Market Trends & Outlook

As thematic investors who assess global consumer spending trends, we have so many exciting secular trends to explore. One of the largest and most prominent consumption trends is the dramatic rise in Fintech innovation and the slow but steady death of cash as the primary method of transactions. Cash used as a percent of total global purchase transactions is estimated to be roughly 70% so it’s still very large.

We are now, approximately one year from the start of the COVID-19 pandemic’s onset in the United States. In short, we remain in the midst of a stock market rotation away from “momentum” stocks fueled by COVID-related shutdowns and societal adaptations towards “value” stocks that remain historically cheap and consist of cyclical laggards.

Looking at the long arch of history it is clear that human knowledge in fields like mathematics and science are cumulative, but the emotional arts struggles to pass effectively between generations. It would appear that the most important things can’t be taught, they must be learned.

In a recent Nasdaq Markets publication, HANDLS Indexes Co-founder Matt Patterson provided a fourth quarter and year-end 2020 income investing recap. Matt also provided an outlook for 2021: well diversified portfolios with exposure to multiple asset classes continues to be the best protection against market dislocations.

January Retail Sales Explodes Past Estimates to $568 Billion Making the Trailing 1-year $6.2 Trillion.

January Retail Sales Explodes Past Estimates to $568 Billion Making the Trailing 1-year $6.2 Trillion.

While addressing a room full of bankers and so-called financial engineers in the aftermath of the 2007 financial crisis, Paul Volcker stated that the biggest innovation in finance in the last 20 years was the humble yet extremely convenient ATM.

Risk is all around us. After the events of 2020, it’s not surprising that the level and variety of risks we face have become more pronounced than ever. At MAP, we spend much of our time reading. We want to point you to our favorite articles. Here is our weekly curation of our favorite reads.