Conversations From The Road
By Lori Calvasina
Published June 21, 2022 | 8 min listen
This week in the podcast, highlights from our conversations with institutional equity investors last week, plus updates on the valuation and sentiment indicators we’re watching. Five big things you need to know: First, we’ve outlined two possible recession paths for S&P 500 EPS which suggest a valuation case for the S&P 500 can be made today on next year P/E if the recession is short-lived or at 3,200 on current year EPS. Second, as investors seek out clues on what’s been de-risked, we’ve been highlighting why the risk/reward for Small Caps has improved and note that Russell 2000 valuations returned to levels that often mark the low last week. Third, on sectors, we’ve also been highlighting how defensive sectors have been close to peak valuation vs. Secular Growth and Cyclicals, how Energy’s strong move up in early 2022 is out of sync with the typical recession drawdown, and how declines in Consumer Discretionary and Communication Services are already baking in recession to a significant degree. Fourth, the midterm elections are starting to emerge as a potential positive catalyst for US equities later this year in the eyes of some investors. Fifth, institutional investor sentiment appeared to get closer to a bottom last week.
Lori Calvasina
Managing Director & Head of U.S. Equity Strategy, RBC Capital Markets
Lori Calvasina joined RBC Capital Markets as Head of U.S. Equity Strategy in 2017 as a Managing Director. Having spent nearly two decades as an equity strategist at major investment banks, Lori is an expert on the US stock market, and regularly represents RBC in the financial media on Bloomberg and CNBC. Prior to joining RBC, Lori was a senior equity strategist at Credit Suisse from 2010 to 2017, covering Small/Mid Cap Strategy from 2010-2014 and both Small/Mid Cap and US Equity Strategy from 2015-2017. She spent the first ten years of her career at Citi in a variety of roles including lead Small/Mid Cap Strategist from 2007-2010. In both 2008 and 2009 Lori was ranked #2 in the Small Companies category in the Institutional Investor All America Research team poll. Lori is a graduate of the University of Virginia and its selective Government & Foreign Affairs’ Honors Program. In 2019, she was named to Crains New York’s list of Notable Women in Finance.
Institutional Equity InvestorsLori CalvasinaMarkets in MotionRBC PodcastStock Market