Value Factor

  • Interesting piece by Cliff Asness of AQR on the value factor.
  • Valuation of value stocks (the cheapest ones) are near historic levels against the most expensive stocks on several measures – suggesting now might be a good time to invest in this factor.
  • This chart shows the price to book ratio of the expensive 30% of stocks divided by this ratio for the cheapest 30%, adjusted for industry.
  • The spread is now in 97th %ile of the ex-tech bubble range.

Start-ups & Principal Risk

  • Venture backed businesses are increasingly pivoting towards taking more principal risk and moving away from acting as brokers.
  • Latest example is Leavy, an Airbnb copy-cat, who are guaranteeing payments for your apartment holiday rental upfront.
  • The real estate sector has seen this already – with companies offering to buy your home directly.
  • As is discussed here this type of model leads to better margins in good times, but is a lot riskier.
  • It feels like late cycle behaviour.

Causes of US Recessions

  • Great table from GS Research showing the main causes of US Recessions since World War I.
  • “A review of the last century of US recessions highlights five major causes: industrial shocks and inventory imbalances; oil shocks; inflationary overheating that leads to aggressive rate hikes; financial imbalances and asset price crashes; and fiscal tightening.”
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