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Stock futures are being whipsawed by volatility, as the conflict in Ukraine intensified overnight and into Tuesday, with heavy bombardment of major cities by Russian forces.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his government thus far remain undeterred neither by the growing humanitarian crisis, nor the threat of economic collapse as a mountain of sanctions grow.
For investors, navigating an environment that is filled with more uncertainties than usual, the wisest path forward is to not get too overconfident about the future and what their investments can deliver, says a team at Morgan Stanley, led by U.S. equity strategist Mike Wilson.
In our call of the day, Wilson and the team say the best companies out there right now are able to “deliver on operational efficiencies.”
“Our work suggests the market is paying up for companies that have a better chance of delivering earnings in a more challenging operating environment,” said Wilson. “Rather than growth or defensiveness, the market wants operational efficiency defined as low capex/sales growth and employee turnover.”
He has got a list of companies that meet that criteria, but before we get to that, note that Wilson is worried about increasingly at-risk earnings forecasts. “First, the negative-to-positive guidance ratio for 1Q has spiked to 3.6 — the highest since 1Q16, when we were mired in a global manufacturing recession,” he said.
The ratio never even reached that high during the COVID-19 recession, while earnings breadth is falling fast and approaching negative territory.
“In a world where valuations remain elevated and earnings risk is rising, last
week’s tactical rally in equities will likely run out of momentum in March as the Fed
begins to tighten in earnestand the earnings picture deteriorates,” warned Wilson.
Back to his call, Wilson repeated that companies will likely have a tougher time meeting earnings expectations this year than investors think. Here is his chart showing that preference for operational efficiency.
Below is a list of high achievers who are all members of the top 1,000 U.S. stocks by market cap, with operational efficiency in the top 20% of their sector and rated overweight at Morgan Stanley. Coca-Cola
KO,
Walt Disney
DIS,
Chevron
CVX,
Wells Fargo
WFC,
and Qualcomm
QCOM,
are at the top of that list.
The buzz
Bombing has intensified in Ukraine’s second-largest city Kharkiv, as a massive convoy of Russian forces closes in on the capital, Kyiv. Experts say to brace for more distressing images and videos to come, and that is even after Russian and Ukrainian delegates agreed late Monday to continue talks.
Corporate backlash against that invasion continues, with Warner Bros.
T,
and Disney
DIS,
halting new releases in Russia. Meanwhile, more than $500 billion in Russian securities have now been frozen.
Read: Ukraine continues to win the information war
Target
TGT,
is soaring on strong results and upbeat forecasts from the retailer. Kohl’s
KSS,
Domino’s
DPZ,
and AutoZone
AZO,
will also report, with Salesforce
CRM,
HPE
HPE,
AMC Entertainment
AMC,
and First Solar
FSLR,
coming after the market close. HP
HPQ,
is also up, following results.
Chevron
CVX,
is climbing, after the oil giant doubled its stock buyback plan to up to $10 billion a year.
The Institute for Supply Management manufacturing index and construction spending are due later, followed by President Joe Biden’s State of the Union speech, which will likely cover the war, the economy and COVID-19, coming this evening.
As Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s appearance on Capitol Hill looms for Wednesday, Fed fund futures have completely priced out the possibility of a 50 basis-point rate hike in March.
The markets
Stock futures
YM00,
NQ00,
are down and oil
CL00,
is surging as investors again gravitate toward havens such as bonds
TMUBMUSD10Y,
gold
GC00,
and the dollar
DXY,
Bitcoin
BTCUSD,
and other cryptocurrencies continue to climb after Monday’s rally.
And: Russia may struggle to use cryptocurrencies to evade Western sanctions
The chart
The Russian ruble
USDRUB,
is clawing back ground from a massive selloff seen in recent days. Here’s a good explanation of what is going on:
Uncredited
The tickers
These were the top-searched stock tickers on MarketWatch as of 6 a.m. Eastern:
Random reads
Ukrainian sports stars are enlisting to fight and the government plans to sell war bonds.
The first full-dress Mardi Gras in New Orleans since 2020 is on.
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