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1 week ago | 
leadlagreport.substack.com | Michael A. Gayed
The Iran/Israel conflict is creating tension in the markets, but not panic. The VIX has pushed into the low 20s, but that’s not nearly the level that would indicate a big risk-off shift. There’s an acknowledgement that the crude oil market is unsettled and it’s unclear how high prices might go, but the market doesn’t seem to think that this is going to be much more than a short-term disturbance.
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1 week ago | 
leadlagreport.substack.com | Michael A. Gayed
Below is an assessment of the performance of some of the most important sectors and asset classes relative to each other with an interpretation of what underlying market dynamics may be signaling about the future direction of risk-taking by investors. The below charts are all price ratios which show the underlying trend of the numerator relative to the denominator. A rising price ratio means the numerator is outperforming (up more/down less) the denominator.
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1 week ago | 
leadlagreport.substack.com | Michael A. Gayed
How To Interpret the Signals: Within each strategy, there is a risk-on and risk-off investment recommendation, with the risk-off option being the more conservative of the two. When a particular signal indicates that investors should be risk-off, for example, subscribers should consider investing in the risk-off option and avoiding the risk-on option. The opposite, therefore, would be true when the signal flips to risk-on. In each strategy, you’d always be invested in one option or the other.
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1 week ago | 
propertychronicle.com | Michael A. Gayed
Even though we got one last week (who knows what’s actually a part of the deal, but it’s not likely to be a game changer), the market again largely shrugged it off. If investors are settled on their view of the trade war, it’s time for them to find the next catalyst. For many, it’ll probably be the Fed and the never-ending game of “will they, won’t they”.
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1 week ago | 
moneyshow.com | Michael A. Gayed
For years, regulation has acted as a drag on the economy. While it’s designed to protect consumers, stabilize markets, and reduce systemic risk, it can also slow innovation, make it more difficult to bring new products to market, and result in millions of dollars of extra expense. That’s why, with three other partners, I’ve brought The Free Markets ETF (FMKT) to market, says Michael Gayed, editor of The Lead-Lag Report.
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1 week ago | 
leadlagreport.substack.com | Michael A. Gayed
Join me for an insightful interview on why value investing must evolve for today's market! I’m joined by Kai Wu, founder and CIO of Sparkline Capital, as we explore the shift from traditional value metrics to a focus on intangible assets like intellectual property, brand equity, and human capital. Learn how modern strategies embrace these key drivers of growth in tech-driven markets. We also discuss how Sparkline’s innovative ETFs, ITAN and DTAN, are reshaping the investing landscape.
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2 weeks ago | 
leadlagreport.substack.com | Michael A. Gayed
Not surprisingly, geopolitics dominated the narrative, but for different reasons than we’ve seen in the recent past. The Israeli air strikes against Iran on Thursday, which are likely to last several days, pushed crude oil prices to nearly $78 a barrel for the first time since the beginning of this year. Treasury yields rose again, but gold acting as a safe haven once again, continued its week-long move higher.
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2 weeks ago | 
leadlagreport.substack.com | Michael A. Gayed
Every week, we’ll profile a high yield investment fund that typically offers an annualized distribution of 6-10% or more. With the S&P 500 yielding less than 2%, many investors find it difficult to achieve the portfolio income necessary to meet their needs and goals. This report is designed to help address those concerns. After a few weeks of turmoil around Liberation Day, junk bonds quickly regained their footing and began steadily outperforming Treasury bonds again.
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2 weeks ago | 
leadlagreport.substack.com | Michael A. Gayed
A trade deal between the U.S. and China was supposed to be one of the things that would mark a return to normalcy for the markets and maybe even ignite the next leg of the bull market. Even though we got one this week (who knows what’s actually a part of the deal, but it’s not likely to be a game changer), the market again largely shrugged it off. If investors are settled on their view of the trade war, it’s time for them to find the next catalyst.
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2 weeks ago | 
leadlagreport.substack.com | Michael A. Gayed
For years, regulation has acted as a drag on the economy. While it’s designed to protect consumers, stabilize markets and reduce systemic risk, it can also slow innovation, make it more difficult to bring new products to market and result in millions of dollars of extra expense. The good news for investors and the market is that President Trump has put a target on it. His pro-business stance has always emphasized improving the operating conditions for corporations to make them more profitable.
