Highlights Portfolio Strategy Quantitative tightening, a rising fed funds rate and higher prices at the pump are all bearish consumer discretionary stocks. Downgrade exposure to underweight. We are executing this interest rate-…
Neutral Yesterday's news that Disney was buying key media content assets from Twenty-First Century Fox, including movie studios and some cable properties, came as a surprise to few following longstanding rumors the assets were for…
The shares of movie & entertainment firms have been under pressure in the last several weeks, despite what has generally been a positive Q3 earnings print, driven down by speculation the AT&T/Time Warner merger may be blocked by…
Demand for movies and entertainment has come under pressure lately as depicted by the deceleration in recreation PCE. The softness in the ISM services survey confirms the negative signal from the consumer. All of this is transpiring in…
Cable & satellite stocks have been on a tear since troughing at the onset of the Great Recession (top panel). However, on the industry operating front, there are some demand cracks forming. Cable outlays are trailing overall PCE and…
Highlights Portfolio Strategy A more balanced cable & satellite and movies & entertainment industry profit backdrop is signaling that only a neutral stance is warranted in both these media sub-indexes. Trim to neutral. These…
2017 has been a tough year for movies & entertainment. The index has been in a steady downdraft and is now probing 5 year lows. Yesterday's U.S. consumer confidence number could presage an inflection point. Consumers are feeling…
Highlights Portfolio Strategy Upgrade capital markets stocks to overweight and put them on the high-conviction list. Capital formation is poised to accelerate in the second half of the year. Our Indicators suggest that demand for…
In early-April we boosted our S&P cable & satellite exposure to above benchmark, as cord-cutting has been less destructive than feared and the industry continues to successfully lift subscription rates in a world plagued by…
Media stocks have been through a choppy consolidation phase in recent years, as investors digest competitive threats and changing consumption habits. However, evidence is materializing that media companies are through the worst.…