Research & News
Daily Comment (June 21, 2017)
by Bill O’Grady, Kaisa Stucke, and Thomas Wash [Posted: 9:30 AM EDT] In the overnight news: MSCI opens up for China: The index producer has been reluctant to add domestic shares of Chinese companies due to numerous concerns, including capital controls, lack of accounting transparency, etc. This is something of a big deal, but also not. … Read More »
Daily Comment (June 20, 2017)
by Bill O’Grady, Kaisa Stucke, and Thomas Wash [Posted: 9:30 AM EDT] There were five news items worth noting overnight: Carney goes dovish: Last week, the BOE voted to keep policy steady but had three dissenters. In a speech today, BOE Governor Carney focused on the economic problems that could be triggered by Brexit and suggested… Read More »
Weekly Geopolitical Report – The Second Korean War: Part I (June 19, 2017)
by Bill O’Grady Tensions with North Korea have been escalating in recent months. The regime has tested numerous missiles and claims to be capable of building nuclear warheads, which, combined with an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), would make the Hermit Kingdom a direct threat to the U.S. Such a situation is intolerable to the U.S., and… Read More »
Daily Comment (June 19, 2017)
by Bill O’Grady, Kaisa Stucke, and Thomas Wash [Posted: 9:30 AM EDT] Global equity markets are rising this morning, although the weekend news was mixed. Here’s a recap: Macron dominates in France: Emmanuel Macron, the recently elected president of France, solidified his new government with a solid win, capturing 350 of the 577 seats in the… Read More »
Asset Allocation Weekly (June 16, 2017)
by Asset Allocation Committee Last week, the Federal Reserve published its Financial Accounts of the United States report, more commonly called the “Flow of Funds” data. The report offers a plethora of insights into the economy. This week we want to examine the household debt situation. In Q1, household debt reached $15.1 trillion, up 3.4% from… Read More »
Daily Comment (June 16, 2017)
by Bill O’Grady, Kaisa Stucke, and Thomas Wash [Posted: 9:30 AM EDT] After a choppy week, financial and commodity markets are rather quiet this morning. There were a couple of news items of note. The BOJ, as anticipated, left policy unchanged. The vote was 7-2, with the two dissenters calling for tighter policy. However, the two… Read More »
Daily Comment (June 15, 2017)
by Bill O’Grady, Kaisa Stucke, and Thomas Wash [Posted: 9:30 AM EDT] There were three items dominating the overnight news. First, the shooting at the GOP baseball practice yesterday continues to reverberate. We will have more to say about this event in the future but it is further evidence of deep divisions within American society that… Read More »
Daily Comment (June 14, 2017)
by Bill O’Grady, Kaisa Stucke, and Thomas Wash [Posted: 9:30 AM EDT] There is breaking news at the time of this writing. A gunman shot at Congressional members and staffers at a baseball practice in suburban Virginia. The Congressional baseball game is one of the few bipartisan social events in Washington. Although the situation is evolving,… Read More »
Daily Comment (June 13, 2017)
by Bill O’Grady, Kaisa Stucke, and Thomas Wash [Posted: 9:30 AM EDT] After a two-day correction in tech stocks, equities are stabilizing this morning. Although the drop in the popular sector seemed to come out of nowhere, it looks to us like a fairly normal market correction, merely some profit taking. In a world of ultra-low… Read More »
Weekly Geopolitical Report – South Korea’s Too Big to Fail (June 12, 2017)
by Thomas K. Wash On March 10, Park Geun-hye was removed from her position as president of South Korea. Her ouster came on the heels of a scandal involving her close confidant who is accused of seeking bribes from chaebols, a group of family-owned multinational conglomerates that dominate the South Korean economy, to curry favor with… Read More »