Asset Allocation Bi-Weekly
Confluence Investment Management offers various asset allocation products which are managed using “top down,” or macro, analysis. We publish asset allocation thoughts on a bi-weekly basis, updating the piece every other Monday.
Asset Allocation Weekly (July 16, 2021)
by the Asset Allocation Committee | PDF The pandemic-related expanded benefits for the unemployed are expected to end in September. States that have ended the booster early have seen a sharper decline in initial claims than states that haven’t ended them. Although the end of enhanced employment benefits could help resolve the labor shortage, there… Read More »
Asset Allocation Weekly (July 9, 2021)
by the Asset Allocation Committee | PDF In our report from June 25, we discussed the data from the Financial Accounts of the U.S., otherwise known by its original name, the Flow of Funds Report. There is a section of the report that comes out a couple weeks after the initial release known as the… Read More »
Asset Allocation Weekly (July 2, 2021)
by the Asset Allocation Committee | PDF (Due to the Independence Day holiday, there will not be an accompanying podcast and chart book this week. The multimedia offerings associated with this report will resume next week, July 9.) The Wall Street Journal Dollar Index, which tracks the dollar’s value relative to seven major currencies, has… Read More »
Asset Allocation Weekly (June 25, 2021)
by the Asset Allocation Committee | PDF Every quarter, the Federal Reserve publishes the Financial Accounts of the U.S., previously referred to as the Flow of Funds report. The report is huge and provides a balance sheet and income statement of sorts for the economy. The data offer interesting insights into the financial situation of… Read More »
Asset Allocation Weekly (June 18, 2021)
by the Asset Allocation Committee | PDF As the global economy begins to recover from the coronavirus, we’ve been warning that the apparent surge in price inflation may not be all that it seems. Inflation is usually calculated as the percentage change over one year. Since many consumer prices stagnated or fell at the start… Read More »
Asset Allocation Weekly (June 11, 2021)
by the Asset Allocation Committee | PDF In May, respondents to the University of Michigan’s monthly Consumer Sentiment Survey said they expect consumer prices to rise at an average rate of 4.6% per year over the next half-decade—the highest level of inflation expectations in 12 years. In this report, we discuss why inflation expectations are… Read More »
Asset Allocation Weekly (June 4, 2021)
by the Asset Allocation Committee | PDF (Due to staff vacation schedules, there will not be an accompanying podcast and chart book this week. The multimedia offerings associated with this report will resume next week, June 11.) Over the past five years, the United Kingdom has been the backwater of investment attraction. Much of the… Read More »
Asset Allocation Weekly (May 28, 2021)
by the Asset Allocation Committee | PDF Gold moved steadily higher from the late summer of 2018 into last August. Prices declined toward 1,700 into March but have been recovering since. In this report, we will update our views on the metal. We have been holding gold in our asset allocation portfolios since 2018, although… Read More »
Asset Allocation Weekly (May 21, 2021)
by the Asset Allocation Committee | PDF In March, job openings rose to their highest level on record. According to the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), there were over 8.1 million job vacancies, surpassing the previous record of 7.6 million set in November 2018. The surge in vacancies is supported by data from… Read More »