Price action in some of the world’s most risk-sensitive assets is signaling concern that the Federal Reserve’s decision to begin lowering interest rates may have been premature — or unsustainable.
Benchmark Treasury yields may soon hit a key level on the back of rising inflation expectations and concerns over US fiscal spending, according to T. Rowe Price.
With the presidential election less than a month away, and the two candidates running head-to-head in the polls, there is certainly a lot of uncertainty in the markets.
The tendency to blindly follow these rules has led investors towards prematurely de-risking and over-estimating the likelihood of recession.
Markets changed character to broad-based optimism relating to the economy. The economic picture began to come into focus with inflation continuing to moderate as the economy maintains steady growth and employment. The result was a stark turnaround for economically integrated or interest rate sensitive assets, which resulted in a great quarter for diversified multi-asset portfolios. New Frontier sets a major milestone in Q4, marking 20 years of investing at the end of October.
We’ve had several weeks of strong data since the Federal Reserve cut policy rates by a half percentage point. It started with a surprisingly robust jobs report, followed by a janky and above-expectations inflation report.
Fed easing cycles and lowered target interest rates impact various economic sectors, such as mortgages, consumer credit and cash investments.
The unwinding of positions in Treasury futures stands to rekindle a popular bond-market wager that’s been burned as traders pare back expectations for aggressive Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts.
US mortgage rates rose sharply for a second straight week, reaching the highest level since early August while prompting steep declines in both home-purchase and refinance activity.
In this article, Russ Koesterich discusses gold may continue to serve as a store of value in the current environment.
As the Fed begins cutting rates, October’s surprisingly strong US employment report only adds to the data pointing to a soft landing, despite lingering concerns of a downturn. We expect the economic expansion to continue, which has important implications for multi-asset strategies.
When inflation begins to upend financial markets, as it has over the past few years, it represents a tremendous disruption.
Has the Federal Reserve achieved an economic "soft landing"? A resilient U.S. economy suggests it may have.
The $20 billion club is a group of pension plans near $20 billion and more in global pension liability. We have been reporting on this group since 2011.
Agency REITs are not for buy-and-hold investors. They tend to perform well in specific economic and interest rate environments and poorly in others. I believe the current bullish steepening shift in the yield curve could offer investors opportunities with the agency REIT sector.
U.S. stocks have handily outperformed their global peers over the past few decades, as well as in the post-World War II period. We document the scale of the outperformance and ask whether it can continue.
Bond investors are going on defense as the outlook for the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate cutting path turns more uncertain.
Take a snapshot of markets right now, and it’s a picture of health. Stocks are at records, corporate bonds show no signs of worry and commodities remain buoyant on global economic optimism.
On this episode of the “ETF of the Week” podcast, VettaFi’s Head of Research Todd Rosenbluth discussed the Neuberger Berman Option Strategy ETF (NBOS) with Chuck Jaffe of Money Life. The pair discussed several topics related to the fund to give investors a deeper understanding of the ETF overall.
Everything I’ve learned and experienced in 50+ years of watching the economy tells me not to expect a soft landing. But maybe that’s because I’ve never actually seen one.
For decades, a key component of many investors’ portfolios was a fixed income ladder. It was intended to provide ballast to the more volatile equity allocation and help reduce interest-rate risk.
Commodity returns are hard to predict, yet all commodities have something in common—prices that tend to return to their long-run average, a characteristic described as mean reversion. For investors, this behavior could offer an exciting opportunity to improve long-term performance potential.
In the past few years it certainly has been. No wonder.
Credit indices rallied during the third quarter, despite a variety of economic headwinds, and it appears FOMO (fear of missing out) is fueling the bullish sentiment more than fundamentals.
The bond market is growing less convinced by the day that the Federal Reserve will embark on two further interest-rate cuts this year.
VettaFi looks at midstream/MLPs by subsector and underlying trends driving strong performance through the first three quarters of 2024.
Quarterly recap: Fed rate cut and Chinese stimulus take the spotlight.
Foreign investors have been buying more US corporate bonds, a trend that will likely continue as Federal Reserve monetary easing lowers the cost of hedging and investors hunt for yield.
After the Fed's 50-basis-point rate cut, big banks kick off earnings season amid fears that lower rates could hurt the net-interest income that propelled growth the last two years.
With storm clouds forming above equities and fixed income markets, is now the right time for institutions to grab their private credit labeled umbrella?
In the wake of pandemic shocks, economies appear more “normal” than at any time since 2019. Yet policy rates remain elevated.
Supply chain disruptions related to the port workers’ strike loom, the impacts of which we know can be incredibly destructive.
Long-term US Treasury yields rose last week as investors digested mixed economic data that reinforced the idea of a "Goldilocks" economy.
The puck has certainly moved since our last market commentary. This month, we argue that the needle on portfolio construction should move with it. Equities have been the driver of returns for much of the last few years.
Alpha (α) is a fundamental yet poorly understood concept in finance. Simply put, it is the difference between the return of an investment and that of a risk-adjusted benchmark. In a more advanced definition, alpha is the residual in an asset pricing equation (see Appendix A). Alpha is what active managers strive to achieve and passive managers do not pursue.
A return to lower yields has been every bond fund manager's dream since the nightmare of 2022. But now, with expectations dashed that they’d get their wish this year, it appears they’ll have to hang their hopes on 2025.
Underlying US inflation rose more than forecast in September, representing a pause in the recent progress toward moderating price pressures.
Real estate stocks are notoriously rate-sensitive assets. It’s not surprising the delivery of the rate cuts were beneficial to the sector.
A crystal ball enlightening a trader about the rate cut headlines would have been costly. However, a trader with the crystal ball and proper context may have been more successful.
The rout in US government debt extended slightly on Tuesday, with longer-dated yields at the highest levels since late July and inflation data later in the week expected to enable Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts.
US investment-grade corporate bond spreads have narrowed to the lowest level in more than three years, a clear sign of just how bullish credit investors are even as macro and geopolitical risks mount.
Just like road trips can bring unexpected detours, the economy and financial markets are at their own crossroads: recession or soft landing?
We bring together historical and real-time analysis for insight into the economy, markets, and potential alpha opportunities and risks we’re watching.
In the 1989 blockbuster Back to the Future II, time travel enables Michael J. Fox’s nemesis, Biff, to become a gazillionaire by bringing an almanac with sports match outcomes back from the future. We thought it might be instructive, and certainly entertaining, to make a less fanciful version of this dream a reality – for a few lucky people.
The outlook for corporate debt is improving now that the Federal Reserve has begun cutting interest rates, according to the latest Bloomberg Markets Live Pulse survey.
The “no landing” scenario – a situation where the US economy keeps growing, inflation reignites and the Federal Reserve has little room to cut interest rates – had largely disappeared as a bond-market talking point in recent months.
t.
How will the U.S. dollar respond to Federal Reserve rate cuts? The factors that have supported a strong dollar for years remain largely intact.
We are currently in the “everything market.” It doesn’t matter what you have probably invested in; it is currently increasing in value. However, it isn’t likely for the reasons you think. A recent Marketwatch interview with the always bullish Jim Paulson got his reasoning for the rally.
As we approach the final stretch of 2024, much of the nation’s focus is on the upcoming U.S. presidential election. But while the political landscape remains uncertain, the markets are painting a different picture. September, traditionally a sluggish month for global equities, delivered an unexpected surge.
Traders slashed their bets on the pace of future Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts after September US employment data blew past estimates and signaled a robust hiring trend.