Attractiveness Ranking for the Consumer Discretionary Sector Rises Sharply

December 21, 2022 | WEEKLY SECTOR ROTATION | Brian T. Hannon, CFA

Improved catalytic and technical scores have helped the consumer discretionary sector to move
up from the bottom group to the top 5 group of our attractiveness rankings. Favorable behavior
preference has also contributed to this sector’s ranking move. In contrast, the retail sector has
slipped out of the top 5 group as catalytic properties deteriorated. We also note that improvement
in fundamental outlook scores has resulted in the technology sector moving up in our rankings.
See Tables 5 and 6 for top-ranked names from the most attractive sectors and bottom-ranked
names from the least attractive sectors.

Brian T. Hannon, CFA
Founder, Director of Quantitative Equity Research
Qubit Research, LLC
With an academic background in engineering and economics, Brian Hannon began his career in the chemicals industry at the Dupont Company where he held various positions in research & development, project management, and corporate finance. An early indication of his innovative nature occurred while in R&D; as Brian was awarded a patent for his role in the development of a reverse osmosis process for purifying chemicals used in the production of semiconductor devices (Patent#4,879,043: Manufacture of High Purity Hydrogen Peroxide by Using Reverse Osmosis”).

Pursuing his interest in the stock market, Brian made the transition to the investment management profession as a research analyst covering chemicals industry companies at the DuPont Pension Fund. He subsequently joined ASB Capital Management where he originated the unique approach to structuring multi-factor models that Polaris is based on. Brian moved on to Macquarie Investments (formerly Delaware Investment Management) where he produced an exceptional track record while serving as a senior portfolio manager on the institutional large-cap value team. After Brian left Macquarie, he founded Qubit Investments, LLC to launch an equity market-neutral fund. The fund utilized an updated version of the Polaris multi-factor model, integrated with a systematic portfolio construction algorithm that Brian developed. He later became the director of equity research at Sturdivant & Co. and then Quoin Advisors, LLC, which was prior to his current role as founder of Qubit Research, LLC, an independent equity research boutique. Brian holds a BS degree in chemical engineering and a BS in economics from Carnegie-Mellon University. He is also a CFA charter holder.


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