Research & News
Asset Allocation Weekly (August 28, 2020)
by Asset Allocation Committee | PDF As people think about the supplemental federal unemployment benefit of $600 per week that was in place through July, most would assume that if the total benefits exceed a person’s actual wages, they will choose to be unemployed instead of accepting employment. Anecdotal reports suggest that companies are running… Read More »
Weekly Energy Update (August 27, 2020)
by Bill O’Grady, Thomas Wash, and Patrick Fearon-Hernandez, CFA | PDF Here is an updated crude oil price chart. The oil market has stabilized at higher levels after April’s historic collapse. Crude oil inventories fell more than anticipated, declining 4.7 mb compared to forecasts of a 3.0 mb decline. The SPR declined 1.8 mb; since… Read More »
Weekly Geopolitical Report – Biden’s Foreign Policy (August 24, 2020)
by Bill O’Grady | PDF Traditionally, Labor Day is considered the point when an increasing number of Americans start paying attention to the November elections. As part of our analysis of the candidates, we create dossiers of the candidates and the leading figures with whom they surround themselves. In this report, we will comment on… Read More »
Asset Allocation Weekly (August 21, 2020)
by Asset Allocation Committee | PDF One of the relationships we monitor is retail money market levels (RMMKs). In theory, any available liquidity could conceivably end up purchasing equities. But, RMMKs are used by investors in their brokerage accounts and thus are probably “closer” to equities compared to other forms of “near money,” such as… Read More »
Weekly Energy Update (August 20, 2020)
by Bill O’Grady, Thomas Wash, and Patrick Fearon-Hernandez, CFA | PDF Here is an updated crude oil price chart. The oil market has stabilized at higher levels after April’s historic collapse. Crude oil inventories fell less than anticipated, declining 1.6 mb compared to forecasts of a 2.9 mb decline. The SPR declined 2.7 mb as… Read More »
Weekly Geopolitical Report – An Inflection Point in Lebanon (August 17, 2020)
by Bill O’Grady | PDF On the afternoon of August 4, there was a massive explosion at the Port of Beirut. The explosion was one of the largest non-nuclear blasts in history, a seismic event with a magnitude of 3.3 on the Richter scale. At latest count, 220 have been confirmed dead, 110 are missing,… Read More »