How can credit markets help active investors achieve their goals in the present low yield environment? Here are 5 ideas.
Fed officials project interest rates will be near zero through 2023, as the distribution of the COVID vaccine appears to provide light for the economy in 2021.
December 21st marked the first trading day with Tesla TSLA being included in the S&P 500 Index SPX, as it replaced Apartment Investment & Management Co. AIV. At a market capitalization of over $624 billion, TSLA is the largest company to ever join the S&P 500.
While real return forecasts for broader markets are not particularly promising, there are some pockets that look more attractive than others. As GMO put it in the firm's recent Quarterly Letter, "Value is cheap, no matter where you look."
The U.S. stock market surged in November, erasing October’s losses even amid a rising number of coronavirus infections. Propelled by progress toward potential coronavirus vaccines and hopes for a relatively smooth transition to power for president-elect Joe Biden, major U.S. equity indices closed the month with double-digit gains.
At various points previously, we have discussed the debate regarding active vs. passive management. Proponents of passive management insist that active managers cannot consistently outperform a passive benchmark and therefore investors are better off to invest in lower cost index funds.
More than most years, it’s hard to look ahead to the next year, to 2021, without looking back at 2020. A global pandemic, a massive economic collapse, a bear market, a surprisingly sharp reversal, a hotly contested election where passions ran high, the impact of lockdowns—it was an unusual year of extraordinary challenges.
We highlight the reasons behind our pro-risk stance in our 2021 outlook in the weekly commentary.
Recently we discussed the “rotation trade” and examined the performance of the S&P 500 sectors during shifts from growth to value. Another facet of the rotation trade has been a shift from large cap to small. Today we wanted to examine sector performance in another facet of this rotation – a shift from large cap to small cap.
As we arrived at the beginning of November, much of the investment community had heightened concerns about the prospects for continued domestic equity growth during what was assumed to be a volatile market environment with the potential for a contested US presidential election.
With yields near zero, many investors may question the value of fixed income within a portfolio. Western Asset’s Head of Product Management, Doug Hulsey, joins our Head of Equities, Stephen Dover, to discuss fixed income investing with an active-management lens. He makes a case for the asset class for investors in light of market uncertainties and outlines where he sees opportunities today.
A brief monthly update on what's happening in the municipal bond market.
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, emerging markets have shown a continued appetite for structural reforms that could lay the foundation for lasting economic recoveries, according to our Emerging Markets Equity team.
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the social justice movement, investors are paying much more attention to the social element of ESG -- specifically, how companies treat their employees, respond to political issues, and philanthropic efforts.
The roller-coaster ride of 2020 still has a few twists and turns to navigate. But the massive policy response to the COVID-19 pandemic brought a quick, though incomplete, recovery. With volatility expected to continue, where can investors look for opportunities?
2020 has proven a challenging year for numerous businesses and individuals, Grey Owl Capital Management included. While most domestic stock market indices have fully recovered from the February and March Covid sell-off, many of our accounts are still down slightly on a year-to-date basis through the end of September.
With the economy slowing in September, the battle for a quick rebound may be far from over.
We believe this is the best opportunity set we’ve seen since 1999 in terms of looking as different as possible from a traditional benchmarked portfolio.
When many fixed income investors think about the November US election, they tend to focus on how the presidential and congressional race outcomes could affect national policies. However, our municipal bond team delves into state and local government elections, too. Here, they share their analysis of how election outcomes at all three levels of government could affect muni bonds.
Investors should consider many angles when evaluating what active managers can offer through a global crisis and an indefinite period of uncertainty.
Emerging markets have had different approaches to coping with COVID-19 and are at different stages of recovery. Our emerging markets equity team examines trends, news and data shaping emerging markets in the third quarter, and shares its latest outlook.
There are many benefits of using a rules-based approach using Relative Strength (RS), one of the main cornerstones of our research. Relative Strength, also known as Momentum, is a time-tested investment factor that permeates our work, allowing us to identify where both strength and weakness exists across securities, sectors, and asset classes using just one objective input - price.
Domestic equity markets have certainly shown a significant amount of movement thus far through 2020, with the S&P 500 Index SPX undergoing its swiftest decline from all-time highs in March, only to rally over the next few months to print new all-time highs at the beginning of September.
We continue to experience an unprecedented market environment. We were able to again outperform in the third quarter, aided by the significant repositioning we had done in portfolios amidst the sell-off in March. However, we are wary of the risks to the market rally, including elevated valuation multiples...
The S&P 500 SPX and Nasdaq NASD have recently hit a series of fresh all-time highs and the Dow DJIA now sits less than 2% off of its all-time high which has many people wondering if the market is overbought and due for a correction.
With recently elevated volatility levels some investors are afraid to hold overnight as it’s much harder or not possible to make trades. While it seems intuitive to take risk off the table when there’s not much you can do if things head south, it takes you out of the market when most of the returns are harnessed.
Join us for a series of virtual sessions during the AP Thought Leader Summit 2020, October 6-7, 2020. This FREE event is for financial advisors to learn and earn CE credits for sessions from the industry's most influential thought leaders to help grow and manage their practice. Register here!
Insights into how five COVID-19-impacted sectors are performing—and what the future may hold.
Impact investing in public equities can provide exposure to disruptive innovation and structural growth opportunities that are often overlooked.
Recent history suggests that low—and even negative—yields don’t eliminate the offset to risk assets provided by government bonds.
Fed officials expect rates to remain near zero through 2023; the inflation goal is to now average 2% over time.
The coronavirus shock is accelerating structural trends in inequality, globalization, macro policy and sustainability. This is fundamentally reshaping the investment landscape and will be key to investor outcomes.
In recent years, global equities had slightly outpaced market forecasts for lower equity returns. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit the global economy, putting an end to the 10-year bull market. Equity markets have now started to recover, but the pandemic introduced and exacerbated challenges that we expect to subdue financial market returns over the next five years.
Another market high, with expectations for a “V”accine-shaped recovery.
The Federal Reserve has changed its inflation policy. Here’s what it may mean for markets.
Market update from BlackRock's municipal bond team.
Domestic equity markets have certainly shown a significant amount of movement thus far through 2020, with the S&P 500 Index SPX undergoing its swiftest decline from all-time highs in March, only to rally over the next few months to print new all-time highs at the beginning of September
Emerging markets overall felt a dose of optimism in August amid hopes for a COVID-19 vaccine, continued easy monetary policy globally and improving economic data pointing toward recovery. Our emerging markets equity team breaks down the key trends, news and events it has an eye on, and shares its latest market outlook.
Throughout the second half of 2020, a deterioration within the U.S. Dollar has been among the primary themes in focus, and understanding the Dollar’s impact on the positions in our portfolios is important.
September has historically been one of the weakest months for the S&P 500. The momentum factor, on the other hand, has historically been very strong in September.
Franco-Nevada is the world’s largest gold royalty and streaming company. This means the firm invests in gold and mines, but indirectly, the idea being to provide investors with exposure to gold prices and gold exploration while limiting the risks of investing directly in mining companies.
Join the Nasdaq Dorsey Wright (NDW) analyst team to discuss market developments through a technical lens and highlight areas to monitor in the coming weeks. Topics Include: Updated support levels for the S&P 500 as it hits new all-time highs, timely commentary on the commodities space as it continues to demonstrate strength, and material sector pivots as we near the month of September.
Why there’s still value in a value allocation.
The market continued to get narrower during the month of August. Looking at the Nasdaq US Mid/Large Cap Index, less than 30% of the constituents are outperforming the S&P 500 on a trailing 12 month basis. This is the lowest number we have ever seen since the beginning of the data set in 1989.
Global Business Mobility, defined as GDP-weighted Google geolocation data of workplace less residential mobility for the 24 largest economies in the world, representing over two-thirds of global GDP, remains in decline despite a recent uptick.
Latest insights on the disruptive effects of the pandemic and what those mean for credit.
As a result of the Federal Reserve’s efforts to shore up credit markets, the leveraged credit sector has delivered stellar performance since the lows in March.
