Research & News
Daily Comment (July 29, 2016)
by Bill O’Grady and Kaisa Stucke [Posted: 9:30 AM EDT] The BOJ disappointed the financial markets. Expectations for a larger stimulus package, maybe even helicopter money, was hoped for. Instead, the BOJ offered to boost ETF purchases and indicated it will perform a study of its stimulus programs, hinting perhaps that more could come later… Read More »
Daily Comment (July 28, 2016)
by Bill O’Grady and Kaisa Stucke [Posted: 9:30 AM EDT] The FOMC statement was generally as expected. The committee acknowledged the economy improved from their last meeting. Labor markets are better and household spending is robust. On the other hand, business investment remains sluggish. Overall, the FOMC indicates that “near-term risks to the economic outlook have… Read More »
Daily Comment (July 27, 2016)
by Bill O’Grady and Kaisa Stucke [Posted: 9:30 AM EDT] The FOMC meeting concludes today. Expectations are very low for this meeting although we would not be surprised to see the statement take on a more hawkish tone. Markets are not expecting the FOMC to move higher this year; in fact, the fed funds futures don’t… Read More »
Daily Comment (July 26, 2016)
by Bill O’Grady and Kaisa Stucke [Posted: 9:30 AM EDT] The FOMC meeting begins today and concludes tomorrow. As we noted yesterday, we expect the Fed to try to inject expectations of potential tightening. We also expect the FOMC to fail on this goal. The financial markets are quite sure the Fed won’t move until next… Read More »
Weekly Geopolitical Report – The Turkish Coup, Part I (July 25, 2016)
by Bill O’Grady On Friday, July 15, reports out of Turkey indicated that unusual troop activity was underway which suggested a coup was in progress. In the U.S., as afternoon turned toward early evening, it was abundantly clear that elements of the Turkish security services were attempting to oust President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. As the hours… Read More »
Daily Comment (July 25, 2016)
by Bill O’Grady and Kaisa Stucke [Posted: 9:30 AM EDT] It was another mostly quiet night. We did see European equities lift on better economic sentiment data (see below). The G-20 meeting ended with a mostly banal communiqué. There was some discussion of fiscal policy by the group. However, the G-20 structure is so unwieldy that… Read More »
Asset Allocation Weekly (July 22, 2016)
by Asset Allocation Committee In the most recent rebalance of our Asset Allocation portfolios, we introduced positions in gold. Although the yellow metal is classified as a commodity, we view it more as a currency, admittedly one that is not backed by liabilities. National fiat currencies are generally created in the credit process and are backed… Read More »
Daily Comment (July 22, 2016)
by Bill O’Grady and Kaisa Stucke [Posted: 9:30 AM EDT] The GOP convention wrapped up last night; the Democrats hold theirs next week. Financial markets are very quiet this morning, typical of the “dog days” of summer. There were two items of note. First, the flash PMI data from the U.K. was quite weak, with the… Read More »
Daily Comment (July 21, 2016)
by Bill O’Grady and Kaisa Stucke [Posted: 9:30 AM EDT] The JPY rose strongly overnight after media reports quoted BOJ Governor Kuroda as saying that helicopter money was not being considered and would never be implemented. This comment came as a surprise as the financial markets have been steadily discounting some sort of action from the… Read More »
Keller Quarterly (July 2016)
Letter to Investors In my travels around the country this year, meeting with clients and advisors, I’ve been struck by the high level of political passion (both optimistic and pessimistic), similar to what we see both in the political arena and in the media. Inevitably, I’m asked what I think about it all. “Who do… Read More »