By John Del Vecchio and Brad Lamensdorf

Hedging is dead.

As the markets climb higher, investors have abandoned protecting their portfolios.

One of the clearest examples is from the Equity Hedging Index (EHI) calculated by SentimenTrader.com

The EHI measures the activity across numerous ways that investors can hedge their portfolios. The more heavily hedged investors are, the higher the index and vice versa

It’s a contrary indication. Today it’s hitting extreme lows.

As the chart below shows, the EHI has dipped below 10.

Why is a reading below 10 important?

Well, there have only been nine other weeks over the last 20 years that the EHI has been this low.

All of them preceded weak medium to long-term returns.

Of course, with everyone leaning in one direction (bullish) and with no protection (few hedges), what possibly could go wrong?

A lot.

Most investors are wrong most of the time.

It’s the extremes like we see today where the best opportunities for profit lie.

Time to buy some insurance.

To learn more about how these indicators can help manage risk in your portfolio, book a call with Brad.

You may book a call here.

By John Del Vecchio and Brad Lamensdorf

A little dip in the markets recently has led to a marked decline in the level of Investors
Intelligence advisors’ bullishness. Bulls have dropped to 53.9% down from 56.3% the
prior week. This marks the fifth week below 60% where sentiment was pinned for most
of the fall and early winter.

Importantly, the shift in the bullish sentiment has moved toward “correction” mode as
opposed to outright bearishness.

While the level of bullishness has subsided, it’s still too high. Our own indicators
suggest that we are moving toward an outright sell signal on the market, but we are not
there yet.

Based on current readings, we expect a bounce.

Even though the level of bulls has moved off its extreme readings, it’s still too high. That
said the odds favor a short-term market move higher. Below is the short-term composite
also courtesy of Inventors Intelligence that measures dozens of technical indicators.

This composite indicator has fallen sharply in the past 10 days. Pressed nearly to the
floor, the market is due for a bounce based on this extreme move recently.

However, now is not the time to get complacent. The level of bulls will have to move
significantly lower and they will have to crawl over to the bear camp before a meaningful
bottom can be put in. Before then, there is likely to be aggressive selling and an
extreme oversold condition in the market. Then a favorable risk / reward scenario is
likely to present itself.

Active Alts uses dozens of indicators to monitor extremes and pounce on opportunities
with tremendous risk / reward ratios in the market. Book a call with Brad to learn how
these indicators can help you navigate the markets in 2021 and beyond.

General Disclaimer

Active Alts, Inc. (“Active Alts” or the “Manager”) is an investment adviser registered with the state of Connecticut. Active Alts manages the Active Alts SentimenTrader L/S Strategy and SentimenTrader serves as the research/index provider for the strategy. Registration with the state of Connecticut does not imply a certain level of skill or training.
The information set forth regarding securities and investment advice was obtained from sources which we believe reliable but we do not guarantee its accuracy or completeness. Neither the information nor any opinion expressed constitutes a solicitation by us of the purchase or sale of any securities. The performance quoted above represents past performance and current performance may be lower or higher than the performance date quoted. Past performance does not guarantee future results as investment returns may vary from time to time depending upon market conditions and the composition of the strategy.

SENTIMENTRADER DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, SUITABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR USE. Investors should consult their tax advisors before making investment decisions, as well as realize that past performance and results of the strategy are not a guarantee of future results. The Active Alts SentimenTrader L/S Strategy is not intended to be the primary basis for investment decisions and the usage of the strategy does not address the suitability of any particular investment for any particular investor.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index is provided for informational purposes only. Indices are not indicative of the strategy and may not be suitable for comparison purposes. Indices that may be shown do not reflect the deduction of advisory fees, commissions or other transaction charges.
Fees charged by the Firm are negotiable and may vary by client.

Before making an investment, you should consider your goals, objectives, time horizon and risk tolerance to be sure that this investment is suitable for you. There are no guarantees that the strategy will perform as it did in the past. You could lose money and you should not invest unless you can afford to lose some or all of your invested funds.

Calculation Disclaimer
Dividends are included in the performance results. The Manager have also calculated the net results by applying the highest management fee to be charged to advisory clients. Results will vary based on the amount of the fee applied. The results were also calculated by rebalancing the long and short portfolios on a weekly basis. The portfolio selection was and will be generated from the proprietary Active Alts stock selection process which is based on quantitative factors and mechanically driven. Commissions were added. No taxes were deducted; no borrowing costs were added; and no ex-dividend costs were included from the short portfolio.
Downside deviation is a measure of downside risk that focuses on returns that sell below a minimum threshold of a Minimal Acceptable Return (MAR).
Sharpe ratio is the average return earned in excess of the risk free rate per unit of volatility of risk.

Time to recovery is the duration of time it takes to restore the value lost.

Beta is a measure of a stock’s volatility in relation to the market. By definition, the market has a beta of 1.0, and individual stocks are ranked according to how much they deviate from the market. A stock that swings more than the market over time has a beta above 1.0.
Annualized volatility – Historic volatility measures a time series of past market prices. Implied volatility looks forward in time, being derived from the market price of a market-traded derivative (in particular, an option).
Max drawdown is an indicator of the risk of a portfolio chosen based on a certain strategy. It measures the largest single drop from peak to bottom in the value of a
portfolio (before a new peak is achieved).
(1) Indicators drive the exposure while a proprietary Long & Short portfolio are rebalanced monthly for the strategies equity drivers.
(2) Commissions were added to the exposure rebalance as well as the monthly stock rebalance.

By John Del Vecchio and Brad Lamensdorf

Deja Vu all Over Again

Stocks have been partying like it’s 1999 all over again. 

The real action is in unprofitable IPOs.

Take a look at the chart, courtesy of BofA Global Research:

Unprofitable IPOs just hit 80%, the same level near the peak of the Internet Bubble. More money is chasing few quality investment ideas. As a result, nearly everything is getting bid up to higher prices. 

The thing is, markets change. The companies that dominate the markets changes. The leaders in sectors change.

The law of economics and human nature don’t change.

The best opportunities, on both sides of the market, are at extremes. We are at an extreme with unprofitable IPOs. Could this trend move higher? Yes. However, it’s highly likely that all gains from here will be more than lost.

The Active Alts / Sentiment Trader Long / Short Strategy capitalizes on extremes. In case you missed it…

Brad hosted a webinar on February 9^th talking about achieving better risk-adjusted returns in an overheated market. 

The Active Alts SentimenTrader Long / Short Strategy returned 25.87% in 2020 compared with 7.86[1] % in the Credit Suisse Long / Short Index.

What’s more, is that the Active Alts SentimenTrader Long / Short Strategy experienced a 9.99% draw down and held an average cash position of 19.4%[1] for the year.

The webinar dives into:

• • How to navigate the rocky markets we have been living through
• • How to generate alpha on the long and short side of the market
• • The power of our proprietary exposure gauge and what it means for investment returns in current market conditions

If you missed the webinar, you can watch it here!

See More Sentiment Updates:

General Disclaimer
Active Alts, Inc. (“Active Alts”  or the “Manager”) is an investment adviser registered with the state of Connecticut. Active Alts manages the Active Alts SentimenTrader L/S Strategy and SentimenTrader serves as the research/index provider for the strategy. Registration with the state of Connecticut does not imply a certain level of skill or training.
The information set forth regarding securities and investment advice was obtained from sources which we believe reliable but we do not guarantee its accuracy or completeness. Neither the information nor any opinion expressed constitutes a solicitation by us of the purchase or sale of any securities. The performance quoted above represents past performance and current performance may be lower or higher than the performance date quoted. Past performance does not guarantee future results as investment returns may vary from time to time depending upon market conditions and the composition of the strategy.

SENTIMENTRADER DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, SUITABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR USE. Investors should consult their tax advisors before making investment decisions, as well as realize that past performance and results of the strategy are not a guarantee of future results. The Active Alts SentimenTrader L/S Strategy is not intended to be the primary basis for investment decisions and the usage of the strategy does not address the suitability of any particular investment for any particular investor.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index is provided for informational purposes only. Indices are not indicative of the strategy and may not be suitable for comparison purposes.   Indices that may be shown do not reflect the deduction of advisory fees, commissions or other transaction charges.
Fees charged by the Firm are negotiable and may vary by client.

Before making an investment, you should consider your goals, objectives, time horizon and risk tolerance to be sure that this investment is suitable for you.  There are no guarantees that the strategy will perform as it did in the past. You could lose money and you should not invest unless you can afford to lose some or all of your invested funds.

Calculation Disclaimer
Dividends are included in the performance results. The Manager have also calculated the net results by applying the highest management fee to be charged to advisory clients. Results will vary based on the amount of the fee applied. The results were also calculated by rebalancing the long and short portfolios on a weekly basis.  The portfolio selection was and will be generated from the proprietary Active Alts stock selection process which is based on quantitative factors and mechanically driven. Commissions were added. No taxes were deducted; no borrowing costs were added; and no ex-dividend costs were included from the short portfolio.
Downside deviation is a measure of downside risk that focuses on returns that sell below a minimum threshold of a Minimal Acceptable Return (MAR).
Sharpe ratio is the average return earned in excess of the risk free rate per unit of volatility of risk.
Time to recovery is the duration of time it takes to restore the value lost.
Beta is a measure of a stock’s volatility in relation to the market. By definition, the market has a beta of 1.0, and individual stocks are ranked according to how much they deviate from the market. A stock that swings more than the market over time has a beta above 1.0.
Annualized volatility – Historic volatility measures a time series of past market prices. Implied volatility looks forward in time, being derived from the market price of a market-traded derivative (in particular, an option).
Max drawdown is an indicator of the risk of a portfolio chosen based on a certain strategy. It measures the largest single drop from peak to bottom in the value of a
portfolio (before a new peak is achieved).
(1) Indicators drive the exposure while a proprietary Long & Short portfolio are rebalanced monthly for the strategies equity drivers.
(2) Commissions were added to the exposure rebalance as well as the monthly stock rebalance.

By John Del Vecchio and Brad Lamensdorf

The stock market continues to set records and bulls are raging.

Weekly market sentiment, courtesy of Investors Intelligence, shows bulls at 61.2% while bears are in hibernation at 16.5%

Bulls have topped 60% (a major warning sign) for nine consecutive weeks while bears hover near a 2 ½ year low.

Exuberant market sentiment by itself doesn’t mean the market will tank. It does mean risks are elevated. Now is not the time to be complacent. Any event could start to top the balance. Swiftly.

That will make it easier for bullish investors to switch their stance and for bears to become more active. In our own testing, once bears start to move off the lows, the returns disappear.

Rapidly!

In fact, John’s own risk indicator yields returns of over 800% when the “all clear” is given compared to buy and hold returns of about 600%. Meanwhile, when the indicator is in the “red zone” the returns are -0.61% annualized.

We are not there yet. But investors should be on high alert.

Investors should be planning their hedges.

The Active Alts SentimenTrader Long / Short Strategy ended 2020 with a gain of 25.87% and a drawdown of 9.99%. The strategy has recently made adjustments to account for conditions in sentiment as well as over two dozen other proprietary indicators.

To learn more about how these indicators can help your portfolio performance, book a complimentary call with Brad today.

By John Del Vecchio and Brad Lamensdorf

Fund managers have blown their wad of cash. The B of A Global Fund Manager Survey shows that cash levels have dipped below 4%.

This is a contrarian indicator.

Historically, cash levels below 4% indicate little cash on hand while 5% has proven to be too defensive. A 1% difference may not seem like much. But we are talking about trillions of dollars here.

As the chart clearly shows, high cash levels typically coincide with some very tradeable bottoms since 2011.

Back when the market was falling apart as the COVID pandemic hit, fund managers raised cash well above the upper band of 5%.

Since then, the market has gone virtually straight up.

This creates a couple of problems for fund managers. One is peer pressure. The market is roaring and cash becomes a drag. It becomes a major drag when you have the fastest rebound ever from a bear market like we saw in 2020.

The other problem then becomes performance anxiety.

There’s nothing like some anxiety to cause you to do things you might not normally do. So, fund managers chase risk. Often outside their comfort zone. They may do this against their better judgement.

As a result, when they are chasing stocks that they know they shouldn’t, it becomes a contrary indicator.

They have given into their emotions.

Market bulls still stand over 60%.

This is a warning sign.

Risks are higher here. Many stocks are off to a booming start in 2021. It’s becoming too easy to make money.

Nothing about the markets is easy over time.

Now is the time to prepare hedges.

Where are the landmines ahead?

Book a free call with Brad to discuss the Active Alts SentimenTrader long / short strategy and how to position your portfolio for the road ahead.