Just a week after the London Stock Exchange
Last week, LSE Group CEO David Schwimmer warned that signs of "froth," or speculative excess, was beginning to show in the US SPAC market. Schwimmer generally had good things to say about SPACs themselves, viewing them as a useful tool for the business world, but warned against excess.
"I'm not the first person to say this, but there is clearly some froth in the U.S. market for SPACs, and some of that could end poorly for some of those opportunities and those investors," he said.
On Tuesday, SPAC shares jumped back after spending around a month in decline. While typically recovery would be viewed in a more favorable light, the trend that this jump shows is a little concerning. When looking at the share prices of big-name SPAC companies such as Virgin Galactic
The trend has investors concerned that volatility is settling in for the long haul and that fluctuations may grow to become more drastic over time. A portfolio manager at Easterly Alternatives was even quoted by the Wall Street Journal as saying that the forthcoming fluctuations would be "violent". What looms large over Wall Street may be a bitter reality check on the considerable rally that SPACs have enjoyed for quite some time.
"When the price is moving up way faster than fundamentals can justify, that screams risk to us, and people who have those exposures are experiencing that risk today," Matt Stucky, a portfolio manager at Northwestern Mutual, told Bloomberg. "It's an awfully risky proposition to have a lot of capital invested in an exposure that is pretty volatile."
SPAC stocks will likely see more movement in the coming week, given recent fluctuations in bond yields and the imposition of stimulus measures (which were signed by President Joe Biden on Thursday, a day ahead of schedule).
- https://www.wsj.com/articles/volatility-hits-the-sizzling-spac-market-11615327970
- https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/04/spacs-are-becoming-less-of-a-sure-thing-as-the-deals-get-stranger-shares-roll-over.html
- https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-04/spac-froth-turns-on-itself-with-stocks-plunging-20-in-two-weeks
- https://www.pws.io//lse-ceo-weighs-in-on-us-spac-market-warns-of-excess