After years of deriding the airline industry, Warren Buffett confirmed this week that his holding company, Berkshire Hathaway, has invested nearly $1.3 billion in four big-name domestic carriers: American, Delta, United and Southwest.
The U.S. bond market has retreated since the election. Long-term yields have risen by almost 40 basis points. It appears that the 30-year-old bull market in bonds is really over.
While the US election uncertainty may finally be behind us, whether and how pre-election rhetoric will ultimately be reflected in policy shifts remains unknown.
We all know that stocks are a leading indicator of economic growth and disappointingly recent breadth measures suggest that economic activity may slow over the next several months.
Is the election of Donald Trump the latest example, following on from the Brexit vote and the success of Bernie Sanders and non-mainstream candidates in Europe, of a global trend in demagoguery and isolationism that will sweep all in its path, including the economies of Asia?
Donald Trump, the first president in U.S. history to gain the presidency without having been previously elected to office or served in the military, is something of an unknown.
The election is over but some uncertainty remains, which means bouts of volatility are likely to persist. The Fed is likely to hike rates in December but uncertainty about the path of rates in 2017 will persist. Additional uncertainty may come from elections around the world, with the potential for a continuation of surprising outcomes that could rattle markets at times.
Like their British counterparts, who voted in June to cut ties with the European Union (EU), American voters resoundingly rejected globalism this week, calling into question the United States’ involvement in military alliances such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)—which is 72 percent funded by U.S. tax dollars--and international trade deals, from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
A mistake many in my profession have made in the past year has been underestimating the difference between overall economic performance and its translation to the fortunes of constituents. This was at the heart of the Brexit vote last June and was the driving force behind yesterday’s U.S. outcome.
As 2016 draws to a close and a Fed hike looms, where should investors hunt for yield now? Terry highlights the case for three income-yielding asset classes.
Franklin Templeton's Asian and European trading desk teams evaluate the aftermath of the US election in a special edition of Notes from the Trading Desk.
As the election results were confirmed late Tuesday night in the United States (around midday Wednesday in Asia), there was a pretty violent reaction in many markets and across asset classes and regions. Michael Hasenstab, CIO of Templeton Global Macro, opines on the drivers and meaning of today’s market twists and turns.
As election results rolled in last night, Dow futures fell as much as 800 points. The knee jerk reaction was that a Trump victory was bad for the financial markets. We disagree. Mr. Trump has the opportunity to cut the burdens of government, which could turn the US economy from a plow horse back into a race horse.
In the movie "Saving Private Ryan," multiple brave soldiers give their lives to save one (the last-surviving of four brothers) in World War II. During a final, chaotic and riveting battle scene, Ryan is miraculously saved, but with tremendous loss of life.
Investors love to toss around fundamental data points that are pretty meaningless without context.
I’m starting this memo a week before Election Day. I promise to try to stay away from the merits of the candidates and the question of who will win, and instead confine myself to the important messages that we should take away from the election and the actions we should push for as a result. The outcome of tomorrow’s election won’t change these things as far as I’m concerned.
A wave of positive economic data suggests the Chinese economy is stabilizing and that business confidence is improving. The country’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI), which measures the health of its manufacturing industry, rose to 51.2 in October, handily beating economists’ estimates of 50.3.
In Shanghai and Singapore, a growing number of joggers take to the streets each day. Asian lifestyles are changing, and smaller companies across the region are the key to investing in the trend.
Borneo is the world’s third-largest island and its equatorial rainforest is home to many species of plants and animals, which attracts tourists from around the world. Borneo also boasts significant power resources, including hydroelectric power, coal and natural gas deposits; liquefied natural gas is a key export.
For much of the second half of the 20th Century, and even into the new millennium, “Globalization” was the dominant theme used to describe the drift of the world economy.
The world will enter a geo-political “recession,” according to Ian Bremmer, resulting in a large list of failed states. The U.S. will be relatively insulated from that crisis, but faces its own challenges driven by globalization and wealth inequality.
We recently had the pleasure of interviewing Frank Holmes, CEO and Chief Investment Officer at U.S. Global Investors. He talks about a seasonal norm he sees playing out in the gold market over the next few months...
A review of the month’s market-moving events across countries and asset classes.
Wasatch Advisors has been investing in India for well over a decade. We hope this paper will illuminate why we remain excited about the investment opportunities there.
Today we’ll look at the remarkable results the Cleveland Clinic has already achieved with its 100,000+ employees and dependents and with numerous corporations they work with. They are making people healthier and reducing medical costs. It is a model that I think could work on a much broader scale.
Although bad for your pocketbook and savings, the possibility of higher taxes is expected to increase interest in tax-free municipal bonds, especially among top earners. For over a year now, muni bond funds have seen positive weekly inflows, with $147 million going in during the week ended October 17. I expect this trend to continue as we head closer to the election, and beyond.
As we look to the fourth quarter of 2016, we believe broader growth trends should be able to withstand the risks outlined here. While growth is slow, context is important.
There seems to be several compelling reasons at the moment to mine developed market Asia for new equity investment ideas.
We all know that the Fed has committed to keeping its balance sheet extraordinary large for as long as they feel the weak economy justifies this accommodating position.
We first discussed the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in January 2014. Both pacts have moved from obscure trade proposals to highly controversial political issues.
Companies in the consumer-related sectors and information technology are particularly attractive to us in the current environment, especially as technology is becoming more integral and competitive in emerging markets.
U.S. investors who buy munis for tax-efficient stability are getting help from an unlikely source — investors abroad.
Regardless of statements about more restrictive trade, it will be very difficult if not impossible for US-Mexico trade to be destroyed since the links are too deep between the two countries.
Last week, in Part I of this study, we examined the four imperatives of American policy with an elaboration of each one. This week, we discuss why each is important.
There’s no other way to say it: Gold had a bad week. On Tuesday alone, the yellow metal fell more than 3 percent, shuffling off $43, in its biggest one-day loss in three years. It broke below the psychologically important $1,300 mark and touched the 200-day moving average before rising again today.