TPP Strategy of the month

Global shares advanced a little in July, although some of those gains have been given back in early August.

In contrast to much of the year so far, emerging markets slightly outperformed developed market equities. Smaller companies also performed well. Gains were supported by lower inflation in several developed markets, including the US.?Corporate bonds outperformed government bonds in the month.?

Equities

UK equities rose a little, led by a number of domestically focused areas as investors began to unwind their expectations of continued aggressive rate hikes by the Bank of England. This shift in expectations occurred after the Office for National Statistics revealed headline inflation easing sharply in June to 7.9%, while core inflation also fell to 6.9%.

As a result, UK gilts rallied (yields fell) over the period. Gilt yields are important for the UK domestic economy as they influence mortgages. As fears around the UK inflation outlook eased, these rates retreated from very elevated levels hit in June.

This caused several domestically focused areas of the market to bounce back, including housebuilders and the real estate sector. Despite easing inflation fears, the UK economic outlook remained mixed with a few gauges of activity pointing towards stagnation.

US equities also advanced in July, with economic data indicating resilient growth and inflation starting to fall. The Federal Reserve (Fed) enacted a rate hike of a quarter percentage point in July. The central bank offered no firm position on whether rates would rise further in September, although expectations are that this will be the final hike of this cycle.

Hopes have also risen that the central bank may have orchestrated a so-called “soft landing”, by cooling growth and taming inflation without triggering a recession.

Eurozone shares followed suit, supported by a fall in inflation and positive economic growth data. Top gaining sectors included real estate, energy and materials. Laggards were consumer staples, information technology and utilities.

The European Central Bank raised interest rates by 25 basis points in July.?

However, investors began to anticipate that the central bank might be close to the end of its rate-hiking cycle as inflationary pressures are falling. Euro area annual inflation for July was estimated at 5.3%, down from 5.5% in June.

Economic growth data showed that eurozone GDP grew by 0.3% quarter-on-quarter (q/q) in Q2. Forward-looking data published in July pointed to a cooling economy.

Global bonds

In July government bonds underperformed. The lower-than-expected inflation figures from the US raised optimism that the US economy could avoid a more serious downturn. The narrative of a soft landing is gaining traction. Both the US Federal Reserve (Fed) and the European Central Bank (ECB) raised rates by 0.25% in line with expectations but pledged data dependency in terms of forward guidance.

Global government bond markets delivered negative returns overall in July, although yields at the shorter end of the curve (i.e. securities that will mature sooner) trended lower due to clearer signs that central banks may be slowing down interest rate hikes.

Commodities

The S&P GSCI Index recorded a positive performance in July. Energy was the best-performing component of the index, with sharply higher prices for gas oil, heating oil and unleaded gasoline offsetting a small decline in the price of natural gas.

Within industrial metals, all sub-components achieved robust price gains, with nickel and zinc achieving the strongest advance in the month.

In agriculture, there were strong price gains for sugar, cocoa, coffee and cotton. Wheat prices also climbed after Russia withdrew from a UN deal allowing the export of Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea. In precious metals, the price of silver was sharply higher, while the increase in the price of gold was more muted.

Leader Board - Top Trading Strategy?

It was another solid month for TPP strategies overall.?Several managed returns of over 2% with a further 4 managing to make their subscribers over 3% in the 31 days.

Of note are the European strategies with European Index and European Stock Basket up 2.9% and 2.7% respectively putting them both now on the?Top 5?Leaderboard.

The SP500 Trader had a fantastic month returning another 3.7% for its subscribers,but doing even better was Stock Euro following that European trend with a cracking 5.6%.

However, this was only good enough for 2nd place.

Stock Mixed?came out on top for July 2023 with a?whopping 6.9% profit.?This strategy ran 5 different trades during the month, 2 long plays and 3 shorts. The longs took advantage of the early rally but then the strategy gradually added short positions in the Nasdaq and S&P500 which added to previous profits.

They have taken profit on all 5 now and these trades mean they have pushed themselves up the overall leaderboard into 1st place.

TOP 5 2023 year to date:

?

Stock Mixed 29.2%

Nikkei Bias 25.4%

American Alpha 23.6%

European Stock Basket 23.1%

European Index 22.7%

Closing comments:

It was another solid?month for many of the strategies showcased on TPP, and after posting an average return of 13.3% at the end of the first half of the year- Q3 is off to the type of start we would like (and expect).

TPP has been built to empower investors and to assist them to beat their market benchmark.

From our experience investors are frustrated with low returns and high fees, and at TPP we provide a solution to both of these problems.

At TPP our strategies tend to be broken down into the following categories:

• Tracker strategies
• Long or Flat strategies
• Equity Long/Short/Active strategies

The trackers are there to profit over the mid/long term. Markets increase in value over time, and so will our tracker strategies. However, we also offer a small amount of leverage on them. Therefore, if you are expecting the FTSE to increase by 7% per annum over time, why not employ 2 x leverage and yield 14% per annum??Why doesn't your wealth manager offer this?

The long or flat strategies tend to evolve into a market neutral stance when markets look over bought. For example, if the FTSE 100 was trading at 7800 and we believed that was the top of the range, our strategies might go 'market neutral' and wait for a drop. Buying back in at 7500 is a surefire way to consistently beat your benchmark.?Why doesn't your wealth manager offer this?

With our active strategies, opportunities are sought in many markets and in any direction. Have a look through some of our strategies and you'll see buys and sells in multiple markets. Active strategies take on a little more risk and volatility, but expect to yield a little more per annum.?Why doesn't your wealth manager offer this?

Although at TPP we offer a multitude of different strategies and trading techniques- they all have one thing in common. They are all designed to beat their market benchmark. Their track records suggest they will do exactly that.?Again- why doesn't your wealth manager do this for you?

TPP has been built for frustrated investors. Do you really want to track the markets up and down continually whilst paying for the privilege?

It's time for change.

Empower yourself, and join the revolution.

Welcome to the future of investing.???