Business Cycle Transparency

Developed economies are more transparent than emerging economies are. We all have heard about this, haven't we? If that is the fact, then I need to make myself work harder to believe it.

After the great recession hit the world in the year 2008, I could never understand clearly in what phase of the business cycle the US was and has been. Is it early upswing or late upswing or is it slowdown? Only thing I am sure about is that it is certainly neither initial recovery nor recession (please correct me if I am wrong). Recent healthy economic growth and relatively low inflation in the US suggests that we are in early upswing. There are no restrictive policies in the place as of now and that does not put us in the late upswing phase. But nervous investors have begun to think that equities are volatile and stock market is near its all-time peak in the 2007. Isn't that favoring late upswing? It is dilemma to me since I am not an economist! Capital market expectations are always critical to judge after prolonged recessions and a depression. If we observe emerging economies, they are believed to bounce back from shocks faster than developed nations do. This was true even after the great recession. For example, India is clearly in late upswing phase where it is feeling tremendous inflationary pressure. Equity markets in India have shown considerable volatility. Monetary policies have become restrictive and short rates are rising to curb boom mentality. India is showing business cycle transparency which I want to observe here in the US. But I may be asking too much from $14 trillion economy. Perhaps that transparency has partly been offset by the great recession.

As I heard and expected, Apple has delivered finally...

$40, $50, $60, $70, $80, $90, $100 billion and counting. This is how the world's most valuable company has increased its cash over the last 3 years. Whenever companies sit on huge cash piles, there are always 2 possibilities. First, companies become conservative, especially post-recession years, in capital investments and hiring, and reports plethora of cash to combat another economic stress. Second, companies face controversial times from the investors. We strongly believe that Apple falls in to second choice.

When do companies pay dividends and when do they repurchase shares? Simple answers and simple signals. When a company believes that there are no more opportunities to invest money, acquire assets or there is a shrinking room for current above average growth, they pay dividends to reward investors. And when a company believes that their equity is undervalued, they repurchase some shares in the market. I have not performed any equity fundamentals on $AAPL and this is why I cannot say if its equity market value is undervalued or overvalued. But I can somehow convince myself that there is some decrease in growth is forecast by the management after a dream post-recession run and paying dividends is the best way to keep investors tagged along.

As I heard and expected over the last few months, Apple has finally announced to pay dividends and $10 billion worth of share repurchase today. Though its dividend yield is less than its peers, it is going to be interesting new chapter for Apple, being considered mature in the market.