Franklin Templeton Fixed Income believes investing in companies promoting gender equality and diversity can lead to inclusivity and strong financial returns. Despite the persistent gender gap, there's an increase in women in leadership roles, positively impacting financial performance, corporate governance and crisis resilience.
Enthusiasm for structural reforms is only going to wane.
U.S. equity-market leadership reversed course during the third quarter of 2024, with small cap stocks outperforming their large cap counterparts and the value factor beating the growth factor.
As you know, economists are normally criticized and accused of being ‘two-handed.’ This is because when we talk, we typically say, “on the one hand, and on the other hand.” Many argue that we are hedging our bets and lack the spine to take a position. While we disagree with that simplistic view of our job, we can understand why we are accused of being ‘two-handed.’
Last week's jobs report hit a "sweet spot" for the markets, confirming enough economic cooling to signal potential Fed rate cuts without yet sparking fears of a recession. I expect a 25-basis-point cut from the Fed this week and Powell may set us up for a data-dependent pause in December.
Treasuries fell as a strong report on services ahead of Thursday’s Federal Reserve interest-rate decision added to volatility around the US election.
A visit to the annual Bogleheads conference got Elm Wealth's Victor Haghani thinking about static vs. dynamic asset allocation.
Brandywine Global: With the US election imminent, looking past heightened emotions and uncertainty to the potential economic and market impacts can be difficult. But election rhetoric eventually meets reality.
Consistent communication through market events is vital for advisors concerned about client retention.
Stocks and yields made slight early gains but attention is mainly on today's U.S. election. ISM Services data and a 10-year note auction lie ahead, and bond volatility is high.
Even for dedicated investors, Social Security retirement benefits can be an important part of their financial security.
As we think about investing around a historic election, establishing what we know, what we need to know, and what we can count on is a useful foundation for navigating the uncertainty.
Politicians often promise to cap prices, but success is unlikely and would result in worse outcomes.
After driving Treasury yields higher for weeks, traders are taking chips off the table before the US election, reluctant to take bold bond bets with the presidential race too close to call.
Treasury yields fell sharply and the dollar weakened as investors pared bets on Republican Donald Trump prevailing in Tuesday’s US election.
Protect yourself with Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS), precious metals, certain real estate like farmland, and other real assets.
Legendary investors Paul Tudor Jones and Stan Druckenmiller are short bonds. You might want to carefully consider the data before you follow their lead.
Anyone else ready for the election to be over? This uncertainty is exhausting, no matter how you want it to end. But sadly, it won’t really end. We will just transition to a different uncertainty over what will happen next. I will offer my thoughts on the election at the end of this letter, after setting the stage.
In his 2022 Berkshire Hathaway shareholder letter, Warren Buffett wrote that in his 80 years of investing, he had “yet to see a time when it made sense to make a long-term bet against America.”
Here we are, another calendar quarter down with one more to go in 2024, and investors have yet to see a “hard landing” emerge.
The Treasury yield curve is an important economic indicator that, depending on its shape, can signal changes in market expectations and provide economic insight.
The Northern Trust Economics team shares its outlook for growth, inflation and interest rates in major markets.
Get ready to ‘roll back’ the clocks! That’s right, Daylight Savings Time (DST) ends this weekend. This twice-a-year ritual is followed by every US state (except Arizona and Hawaii) and nearly 70 countries across the globe, but not everyone supports it.
The Fed lowered rates last month, so why are interest rates higher? More context helps clarify the disconnect between the Fed and the market.
The high cost of housing is prompting many individuals to consider downsizing, but advisors recommend gradually reining in spending habits.
The most common questions we’ve been asked as the election approaches are generally about the Federal debt and deficits. Many investors worry about a looming “day of reckoning” for US debt. They fear the US’s fiscal imprudence will eventually force a sudden and dramatic repricing of US debt. In this insight, we explore the modern history of US debt to GDP across several Presidential administrations and outline why investors should not be worried about a financial apocalyptic abyss.
I was emailed several times about a recent Morningstar article about J.P. Morgan’s warning of lower forward returns over the next decade. That was followed up by numerous emails about Goldman Sachs’ recent warnings of 3% annualized returns over the next decade.
The Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of underlying US inflation posted its biggest monthly gain since April, bolstering the case for a slower pace of interest-rate cuts following last month’s outsize reduction.
Equities continued to climb in Q3, with fixed income remaining steady despite international conflicts, inflationary pressure, and election-related uncertainty in the United States.
Derivatives are complex financial instruments with associated risks, costs, and potential payoffs.
Integrating the physical toll of climate change helps investors spot key risks—and opportunities.
In a corner of the credit market that regulators last year characterized as a potential hot-bed of greenwashing, there are signs that bankers have been cracking down on corporate pitches.
Gold rose to a record on Wednesday on haven demand before the US election, and held a narrow gain after jobs and GDP data that showed the ongoing resilience of the US economy.
I’ve identified long-term care as the greatest unsolved challenge in the field of goals-based retirement investing. This doesn’t make me Sherlock Holmes. Anyone who has requested a quote for LTCI knows we’ve got a problem.
State and municipal budgets are adjusting to life after pandemic interventions.
To paraphrase Milton Friedman: There are four ways in which you can spend money. You can spend your own money on yourself. You can spend your own money on somebody else. You can spend somebody else’s money on yourself. Finally, you can spend somebody else’s money on somebody else.
Throughout history one of the most significant features of the global business cycle is the synchronization of individual country economies.
Despite recent headwinds from a strong U.S. dollar, EM local currency bonds present a compelling investment opportunity.
The US presidential election Nov. 5 is shaping up to be the mother of event risks so you’d think the safest of all havens would be holding up. But it’s not — and that’s only one of the notable anomalies springing up in financial markets. Yields on 10-year US Treasuries have risen nearly 70 basis points since the Federal Reserve's punchy half-point initial rate cut on Sept. 17.
This week’s economic indicators continue to reflect a resilient U.S. economy despite the ongoing pressure from higher interest rates. Jobless claims dropped to 227,000, indicating a steady labor market. Durable goods orders came in strong, aligning with estimates, and GDP growth for Q3 is expected to come in between 3% and 3.25%, a robust figure by most standards.
The long and winding road to one of the most unusual presidential elections in history is coming to an end – with Election Day now just 11 days away.
Director of Investment Strategies Shailesh Kshatriya unpacks the potential factors driving the sharp increase in U.S. Treasury yields. He also provided an update on Q3 earnings season and the Bank of Canada’s latest decision on rates.
An independent central bank supports better economic and market outcomes.
Annuity owners value the financial security that guaranteed lifetime income provides.
Normalization seems to be in its final stage, with the Fed expected to continue cutting rates.
Memory inflation of past events amplifies one's emotions and behaviors. As I will discuss, I believe that distress from recent price inflation is causing many investors to overly fear that a similar situation will reoccur.
Bitcoin traders are targeting the $70,000 price level last reached in June once again after cryptocurrencies briefly dipped across the board late Friday and US exchange-traded funds continued to see steady inflows.
The third quarter of 2024 saw a clear reversal in market leadership, with the Low Volatility and High Dividend factors performing the best while the Momentum and Growth factors performed the worst.
Although Americans say they don’t like paying the current level of prices for goods and services that resulted from the worst bout of inflation in 40 years, they can take comfort from the fact that those prices, while admittedly not coming down in most cases, are actually becoming more affordable.
Talking and exchanging communication with advisors and clients over the last several years has shown that many of them are concerned about the fiscal path of this country and the consequences it is having on our debt.
