The relative weakness in July’s nonfarm payroll employment number and the increase in the rate of unemployment from 4.1% in June to 4.3% in July, triggering the Sahm Rule is a reminder of the difficult tasks ahead for the Federal Reserve.
The strong currency is neither a blessing nor a curse.
Never before in my history studying the Federal Reserve (Fed) has the Fed’s policy come into question immediately following the Fed decision.
As Milton Friedman taught us many decades ago, monetary policy works with long and variable lags. Recent economic reports suggest that the long and variable lags on the tightening of monetary policy in 2022-23 are starting to come to an end.
Roth conversions, when executed with precision and strategic foresight, can significantly enhance a client’s financial plan.
A recent mid-year strategist pulse check from Natixis revealed where strategists believe the top opportunities exist across markets.
What does a “private equity firm” do? You may not know or care. Yet one of these specialized companies might possibly own your favorite restaurant—or your hospital.
Is this the beginning of the inevitable bear, where these then-most-valuable stocks could get clobbered? Here’s what history teaches us about the current concentrated market and the current correction.
On this episode of the “ETF of the Week” podcast, VettaFi’s Head of Research Todd Rosenbluth discussed the Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta International Equity ETF (GSIE) with Chuck Jaffe of “Money Life.” The pair talked about several topics regarding the fund to give investors a deeper understanding of the ETF overall.
Dollar cost averaging involves committing money to the stock market gradually, rather than all at once. This time spent out of the market leads to lower returns, but also to commensurately lower risk.
In my opinion, the primary reason that yields are too high is a pronounced fear from the Fed and bond investors of another round of inflation. The Fed runs an extraordinarily tight monetary policy to ensure it doesn’t reoccur.
De Leus and Gijsels, both originating in the world of institutional brokerage identify the five principal trends affecting investments in the near future. The two take turns writing chapters so that the book is a straight man/funnyman show, with the straight man providing mostly sound, conventional analysis and the funnyman interviewing dead economists and Fed chairmen not yet born.
The Nasdaq 100 is set for its biggest opening drop in more than four years, with investors bracing for days of volatility amid rising concerns over a slowing US economy and overheated gains in the tech sector.
Global bonds rallied as traders bet the Federal Reserve and fellow central banks will turn more aggressive in cutting interest rates amid mounting concern that economic growth is faltering at a faster pace than expected just weeks ago.
The US stock plunge is vindicating some of Wall Street’s most prominent bears, who are doubling down with warnings about risks from an economic slowdown.
With stock markets plunging around the world, traders are talking up the prospect of an emergency interest-rate cut from the Federal Reserve after the US central bank passed up the opportunity to ease policy last week. Not only is this highly unlikely, it would be counterproductive.
Cryptocurrencies reeled from a bout of risk aversion in global markets on Monday, at one point sending Bitcoin down more than 16% and saddling second-ranked Ether with the steepest fall since 2021.
Economic indicators are released every week to provide insight into the overall health and performance of an economy.
In bullish years, markets often have corrections. Yet, after a lengthy bullish run, it always surprises me how quickly investors and the media panic with the slightest hint of a market pullback.
The Federal Reserve is between the Rock of Gibraltar and the Rocky Mountains. The data they use to explain their policy choices is in apparent transition. A self-aware analyst, seeing the conflicting data, knows that the right policy choice will only be understood in hindsight.
Treasury yields plunged below 4% this week for the first time since January on recession fears as global manufacturing activity contracted and hiring in the U.S. slowed dramatically in July.
When growth slows and rates fall, what will happen to an asset class with long-dated cash flows that are not very economically sensitive? Well, it is likely to strongly outperform. Ergo the short-term outlook for growth relative to value/small caps appear to be rosy.
On July 31, the U.S. Treasury released its most recent Quarterly Refunding Announcement which revealed its financing strategy, presenting both positive and restrictive elements for global liquidity.
The secrets for a blueprint for young investors are: Start young. Be disciplined, do it regularly. Focus on what your needs are and what your goals are.
The members of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) are probably not intimately familiar with Taylor Swift’s back catalogue. If they were, Swift’s hit “Cruel Summer” may have been ringing in their ears when cutting rates today for the first time since March 2020.
Once again, the Fed kept rates unchanged at the July FOMC meeting. As a result, the Fed Funds trading range remains in the 5.25%–5.50% band that was introduced exactly a year ago and still resides at a more than 20-year high watermark.
Advisors and investors that want to try to outperform can still gain some diversification benefits using concentrated ETFs.
Jeff Bezos’ wealth slumped by more than $21 billion after Amazon.com Inc. said it planned to continue spending big on artificial intelligence even at the expense of short-term profits.
Municipal bonds extended their rally on Friday after a lackluster jobs number cemented expectations that the Federal Reserve will start cutting interest rates by the end of its next meeting in September.
While election news dominated July's headlines, small-cap stocks had their best monthly performance relative to large-cap stocks since December 2000.
Wall Street banks are calling for aggressive interest-rate cuts by the Federal Reserve based on the latest evidence that the labor market is cooling.
We have been talking about resiliency-driven inflation for the past several weeks. As the US and its Western allies realign supply chains to strengthen economic resiliency, the cost of certain goods and commodities will go up.
In markets and economics, you sometimes have to hold two thoughts in your head simultaneously — an important lesson on a day in which the US unemployment rate unexpectedly surged to its highest in nearly three years.
Global investors are gobbling up bonds that can be turned into stocks, feeling good about the prospects and return potentials of smaller companies.
Cassandras seldom get opportunities to be right about two disasters. Even the original Cassandra scored no notable victories after predicting the fall of Troy. But when a seer who successfully called one catastrophe warns of another coming, you might want to listen.
Amazon.com Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Alphabet Inc. had one job heading into this earnings season: show that the billions of dollars they’ve each sunk into the infrastructure propelling the artificial intelligence boom is translating into real sales.
The bond-market rally escalated Friday after a report showed that job growth slowed sharply last month, further stoking speculation that the Federal Reserve will start aggressively cutting interest rates to keep the economy from stalling.
The violent rotation from Big Tech plunged the Nasdaq 100 Index into correction territory, wiping out more than $2 trillion in value in just over three weeks, as traders unwound bets that had been minting money for over a year.
Some investors who had previously expressed devotion to the largest digital currency propelled it higher last month.
ETFs had a big July, with some leading strategies lifting their YTD inflow totals behind strong July numbers.
Like you, we have read countless comparisons between today’s enthusiasm for all things AI and the top of the TMT bubble in 2000, with the implication being that stocks are on thin ice.
The central bank’s latest policy statement and Chair Jerome Powell’s remarks suggest that an initial interest rate cut could come as soon as September.
The Federal Reserve noted that inflation is moving closer to its 2% target after electing to hold rates steady at its July FOMC meeting.
The Northern Trust Economics team shares its outlook for growth, inflation and interest rates in major markets.
Coming into this earnings season, one of the most intriguing questions was how well the consumer-facing companies would be able to maintain their pricing power. The new algorithm for success is a bit more complicated than “raise prices by x.”
A fifth of Americans are on the hook for an 833% jump in the cost to ensure the lights stay on. The folks being paid that premium, mostly electricity generators in this instance, face that most welcome of problems: What to do with a windfall.
In this article, Russ Koesterich discusses factors behind gold’s impressive performance year to date.
Economists Stephen Miran and Nouriel Roubini are making waves by suggesting in a paper published last week that the Treasury Department has actively engineered easier financial conditions by increasing the issuance of short-term bills and, consequently, reducing the share of longer-term notes and bonds, thereby keeping yields lower than they would otherwise be.
The Federal Reserve kept its policy rate unchanged at the July meeting, but left the door open to rate cuts later this year.
With tech stocks making up a substantial portion of broad market indexes, investors may wonder what will happen when the tech rally ends.
