Election End + Vaccine Victory? = Dow 30,000
Courtesy of Wade Slome, Investing Caffeine
There are many variables that affect the direction of the stock market, but there were two factors that pushed the stock market to a record high of 30,000 on the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The mathematical equation solved last month was the following: (Election End + Positive Vaccine Data) = Dow 30,000.
Election Clouds of Uncertainty Lifted
Former Vice President Joe Biden secured 81.1 million popular votes and 302 electoral votes, while incumbent President Donald Trump earned 73.9 million popular votes and 232 electoral votes. President Trump has filed numerous lawsuits in various states challenging the validity of the election results and he has claimed voter fraud in numerous states. However, if the Electoral College certifies the results on December 14th, reversing the election outcome by President Trump will become even more challenging. With President Trump getting 47% of the total versus 51% for President-elect Biden, the country largely remains divided, but investors have gained significant confidence now that the clouds of election uncertainty have lifted.
Vaccine Optimism
Investor optimism was further buoyed by 95%-effective vaccine data released by pharmaceutical companies, Pfizer, Inc. (PFE), BioNTech (BNTX), and Moderna Inc. (MRNA), which helped the stock market surge last month to an all-time record high of 30,000 in the Dow Jones Industrial average (see chart below) before slightly dipping at the end of the month to 29,638 . More specifically, the Dow soared +12% (3,137 points) for the month; the S&P 500 index 11%, and the NASDAQ +12%. For the year, the Dow, S&P, and NASDAQ have climbed +4%, +12%, and +36%, respectively.
Rotating Growth for Value and Large for Small
Given a new president variable with President-elect Biden, stock market investors have reassessed which economic factors and new legislative policies will affect future stock market returns. As I have been discussing with Sidoxia Capital Management clients and Investing Caffeine readers for years, the level of outperformance of “Growth” stocks over “Value” stocks, and “Large-cap” stocks over “Small-cap” stocks has been staggering. If you consider the Russell 1000 Growth index (IWF) has outperformed the Russell 1000 Value index (IWD) by 102% (120% vs. 18%, respectively) since 2016, and the S&P 100 index (Large-cap) outpaced the Russell 2000 (Small-cap) by 33% (67% vs. 34%), you can appreciate the benefit investors have enjoyed by investing with the Large-cap Growth formula in the stock market. But as I have previously pointed out, this level of outperformance is not sustainable forever, historically. Last month, we saw this gap narrow as Small-cap stocks advanced +18% (IWM – Russell 2000) and Value stocks +13% (Russell 1000 Value). Embedded within the Value segment, the energy sector (XLE) skyrocketed +28% for the month and financials (XLF) by +17%.
What Now? Politics Focus on Georgia
Another significant contributing factor to the recent rally has been the election gridlock outcome in Congress. Leading up to the elections, political polls incorrectly predicted a “Blue Wave” of Democratic victories in the House of Representatives and Senate. Under that scenario, Democrats would have had a blank check mandate to push a broad liberal agenda across America. That did not happen. Republicans actually gained more seats than Democrats in the House, and Republicans only lost one seat in the Senate.
All eyes are now on the Georgia Senate runoff election in January. As things stand currently, we effectively have a stalemate in Congress, meaning Democrats will have to fight tooth and nail to pass any new legislation and/or institute higher taxes. If both Democrat candidates win in the Georgia runoff, President-elect Biden and the Democrats will have a narrow majority in Congress, which could lead to more progressive measures, including tax hikes on the wealthy.
Economic Rebound Intact
Despite the uptick in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, the economic rebound keeps moving forward. In fact, recent Gross Domestic Product (GDP) forecasts for the fourth quarter of 2020 are expected to exceed an average of +6%. As you can see in the chart below, corporate profits have bounced back to record high and remain relatively high to the slower recovery in GDP.
The economic resurgence experienced has not been limited to the United States. The global expansion, especially in China, has shown up in the upturn of World Trade Volume (see chart below).
Between the Dow hitting 30,000, the millions of votes counted in the elections, and the vaccine effectiveness rates, there have been many numbers to contemplate last month. Suffice it to say, however, the mathematics of these figures show that investors are using this formula to earn all-time record results in the stock market.
Wade W. Slome, CFA, CFP®
Plan. Invest. Prosper.
This article is an excerpt from a previously released Sidoxia Capital Management complimentary newsletter (December 1, 2020).
DISCLOSURE: Sidoxia Capital Management (SCM) and some of its clients hold positions in certain exchange traded funds (ETFS), but at the time of publishing had no direct position in any other security referenced in this article. No information accessed through the Investing Caffeine (IC) website constitutes investment, financial, legal, tax or other advice nor is to be relied on in making an investment or other decision. Please read disclosure language on IC Contact page.
