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Posted by Craig Basinger on Dec 18th, 2023

Top 10 Ethos of 2023

In keeping with our annual tradition, below are our favourite Market Ethos publications of the past year. In chronological order:

Hockey & Dividends (HERE) 16 Jan 2023

While dividend strategies struggled in 2023 early in the year, this report highlighted a number of different factors, like debt composition, yield sensitivity, economic sensitivity, and pricing power, that would become more important in driving performance across the dividend space.

Know Thyself (HERE) 27 Feb 2023

The path to becoming a better investor is experience and learning to make better decisions. This post highlighted the fact that the last few years have been one of the best periods in recent history to truly understand your own emotional tendencies. It has been a great time to reflect and better understand yourself.

It Is 2023, Not 2008 (HERE) 16 Mar 2023

In the midst of the U.S. regional banking mini-crisis, we shared our thoughts. This was nothing like 2008, and we discussed why still cautious markets were likely overreacting.

Is the Third Time a Charm? (HERE) 29 May 2023

A look at gold, which was bumping up against the $2,000/oz level for the third time.

Does the Market Need to Drink to Have a Good Time? (HERE) 26 Jun 2023

We cannot underestimate the impact of quantitative stimulus, and it isn’t just the overnight rate or what the central bankers are talking about. General account, Repo markets, open market buying/selling – these continue to have very large impacts on asset prices.

Earnings: Economists vs Analysts (HERE) 8 Aug 2023

This was a fun look at earnings estimates in conjunction with what economists said. We looked at how analysts saw growing earnings compared to how economists viewed the overall economy.

Bulls, Bears, and Pumpkin Spice (HERE) 14 Aug 2023

In the short term, watching sentiment has proven very useful. This look at sentiment painted a rather bearish picture, noting that markets went down in August, September, and October.

Sometimes, Even a Free Lunch Can Taste Bad (HERE) 16 Oct 2023

Diversification is said to be the only free lunch when investing… well, with correlations of late, that lunch has not tasted so good. This was a look at correlations between asset classes and thoughts on portfolio construction.

The Thematic Riddle (HERE) 23 Oct 2023

Investors often shoot themselves in the foot when using thematic ETFs by buying too late and holding on too long. This post looked at this exciting part of the market… if only there were a better way to invest in thematic ETFs (spoiler: there is).

2024 Outlook – The Great Reset Final Act (HERE) 4 Dec 2023

Of course, we have to include our outlook for 2024 because while looking back can be insightful, what happens next is much more important. 

Enjoy the holidays; the next edition will be the first week of January in the form of a year-in-review edition.

— Craig Basinger is the Chief Market Strategist at Purpose Investments

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Sources: Charts are sourced to Bloomberg L. P.

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Craig Basinger, CFA

Craig Basinger is the Chief Market Strategist at Purpose Investments. With over 25 years of investment experience, Craig combines an educational foundation in economics & psychology with years of experience in both fundamental and quantitative research. A long-term student of the markets, Craig’s thoughts and insights can be seen in his Market Ethos publications and through his regular contributions on BNN.

Craig and his team bring a transparent and cost-efficient approach to investment management. The team provides asset allocation OCIO services and directly manages over $1 billion in assets. The team manages dividend mandates, quantitative risk reduction strategies and asset allocation services.