Dueling economic reports whiplashed bond markets on Friday — for all the wrong reasons.
We think 2023 stressed the value of adapting to a new volatile macro regime and leveraging investment insight and structural forces to find opportunities.
Investment bankers must at times bore themselves with their talk of “strong pipelines” and “active conversations,” the ever-present characteristics of even the worst markets.
Federal Reserve policymakers agreed last month that it would be appropriate to maintain a restrictive stance “for some time,” while acknowledging they were probably at the peak rate and would begin cutting in 2024.
US job growth picked up in December and wage gains exceeded expectations, diminishing prospects for a Federal Reserve interest-rate cut in March.
AlphaSimplex Group’s Kathryn Kaminski says her firm closed out a more than two-year short bet against US bonds, with its model signaling that it’s starting to become a time to buy as the market emerges from its worst rout in decades.
The S&P 500 reversed its 2022 losses, and then some, closing the year near a record high.
It’s hard to chart a course through equity markets in times of uncertainty. Here are our thoughts on some of the big questions on investors’ minds today.
Before 2023 began, few saw the rise of interest in investing in Japan, long considered the land that optimistic stock bets go to die.
The key economic question for 2024 is how to think about the interest rate cuts we’re likely to get from the Federal Reserve. Are they good news for the economy as borrowers catch a break, or a sign of impending recession as they were in 2001 and 2007?
The stock market may have started 2024 down, but that doesn’t mean investors have to. Indeed, while the broader market whimpers amid soft China data and still-lingering fear of a slowdown, some areas see major opportunities.
A largely invisible driver of the green transition is rapidly gaining backers among some of the world’s largest investors, even as other climate initiatives falter.
So it was a very strong year for broad equity benchmarks around the world, but it perhaps didn't feel like a great year for many investors. There's economic uncertainty for sure.
As some of you will be aware, we have recently changed our business model, following an approach from a client who encouraged us to invest directly in listed securities on the back of the same seven megatrends that have formed the backbone of the fund investments we have made for years.
As geopolitical tensions spike and interest rates remain elevated, 2024 is poised to be yet another tumultuous year for the world economy. This is especially true for emerging markets, which managed to avert a crisis in 2023 but could struggle to do so again if global growth fails to meet expectations.
Craig Burelle sets the stage for our Sector Outlook blog series with his views on the macro backdrop in 2024.
Recessions are notoriously difficult to predict. At the end of 2019, for example, many pundits were forecasting a recession simply because the boom had gone on for so long.
The dollar kicked off the new year with its biggest daily jump since March as traders pared back bets on the scale of the Federal Reserve’s 2024 interest-rate reductions.
One often-made argument in favor of stocks says investors should dive in before roughly $6 trillion of money-market cash gets redeployed into equity assets globally.
Enthusiasm for Japanese equities picked up in 2023 as evidenced by the 28% rally in the TOPIX (local) index through November.
Here are our 10 themes for 2024. Count on more than a few surprise ingredients throughout the year to spice up the financial markets.
Our current 10-year outlook highlights better opportunities for cash and bonds, primarily driven by higher starting yields, and a steady outlook for stocks.
Confidence in the bond markets is fueling a two-month rally in prices as the capital markets brace for rate cuts in 2024. Whether they happen at a furious pace or not is anyone’s guess, but the expectation of cuts are providing enough spark for the rally.
Bob Doll, CIO at Crossmark Global Investments, provides his annual 10 predictions for financial markets.
While overall economic inflation has slowed over the past 18 months, health insurance costs keep going up.
Economists did not believe it was possible, but they’ve been wrong a lot lately, and in their defense it has only ever happened once (or maybe twice) before: We may be witnessing that rare achievement known as a soft landing.
Here’s a look at some of the biggest winners and losers in 2023, plus a few investments that sat somewhere in the middle.
The surge in consumer prices that drove inflation way past central banker’s targets in recent years triggered a wave of interest-rate hikes.
The US Treasury market posted its first annual gain since 2020 as slowing growth and inflation bolstered views that the Federal Reserve’s campaign of interest-rate increases is likely over.
Banks that rely heavily on lending products for revenue have been hit by higher interest rates. But capital markets expect rate cuts in 2024. That could give bullish vibes for regional banks.
The strongest stock market returns in the coming decade, perhaps longer, are likely to emerge during advances in the S&P 500 that attempt to catch up with the cumulative return of risk-free Treasury bills.
The tide has turned for bonds. Here’s what we think is in store for 2024.
The start of a new year brings a chance for reflection and re-evaluation. For investors, a chance to rebalance. Franklin Templeton ETFs’ Dina Ting and Marcus Weyerer highlight the pitfalls of overweight exposure to mega tech stocks and where in the world to look for diversification in 2024.
Tweedy Browne is one of the most respected value managers. In this wide-ranging interview with its investment team, they explain why the opportunity set they are seeing among stocks is the best in 20-plus years.
With only a week remaining to 2023, the stock market is poised to end the year up a respectable 25% or more. That’s despite a number of significant hurdles, from multiyear-high interest rates to ongoing fighting in Ukraine and the Middle East.
As 2023 comes to an end, let’s revisit the top 10 most-read AP charts of the year.
From the banking crisis to the U.S. debt-ceiling saga, from inflation concerns to recession fears, from soaring bond yields to slowing consumer spending, 2023 had no shortage of issues for investors to worry about.
Ever since the world was hit by a once-in-a-century pandemic, there’s been a lot of talk about “normalization.”
A year of significant monetary policy tightening is coming to a close, making Franklin Templeton Fixed Income optimistic about muni bonds in the year ahead. Get the team’s 2024 muni-bond outlook.
The dollar is poised for its worst year since the onset of the pandemic as Wall Street bets the Federal Reserve is set to lower interest rates after reining in prices.
The year 2023 will be remembered by economists and investors as 365 days of resiliency and defied expectations. This week’s Weekly Economics will dive into the U.S. economic landscape and summarize the major factors that shaped the nation’s economic trajectory this year.
All across Wall Street, on equities desks and bond desks, at giant firms and niche outfits, the mood was glum. It was the end of 2022 and everyone, it seemed, was game-planning for the recession they were convinced was coming.
Aggregate bond benchmarks rebounded this year following some of the worst showings on record in 2022. With heightened expectations that the Federal Reserve could cut interest rates in 2024, fixed income enthusiasm is perking up.
Quarterly commentary giving an overview of the markets and the importance of having and implementing a strategy when investing in the markets.
If 2023 was the year of the “Magnificent Seven,” 2024 may be a year where small-, mid- and large-cap companies will take the spotlight, according to Franklin Equity Group.
The “vibecession” that has confounded economists for the past two years is finally behind us.
Around the world, major cities are struggling with a severe crisis: Housing has become so expensive that it’s repelling skilled workers, undermining growth and even fomenting political extremism.
As we near the end of 2023, Head of Franklin Institute Stephen Dover reviews how his forecasts for the year panned out and shares the themes his team is watching out for in 2024.
The soft-landing scenario that investors see for next year points to further gains in US stocks. But it also dims the prospect of another stretch of wild outperformance for the technology giants that dominated in 2023.
Crypto hedge funds that survived a bruising 2022 are recovering, and many are thriving. Some are even expecting a banner 2024.
