We do know, for example, that the trading characteristics for stocks change after they have been added to an index such as t he S&P 500. But it remains to be seen whether indexing itself becomes a source of edge for active managers
With Europe’s microcap value stocks trading at 0.6x Price/Book today, we believe there is significant upside potential as fund flows continue to trickle down to the less liquid corners of the European market. These stocks also offer dividend yields north of 4%, so investors can be rewarded while they wait for mean reversion.
But the very factor that causes market inefficiency -correlated beliefs -makes exploiting that inefficiency difficult. The desire to be part of the crowd is pow erful, and being apart from the crowd is scary for most
It’s not a market collapse that I see coming out of all this. That’s fire. All I can see is the long gray slog of stagflation. And I think that’s worse.