Market Insights

Is Value Investing Dead? A Cyclical Analysis

Is value investing dead? It’s a question that has been posed time and time again over the past few years as growth stocks continued to outperform. Many investors assumed a recession would cause the pendulum to swing back toward more reasonably-valued or undervalued stocks, but given the unique...

Are Market Cap-Weighted Indices Reflective of the Economy?

The equity markets have rallied considerably since their March lows. In fact, the S&P 500 Index has rallied to such an extent (down just 11.1% year-to-date through May 14^th) that it barely seems to portray an underlying U.S. economy that just had 33 million people file for unemployment benefits....

The Outlook for Financial Services Stocks

Since investing throughout the financial services sector is a specialty of ours, here is an update on where things stand on an industry-by-industry basis, including where we’re seeing opportunities.

Property and Casualty Insurers

Property and casualty underwriter stocks have been harshly punished...

Short Interest: A Contrarian Indicator?

Earlier this year, versions of the following chart were making the rounds. The graph exhibited short interest on the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY). It was mere weeks before the market would begin freefalling, and short interest was at the lowest levels since 2007.

Dissecting Q1 2020 Market Performance by Size, Sector and Factor

Now that the sun has set on one of the most volatile quarters in recent memory, let’s assess the damage. Broadly, large cap indices like the S&P 500 held up better during the selloff, as illustrated by the graph below.

Source: S&P Dow Jones Indices

The outperformance of large caps isn’t surprising...

QE Infinity, Inflation and Opportunities

We recently authored a two-part series on inflation (The Potential for a Return of Inflation), detailing how high debt levels and the Federal Reserve’s (Fed’s) unprecedented campaign of quantitative easing could eventually result in a return of inflation.

Explaining Prospector’s Approach to Downside Risk Mitigation

As you’ve surely seen, the equity markets have been under severe pressure. The S&P 500 Index, which was up roughly 4% for the year through mid-February, is now down 20.3% as of 10am EST on March 13, 2020. In comparison, small caps and energy-related stocks are faring much worse, as illustrated by...

Podcast #1 – The Prospector Story with John Gillespie

There is a story behind every person.

Prospector’s founder John Gillespie joined Havener Capital Partners founder Stacy Havener, to tell us about his story. In this podcast, Mr. Gillespie walks us through his own journey, which started with a Wall Street Journal subscription while he was in college...

The Potential for a Return of Inflation, Part 2

Last week, we discussed an array of possible factors that could contribute to a rise in inflation. These include:

• In an effort to spur the economy, policy makers have embarked on an unprecedented campaign of quantitative easing, a tool which is inflationary in nature.
• Stimulative economic policy...

The Potential for a Return of Inflation

“Economic medicine that was previously meted out by the cupful has recently been dispensed by the barrel. These once-unthinkable dosages will almost certainly bring on unwelcome aftereffects. Their precise nature is anyone’s guess, though one likely consequence is an onslaught of inflation.” –...