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After a scorching December for the S&P 600 (+13%), the small cap index underperformed both the Equal- and Cap-Weighted S&P 500 in January. Interest rates—not valuations—seem to be in full control of the situation, as small caps patiently wait for rates to move lower.

Our Up/Down ratio reads 0.66—a terrible start to Q4 reports; only five prior “one-month” readings were worse than today’s: Q2-2020 and every quarter of 2009. Despite present day economic conditions seemingly quite a bit different than in those five previous cases, roughly the same percentage of firms are failing to beat EPS of twelve months ago.

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Positive economic momentum is apt to carry on for a while longer. Within fixed income, we are turning favorable toward credit, especially high quality investment-grade corporate bonds.

The probability of a soft landing has materially increased, while stronger than expected growth is likely to put a floor on inflation, which challenges the consensus disinflation view. A refresh of our Dollar Monitor suggests a weaker dollar going forward.

While mid- and small caps notably underperformed, large growth results were freakish. Measured against the S&P 500 Growth index, an implausible 96% of active large growth funds beat that benchmark—a result that stands as one of the most extreme win rates ever seen for a style box.

Since the pandemic, investors have been leery of adding REITs to their asset mix due to fears that flexible scheduling and work-from-home will permanently diminish the demand for office space. While that view may prove correct, the magnitude of such a change is much less significant than some might suspect.

The S&P 500 reached new all-time highs in January and closed the month with a modest 1.6% gain. The advance in the numerator widened our downside-to-median estimates another tick.

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Well, it’s Groundhog’s Day Earnings Season… again. With the first month of results for Q4, operating earnings estimates for the S&P 500 continued their long slide from their optimistic highs set back in June of 2022 (Chart 1). The 20% drop in projected EPS didn’t stop the index from rallying +30% over those 19 months. Full-year 2023 operating EPS is now crystallizing around $210—a 7% gain from 2022’s results.

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The Magnificent Seven’s remarkable performance defines the stock market in 2023. This basket of the seven largest companies in the S&P 500 index gained an average of 111% vs. an average gain of 9% for the other 493 companies. The combined impact of huge index weights and outsized performance made 2023 one of the most top-heavy markets in history. Whenever assets outperform to this degree over just a few quarters, the valuation alarm bells start clanging. Could the fundamentals possibly justify such a massive advance, or is AI mania responsible for the outperformance?

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The Core Strategy gained 3.8% in December as both equities and fixed income positions closed out the year with large gains.

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Much like the overall market, factors reversed course in 2023 with most broad categories performing opposite of what they did in 2022. While two years ago, safety was a virtue, in 2023, the riskier the better.

Over the entire history of this study, the momentum plays of our “Dreams” and “Nightmares” have worked both ways. This was not the case in 2023, however, as the fortunes for both groups (based on 2022 performance) U-turned in a considerable way.

At the start of a new year, we look back at the sector shifts that transpired throughout 2023—mainly going from commodity and defensives to start 2023—to growth and cyclicals as we begin 2024.

The story of the year was the Magnificent 7. Even with a lackluster December, the largest seven firms produced an average return of +111% in 2023. Advances in those companies added $5 trillion in market cap and were responsible for just under two-thirds of the S&P 500’s overall gain.