Innovative ETFs

A “boatload” of news this week suggests that the shipping industry continues to look very attractive from an investing point of view. Global cargo carriers are estimated to have recorded $150 billion in profits in 2021, the first time they’ve collectively reached that figure in a single year.

Many analysts project China will soon be larger by GDP than the US—which shouldn’t be so hard with a population four times larger—but it’s not clear to me that China’s seemingly unlimited linear growth will continue three or four more decades. I can remember when the same was said about Japan.

In his renomination hearing, Fed Chair Jerome Powell stressed that the key to maximum sustainable employment and financial stability was keeping inflation low.

Headquartered in Japan, Sysmex is the No. 1 provider of blood diagnostics equipment in the world.

All 2-sigma equity bubbles in developed countries have broken back to trend.

With January being a month for prognostications, David Mann, our Head of Global Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) Capital Markets, shares his annual outlook for the ETF industry and key trends he sees taking shape in 2022.

Now that the Fed has officially stopped referring to inflation as “transitory,” the question is whether they can bring it under control without slowing the economy. In our view, they have the right tools – reducing the balance sheet and raising the fed funds rate – they just need to trust their data and keep a steady hand on the wheel.

Passive ETFs are hiding a bear market in stocks.

Few inventions have touched so many lives as the container.

Today I’ll continue the annual forecast I began last week. New COVID developments are unfolding rapidly. If we’re lucky, they may carve out a nice bookend for us. But my worry is that rather than bookends it could be economicus interruptus. 2019 was not portending the most robust of economies. What if, in Groundhog Day fashion, we end up back where we were?

In an economy where the Fed has lost every systematic tether to common sense, empirical evidence, and concern for financial stability, it’s worth beginning this first market comment of 2022 by recalling the ways we’ve adapted in order to navigate that environment.

Loomis Sayles' Emerging Markets Debt Sector Team share their views on key themes in 2022.

The year ended on a highly upbeat tone for investors as equities rose to new heights against a backdrop of inflation and a prolonged pandemic

Based in Tokyo, Japan, Kurita Water is a global leader in water management and water treatment chemicals.

The global macro environment is ripe for EM assets outperformance as a combination of stronger growth in China, the end of exceptionalism in the US and less uncertainty on US interest rates, lead to a strong backdrop for EM assets.

Long before supply chain issues and soaring consumer prices made the headlines, I warned readers that massive monetary expansion made persistent inflation inevitable.

January market trends historically set the direction for the full year per his title “As January Goes”. Well, so far, not so good!

Some of the most exciting growth areas pertain to strong secular trends, many of which are agnostic to the growth potential of any geographic region.

Most global equity managers today are underweight Japan.

The opening ceremony for the Winter Olympics is just four weeks away, but the athletes have spent years training to ultimately experience either the thrill of victory or the agony of defeat.

Every year around this time, we update our always-popular Periodic Table of Commodities Returns.

This quarter’s strategy report, Forward Thinking 2022.

Rising inflation is troubling bond investors worldwide, but European bond markets will likely experience comparatively weaker inflation pressures and stronger central bank support.

If you have read the Absolute Return Letter for years, you will be aware that the January letter always stands out from the others.

In this issue of Sinology, Andy Rothman explains why China’s 2022 investment environment will be defined by two competing weather patterns.

Few investors would’ve anticipated the very strong returns we’ve seen, particularly in the US market.

Small cap growth stocks lagged for most of 2021 as the market simultaneously dealt with the pandemic, inflation, and tightening Fed policy. Given these challenges, we have been focusing on high quality companies trading at attractive valuations, and we have also been looking at non-technology businesses that are embracing digitization.

Tracy Chen, Portfolio Manager with Brandywine Global, and Tim Wang, Head of Investment Research for Clarion Partners, join Head of the Franklin Templeton Investment Institute, Stephen Dover, to take a closer look at how the pandemic has impacted real estate markets in the United States and China.

What can investors expect this year? Above-trend economic growth, at least two interest rate hikes and continued earnings strength among technology stocks, says Raymond James CIO Larry Adam.

Global equities surged in 2021 during a year full of surprises.

The year ended on a high note for the Dow and S&P 500 despite economic challenges posed by the coronavirus and extreme weather events.

Much like the US Federal Reserve, the International Monetary Fund has subtly expanded its own remit even as it has failed to adjust to changing economic circumstances. And, as with the Fed, higher inflation could deliver a blow to the IMF's reputation – and to the economies the Fund is meant to help.

In 2021, readers of the Investor Alert and Frank Talk were most interested in stories on gold mining, precious metals, natural resources and emerging markets (no surprise). But there was also interest in macroeconomic topics (inflation, mostly) as well as Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.

When the Fed initially starts hiking rates, it is usually during a strongly trending bull market. Much like a car rolling downhill in neutral, tapping the brakes initially doesn’t do much to curb the momentum. However, keep pushing on the brake pedal long enough, and the car will slow to stop. There are two things to take away from the chart below.

In October, we published analysis demonstrating why it’s never too early to sell a bubble. Unsurprisingly, investors still seem reluctant to reduce their bubble exposure, preferring instead to move up in bubble quality.

In his latest report, Dan Suzuki shows that when a bubble collapses, everything in it goes down, including proven leaders and tomorrow's winners, regardless of valuation, beta or quality. Thus, the only way to protect from a bubble is to get as far away from it as you can.

For many Americans, between Christmas presents and their regular Amazon (AMZN) deliveries, the number is high. After all, Amazon delivers over 600 million packages a year. That’s a lot of cardboard. Things are a little different in South Korea. The country’s ecommerce powerhouse, Coupang (CPNG), offers all the perks Amazon does, like free delivery. But it takes a “zero packaging” approach, with 75% of deliveries arriving in reusable packages.