Research & News
Daily Comment (July 5, 2016)
by Bill O’Grady and Kaisa Stucke [Posted: 9:30 AM EDT] After an impressive recovery in equities last week, markets are weakening to start this week. There are a number of factors weighing on sentiment. Here are the key ones: The Italian banking mess: Today’s lead headline in the FT discusses how Monte dei Paschi (BMPS: IM,… Read More »
Asset Allocation Weekly (July 1, 2016)
by Asset Allocation Committee The Brexit situation is dominating the financial news, and rightly so—such events are unusual and their outcomes are usually uncertain. As part of our asset allocation process, we examine these types of issues and adjust our portfolios to account for them. Although our process is cyclical, meaning we pay particular attention to… Read More »
Daily Comment (July 1, 2016)
by Bill O’Grady and Kaisa Stucke [Posted: 9:30 AM EDT] It’s global PMI day! We have recorded the overseas numbers below. Overall, Europe came in strong, while Asia was mostly neutral to negative. Although the European numbers were positive, they may be dampened post-Brexit. After BOE Governor Carney promised further monetary accommodation yesterday, financial markets rose… Read More »
Daily Comment (June 30, 2016)
by Bill O’Grady and Kaisa Stucke [Posted: 9:30 AM EDT] The big shock overnight came from a surpise announcement by former London Mayor Boris Johnson, who withdrew from the race for the PM job in the U.K. after a withering attack from an (now probably former) ally, Michael Gove. This withdrawal adds to uncertainty surrounding the… Read More »
Daily Comment (June 29, 2016)
by Bill O’Grady and Kaisa Stucke [Posted: 9:30 AM EDT] Although global equity markets continue to rally, we are seeing a rather curious trade across financial and commodity markets. Notably, gold and long-duration Treasuries remain strong. Two charts highlight the impact. First, we note that inflows into gold ETPs are steadily rising. (Source: Bloomberg) This chart… Read More »
Daily Comment (June 28, 2016)
by Bill O’Grady and Kaisa Stucke [Posted: 9:30 AM EDT] We are seeing a rebound in risk markets this morning as there is growing speculation that the U.K. and the EU will be able to negotiate an acceptable deal. This sentiment is rising despite comments from Chancellor Merkel indicating that there will be no “cherry picking”… Read More »
Weekly Geopolitical Report – The 2016 Mid-Year Geopolitical Outlook (June 27, 2016)
by Bill O’Grady As is our custom, we update our geopolitical outlook for the remainder of the year as the first half comes to a close. This report is less a series of predictions as it is a list of potential geopolitical issues that we believe will dominate the international landscape for the rest of the… Read More »
Daily Comment (June 27, 2016)
by Bill O’Grady and Kaisa Stucke [Posted: 9:30 AM EDT] British politics is in deep turmoil. The Labour Party is in disarray after 17 members called for the ouster of party leader Jeremy Corbyn. The Labour leader is deeply unpopular with the MPs but the party faithful adore him. Labour Party officials partly blame Corbyn for… Read More »
Asset Allocation Weekly (June 24, 2016)
by Asset Allocation Committee Last week, St. Louis FRB President Bullard issued a position paper that represents a significant departure from what has been standard policy at the Federal Reserve. Our first hint that something had changed was noticed in the dots chart. First, there were two dots that indicated no change in policy in 2017… Read More »
Daily Comment (June 24, 2016)
by Bill O’Grady and Kaisa Stucke [Posted: 9:30 AM EDT] In a major shock, U.K. voters chose to exit the EU in yesterday’s referendum. The vote, which ran roughly 52/48 in favor of Brexit, defied polls and, for the first time in our experience, the betting pools as well. In the U.K., this is the second… Read More »