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ASR in FT Unhedged: Can we make US stocks look cheap?

The FT’s Ethan Wu notes: “Standard p/e’s are slightly above historical averages, the Shiller cyclically adjusted p/e ratio is very high and the equity risk premium is near a decade low. If there is a valuation metric that makes the market look cheap, we haven’t seen it.”

Querying ASR’s Ian Harnett: “Might cheapness lurk below at the sector level?” Ian responded, "Mostly, no…"


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23rd MAY 2023

ASR in the FT: What if the relative decline of US stocks isn’t temporary?

In conversation with the FT’s Jennifer Hughes, Ian Harnett noted that “US equities currently make up just under half of global stock market capitalisation, up from about a third in 2010. That’s lower than during boom periods such as the dotcom bubble — but that is hardly much comfort…”

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5th MAY 2023

ASR chief economist Dominic White in FT Unhedged: Where’s the credit crunch?

The FT’s Ethan Wu, with ASR chief economist Dominic White,  consider whether First Republic’s problems are a sign of a wider credit crunch. Dominic commented that, “as savers flock to money markets, deposit competition is increasing, which should pressure bank profitability and further tighten lending standards…”

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27th APR. 2023

ASRs ‘debt deleveraging’ theme in Bloomberg Opinion … and the risks from Non-Bank Financials

In discussion with Bloomberg’s John Authers, ASR’s David Bowers argues that “a decline in the money supply does matter . . . (he) points to total debt in the US as a proportion of GDP. For the first time since . . . the debts incurred to finance WW II, debt has come down, and sharply” . . .

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21st APR. 2023

ASR’s Adam Wolfe on Bloomberg: China Central Bank Hints It Will Dial Back Pandemic Stimulus

The PBOC signaled it may start scaling back some of the stimulus measures implemented during the pandemic as the economy begins recovering and credit demand picks up.

Adam Wolfe noted that, “Back in the fourth quarter of 2022, structural tools supported a third of the net increase in total lending….”


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21st APR. 2023

FT INSIGHT: The financial turmoil is not over - by ASR’s Ian Harnett

Ian considers implications of recent bank failures: “if 2022 was about the repricing of capital, 2023 is … about the reduction in the quantity of capital, as "quantitative destruction" puts alternative assets and non-bank financial institutions to the test" . . .

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4th APR. 2023

ASR’s Asset Allocation Survey in Bloomberg’s Much Ado about Banking, by John Authers

John notes in his column that the ASR survey of asset allocators for the second quarter (based on interviews that took place during the worst of the banking upheaval) “found the deepest pessimism since the survey started in 2015 . . .

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3rd APR. 2023

“Quantitative Destruction” leads in The Times

David Bowers and Ian Harnett have been talking to clients for some months about the risks, not of QT , but QD, “quantitative destruction” .

Today’s leader in the Times reiterates our concerns…


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17th MAR. 2023

FT Unhedged talks financial crises and Fed rates with ASR’s Ian Harnett

Rob Armstrong notes “the types of financial wreckage that have forced rate pivots before have been extremely bloody….” citing the ASR chart which plots major crises next to the fed funds rate.

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14th MAR. 2023

ASR on China’s balance of payments: Adam Wolfe in The Economist

China’s official statistics are often suspected of flattering the economy. But ASR’s Adam Wolfe considers “the balance-of-payments figures may actually understate the size of the country’s pandemic-era export boom”. 

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7th MAR. 2023

David Bowers in The Times, a “Hard landing for the global economy may be good news for markets”

Simon Nixon was in discussion with David regarding implications of the US Senior Loan Officer Survey, showing demand for credit has collapsed and that lending standards have tightened. David notes, that has “typically foreshadowed a rise in credit risks within a year…”

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2nd MAR. 2023

FT Unhedged – Ethan Wu & Robert Armstrong highlight ASR’s long-term ERP

Noting ASR’s “detailed work on the ERP”, calculating nine different ERP methodologies and taking the median output… Wu and Armstrong would agree with ASR that “a decade-low ERP seems a mighty modest premium for a very precarious investing environment


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24th JAN. 2023

Bloomberg / ASR: China’s $7 Trillion ‘Hidden Debt’ Is Back in Focus

With Beijing pivoting on key policies, a cyclical recovery appears to be underway. But structural issues – such as the heavy debt load of local governments — haven’t gone away.


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12th JAN. 2023

ASR in the Times: Quantitative Destruction is a huge new challenge for central banks

Simon Nixon in the Times notes that “There are no shortages of candidates for future sources of financial instability”.

What we are witnessing is what (ASR) have dubbed “quantitative destruction.”


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10th NOV. 2022

ASR in the FT “Big Read” : How long can Japan’s central bank defy market forces?

The FT’s Leo Lewis cites David Bowers, who notes that “Strong wage growth is seen as the ultimate ‘amulet’ against Japan slipping back into disinflation…” 

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4th NOV. 2022

Bloomberg: ASR bond/ equity yield ratios going back to 1910 – implications

John Authers cites an ASR chart (with numbers as of Oct. 31 - before the central bank meetings) suggesting that “it’s scarcely tenable to hold stocks rather than bonds…"

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4th NOV. 2022

FT Unhedged on “Picking Risks: What to own while waiting for inflation to fall”

Robert Armstrong notes in his column that “banks, for example, look as cheap as anything in the market right now. But consider a rather chilling chart from Ian Harnett of ASR …"

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10th OCT. 2022

Simon Nixon / ASR in the Times, on global financial risks

Simon Nixon notes that these risks should “hardly come as a surprise. As Ian Harnett and David Bowers of ASR have long been warning, every US interest rate tightening cycle in the past 50 years has ended in a financial crisis.”  

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6th OCT. 2022

ASR’s Adam Wolfe in IFR News : Awful year for EM opens door to default

In conversation with Refinitiv’s Robert Hogg, ASR’s EM and China Economist Adam Wolfe commented, "I think increasingly defaulting is going to look like the least worst option for several EMs”… 

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30th SEPT. 2022

Nick Nelson joins ASR

Absolute Strategy Research is pleased to announce the appointment of Nick Nelson as Head of Global Equity Strategy.

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20th SEPT. 2022

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