10 Citi Charts That Shed Light On The Market

In a new report, Citi Research analyst Tobias Levkovich takes a number of charts that tell the story of where the U.S. stock market currently stands and what investors should expect in coming months. Here’s a look at 10 charts from the report.


While the S&P 500 has sent several mixed technical signals in recent weeks, Citi sees no troubling signs when it comes to the percentage of stocks trading below their 200-day averages.


Citi’s extremely high P/E stocks’ lead indicator approach explains some of the relative weakness in the S&P 500.


Spreads between the best=performing and worst-performing stocks, sectors, assets and commodities are relatively low compared to their historical range.


The economy has not been picking up as strongly as it has in the past, as seen in this chart of bank lending standards versus the S&P 500.


Dollar strength has weighed heavily on the revenues of U.S. companies that do business overseas during the past year.


The nosedive in Energy Sector sales has also disproportionately dragged down the overall S&P 500 sales growth numbers.


The Duke University CFO capex study shows that spending is still expected to grow this year, although the Energy Sector is likely responsible for the year-over-year dip in capex growth in 2015.


Anticipated wage hikes should continue to provide a lift for consumer spending, neither of which is currently indicating an imminent economic slowdown.


Many clients have been asking if now is the right time to get back into energy, but Citi needs to have more confidence about a pickup in oil prices before recommending energy stocks.


The next major market catalyst could be the Fed’s first rate hike coming as soon as September, an event which has historically led to three-month underperformance and six-month outperformance for the S&P 500.