TOPLEY'S TOP 10 - Feb 15, 2024

1. S&P 500 Trading at Largest Valuation vs. S&P Equal Weight in 10 Years

Jack Ablin Cresset The S&P 500 is trading at a sizable valuation premium to the average S&P stock: it’s currently situated at more than four multiple turns above that of the equal-weighted market. That’s the largest valuation premium in more than 10 years thanks to the dominance of the largest names.

Market Broadening Will Likely Resume in 2H/24 | Cresset Capital

2. No Shorts Left in Bonds

Dave Lutz at Jones Trading No Shorts out there in Treasuries, as it is a way crowded long in anticipation of Fed Easing – The “Pain Trade” was a rip higher in yields.

3. Look for U.S. Dollar Break-Out

Negative for international stocks if dollar breaks-out

4. South Korea Nowhere for 5 Years

Barrons Korea’s Kospi Composite Index, the country’s main benchmark, has dropped an annualized 4.5%, including reinvested dividends, over the past three years, lagging not only the S&P 500’s 10% return but the MSCI World Index’s 7.6%. That’s reflected in the Kospi index’s price/book ratio of just 0.2 times, which means the companies are worth less than their total net assets. The MSCI World index trades at just over three times book.

By Jacob Sonenshine https://www.barrons.com/articles/south-korea-next-hot-stock-market-faa02663?mod=past_editions

5. The Bookie Always Wins

Barrons By Randall W. Forsyth Indeed, the expansion of legal gambling has been a boon to stock market investors, notably those who have ridden shares of DraftKings. The Almost Daily Grant’s note this past week, from the invaluable advisory headed by Barron’s alum Jim Grant, pointed out that DraftKings’ shares were up some 283% from late 2022. That raised the company’s valuation to near $20 billion despite it having posted negative adjusted Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, a measure of cash flow) in each quarter going back to the start of 2019. DraftKings management sold $145.2 million of stock in the past three months, more than all but five of the 152 U.S.-listed consumer cyclical firms tracked by Bloomberg—proving again that the winners in gambling aren’t the punters but the bookies.

https://www.barrons.com/articles/the-bull-market-rolls-on-as-the-s-p-500-breaks-through-5000-2b6a0e16?mod=past_editions