> 00:32:42,940
because I just don't know.
781
00:32:43,260 --> 00:32:47,180
It's like asking me about Einstein's theory of
782
00:32:47,180 --> 00:32:47,580
relativity.
783
00:32:47,840 --> 00:32:49,200
I'm no expert on what's going to happen
784
00:32:49,200 --> 00:32:50,060
in the next six months.
785
00:32:50,260 --> 00:32:52,880
But I can survey the landscape and say,
786
00:32:53,000 --> 00:32:55,260
is this way off sides, on sides?
787
00:32:55,660 --> 00:32:57,380
Are we going to score a goal?
788
00:32:57,460 --> 00:32:59,740
Are we going to stay neutral and play
789
00:32:59,740 --> 00:33:00,320
the puck well?
790
00:33:01,200 --> 00:33:03,040
That's the kind of general thinking.
791
00:33:03,360 --> 00:33:04,680
And if you try to pinpoint it and
792
00:33:04,680 --> 00:33:07,680
you try to push your portfolio really far
793
00:33:07,680 --> 00:33:10,540
one way or another based on putting your
794
00:33:10,540 --> 00:33:12,120
finger in the air and feeling where the
795
00:33:12,120 --> 00:33:13,800
wind is blowing, I think you're going to
796
00:33:13,800 --> 00:33:14,540
get yourself in trouble.
797
00:33:15,040 --> 00:33:20,200
So reminders for listeners to one, be sure
798
00:33:20,200 --> 00:33:23,460
you have some liquidity reserves or a mechanism
799
00:33:23,460 --> 00:33:27,220
for the unexpected where you can get access
800
00:33:27,220 --> 00:33:28,440
to capital quickly.
801
00:33:29,040 --> 00:33:31,040
Generally, we like to see a reserve account
802
00:33:31,040 --> 00:33:33,480
as opposed to a loan, a home equity
803
00:33:33,480 --> 00:33:35,140
line of credit or something like that.
804
00:33:35,720 --> 00:33:38,100
We talk about buckets, have a strategy that
805
00:33:38,100 --> 00:33:40,620
has graduated levels of risk.
806
00:33:40,820 --> 00:33:43,040
So some portions are more long-term than
807
00:33:43,040 --> 00:33:43,440
others.
808
00:33:44,380 --> 00:33:47,000
And then make sure this is all put
809
00:33:47,000 --> 00:33:49,320
together in the context of a financial plan
810
00:33:49,320 --> 00:33:53,300
that's designed around your goals, your objectives, your
811
00:33:53,300 --> 00:33:56,180
cashflow demands, your resources.
812
00:33:56,960 --> 00:34:00,200
And get some help in that process to
813
00:34:00,200 --> 00:34:03,560
make sure you're thinking it through deliberately across
814
00:34:03,560 --> 00:34:06,700
a variety of integrated considerations.
815
00:34:07,540 --> 00:34:09,920
It's not just about the portfolio, though that's
816
00:34:09,920 --> 00:34:12,800
certainly an essential part of it, but it's
817
00:34:12,800 --> 00:34:14,580
also about tax planning.
818
00:34:14,780 --> 00:34:17,659
It's also about the cashflow design.
819
00:34:17,860 --> 00:34:20,580
It's also about the things that will bring
820
00:34:20,580 --> 00:34:22,620
you peace of mind when you put it
821
00:34:22,620 --> 00:34:23,260
all together.
822
00:34:23,620 --> 00:34:25,260
Thanks, Brian, for your take today.
823
00:34:25,540 --> 00:34:28,440
Until next time, everybody keeps striving for something
824
00:34:28,440 --> 00:34:28,760
more.
825
00:34:30,380 --> 00:34:32,320
Thank you for listening to Something More with
826
00:34:32,320 --> 00:34:33,000
Chris Boyd.
827
00:34:33,320 --> 00:34:35,500
Call us for help, whether it's for financial
828
00:34:35,500 --> 00:34:39,420
planning or portfolio management, insurance concerns, or those
829
00:34:39,420 --> 00:34:41,460
quality of life issues that make the money
830
00:34:41,460 --> 00:34:42,540
matters matter.
831
00:34:42,940 --> 00:34:46,199
Whatever's on your mind, visit us at somethingmorewithchrisboyd
832
00:34:46,199 --> 00:34:49,400
.com or call us toll free at 866
833
00:34:49,400 --> 00:34:54,900
-771-8901 or send us your questions to
834
00:34:54,900 --> 00:34:58,860
amr-info at wealthenhancement.com.
835
00:34:59,040 --> 00:35:01,000
You're listening to Something More with Chris Boyd
836
00:35:01,000 --> 00:35:01,840
Financial Talk Show.
837
00:35:02,000 --> 00:35:04,460
Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services and Jay Christopher Boyd
838
00:35:04,460 --> 00:35:06,760
provide investment advice on an individual basis to
839
00:35:06,760 --> 00:35:07,320
clients only.
840
00:35:07,500 --> 00:35:09,460
Proper advice depends on a complete analysis of
841
00:35:09,460 --> 00:35:10,620
all facts and circumstances.
842
00:35:10,880 --> 00:35:12,720
The information given on this program is general
843
00:35:12,720 --> 00:35:14,780
financial comments and cannot be relied upon as
844
00:35:14,780 --> 00:35:16,360
to your specific situation.
845
00:35:16,540 --> 00:35:18,520
Wealth Enhancement Group cannot guarantee that using the
846
00:35:18,520 --> 00:35:20,540
information from this show will generate profits or
847
00:35:20,540 --> 00:35:21,660
ensure freedom from loss.
848
00:35:21,860 --> 00:35:24,020
Listeners should consult their own financial advisors or
849
00:35:24,020 --> 00:35:26,100
conduct their own due diligence before making any
850
00:35:26,100 --> 00:35:26,880
financial decisions.