September Was The Worst Month For Stocks Since The Start Of The Pandemic

The Fourth Quarter Setup Does Not Look All That Bright Either

Hello Everyone,

Welcome to the +44 new subscribers who joined our Dividend Investor’s Edge community this past week. If this is your first time reading, but you have not yet subscribed, join our growing investing community of nearly 2K investors.

This week the newsletter will get a FRESH NEW LOOK! Let me know what you think down in the comments section.

Market Recap ⏪

The markets were an absolute slaughterhouse last week as we concluded the worst month for US Equities since the start of the pandemic back in early 2020. Going in, we knew the month of September has historically been bad for equities, and the trend continued in 2022.

Could there be some good news on the horizon? Potentially! Over the past six previous instances in which the S&P 500 fell 7% or more in the month of September, five of those six instances has resulted in a rebound during the month of October.

  • 1974 September -11.9%/October +16.3%

  • 1986 September -8.5%/October +5.5%

  • 2001 September -8.2%/October +1.8%

  • 2002 September -11.0%/October +8.6%

  • 2011 September -7.2%/October +10.8%

The one outlier of this was in 2008, as we were in the midst of the Great Recession, the S&P 500 fell 9.1% in September and continued that trend in October with the index falling an additional 17%.

The Federal Reserve continues to mention “more pain ahead” as they forecast a terminal Fed Funds rate of 4.6%, which they are aiming to reach in 2023. For perspective, the current range sits at 3.00% - 3.25%, so there is still well over 100 basis points worth of rate hikes to go before the peak is reached.

Here is how the great Warren Buffett described interest rates:

Inflation continues to be an issue for the markets, which is why the Fed continues its quantitative tightening policy. Stimulus from prior years and a low rate environment are reasons why we are where we are, but the Fed is looking (without saying) for the labor market to crack, which would help alleviate inflation pressures.

This past week the initial jobless claims hit a five-month low, despite rising interest rates.

  • 193,000 initial jobless claims

  • 215,000 estimated

The 193K was a decrease of roughly 16,000 from the previous week, which further adds to the strong labor market. Once the labor market starts to crack is when we investors can start thinking about a nearing bottom.

US Markets 🇺🇸

Here is a performance summary for US Equities:

Here is a look at US Treasuries:

The Fear & Greed Index measures market sentiment based on the following seven factors: put/call ratios, junk bond demand, stock price breadth, market volatility, stock price strength, safe-haven demand, and market momentum.

When it comes to the Fear and Greed Index, in a matter of a few weeks we went from a neutral reading to an Extreme Fear reading. Inflation hot, rates moving higher for longer, and earnings needing to come down all leading to more pain in the markets. Currently, the index has a reading of 15. This reading continues to fall from the prior week.

Earnings on Deck 💰

Q3 earnings are beginning and only a few companies are expected to report this week.

  • Thursday (BMO): McCormick & Company

  • Thursday (BMO): Constellation Brands

Notable Analyst Updates 📝

  • Wedbush lowers PT on Micron (MU) to $65 from $85

  • Evercore upgrades warehouse REIT Prologis (PLD) to Outperform

  • Morgan Stanley slashes PT for FedEx (FDX) to $125

  • Citi lowers PT of McDonald’s (MCD) to $246 from $275

  • Deutsche Bank increases PT of PepsiCo to $181

  • Citi lowers PT of General Motors (GM) to $78 from $87

  • Citi lowers PT of Ford (F) to $13 from $16

  • Wells Fargo downgrades Lockheed Martin (LMT) to underweight

  • Citi lowers PT of Caterpillar (CAT) to $180 from $195

  • Bank of America downgrades Apple (AAPL) to neutral from buy

  • Barclays cuts PT of Verizon (VZ) to $40 from $48

This Week 📆

Monday

  • ISM Manufacturing

Tuesday

  • Durable and factory orders

  • Job openings

  • FED ALERT: Fed Governor Philip Jefferson

Wednesday

  • ADP Employment Survey

Thursday

  • Jobless claims

  • FED ALERT: Fed Governor Lisa Cook

  • FED ALERT: Fed Governor Christopher Waller

Friday

  • Nonfarm payrolls

Other Resources 📺

If you have not done so yet, definitely check out my growing YouTube community where I publish weekly videos on Dividend Stocks I am looking at.

Here is a look at my latest video:

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Have questions? You can email me directly at [email protected].

Have a Great Week!

Mark

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