20,000 subscribers!

I’ve been posting here for about a month and it feels great to be back. I am having a lot more fun communicating with you guys here than I have in a long time. And now I’m writing to 20,000 of you! Thanks to everyone who subbed since the launch. You’re my people and I’m still your friend on the inside.

Why am I enjoying this so much? I think it’s a combination of there being a lot going on in the markets lately plus where I’m at career-wise. I spent the last year trying to get myself to a place where I had enough help and support that I could come back to writing. It wasn’t easy (or inexpensive) but we did it.

The firm is not only on fire in terms of growth but it’s also in excellent hands on a day to day basis. Every executive role has an absolute killer occupying it - from Client Service to Compliance to Trading to Finance. The Ritholtz Wealth Executive Committee is getting together in New York City next week and I’m not even going to be there to attend these sessions (I’ll be at T3 in Las Vegas). Three years ago that would have been unthinkable. Today it’s the most natural thing in the world.

Adam Parker Returns

Adam Parker was the chief investment strategist at Morgan Stanley prior to the current guy, Mike Wilson. Adam’s time in the chair coincided with the recovery from the Great Financial Crisis and the European Debt Crisis in 2011. From 2012 through 2017, Adam remained constructive on stocks as the S&P 500 took out its prior highs and a new secular bull market was born.

The ideas coming out of Adam’s current firm, Trivariate Research, build on his decades of market experience. In any given week, he might be assisting a corporation trying to decide between spinning off a subsidiary or buying back stock. Or he could be working with a large pension on asset allocation. Or perhaps he’s talking to the PM at a hedge fund trying to assess where the real risks in the long/short book might reside.

Adam is remarkably sharp and endlessly entertaining to talk to. We could’ve gone for hours in the studio - the time just flew by.

On today’s episode of The Compound and Friends, we get into some of Trivariate’s research about stock buybacks, economic indicators, the earnings outlook for the S&P 500, why some sectors feature greater stock-picking opportunities than others and the football renaissance now underway in the state of Michigan.

Adam also shares the three most important reasons why stocks should have a decent 2024. These include the fact that profit margins may actually expand this year for the average S&P company.

I hope you enjoy listening to the show this week as much as we enjoyed recording it.

You can find it on Apple, Spotify and Google at the link below.

The YouTube version will be up on The Compound channel later tonight. We’re adding about 3,000 subscribers a month there, I hope you’re one of them!

Okay, talk soon - Josh