Research & News
Daily Comment (June 6, 2016)
by Bill O’Grady and Kaisa Stucke [Posted: 9:30 AM EDT] The big news for today is Chair Yellen’s speech at 12:30 EDT today in Philadelphia. This talk has been widely anticipated but will get even more attention following the much weaker than expected employment report for May, which was released last Friday. Jon Hilsenrath of the… Read More »
Daily Comment (June 3, 2016)
by Bill O’Grady and Kaisa Stucke [Posted: 9:30 AM EDT] The employment data came in with a very negative surprise (see charts below for details). Here are some of the highlights. Non-farm payrolls rose by a mere 38k compared to estimates calling for a 160k rise. The previous month’s numbers were also revised down by 59k;… Read More »
Asset Allocation Weekly (June 3, 2016)
by Asset Allocation Committee The prolonged weakness seen in capital spending is a concern for the economy and equity markets. This chart shows the yearly change in the three-month smoothed non-defense capital goods orders excluding aircraft. The Census Bureau changed how it calculates this series in 1992; we have overlapped the yearly change in the earlier… Read More »
Daily Comment (June 2, 2016)
by Bill O’Grady and Kaisa Stucke [Posted: 9:30 AM EDT] At the time of this writing, ECB President Mario Draghi is holding his press conference. The ECB did give the markets a modest surprise by announcing it will begin buying corporate bonds almost immediately. Policy will remain easy. The EUR has weakened during his comments. At… Read More »
Daily Comment (June 1, 2016)
by Bill O’Grady and Kaisa Stucke [Posted: 9:30 AM EDT] Domestic and European equities are trading lower, following gains in May. While investors are increasingly looking for the Fed to hike rates this summer, domestic equities traded higher over the past month even with a rate hike more likely. Today’s market weakness is likely driven… Read More »
Daily Comment (May 31, 2016)
by Bill O’Grady and Kaisa Stucke [Posted: 9:30 AM EDT] Chinese equities rose sharply overnight as MSCI takes another look at adding this country’s equities to its emerging market indices. In one sense, the exclusion of China’s equities in these key equity indices is hard to justify. After all, China is an important country; its GDP… Read More »
Daily Comment (May 27, 2016)
by Bill O’Grady and Kaisa Stucke [Posted: 9:30 AM EDT] As noted below, Chair Yellen speaks later this morning. This talk has been long awaited; however, we don’t expect too much. In our opinion, Yellen remains dovish and would likely prefer not to move rates this year. However, she does need to maintain control of the… Read More »
Asset Allocation Weekly (May 27, 2016)
by Asset Allocation Committee As promised, this week we will discuss how President Clinton’s policies would likely affect the financial markets. It should be noted that, unlike Mr. Trump, Sen. Clinton has published most of her policy positions. However, there have been apparent shifts in her policy positions as Clinton adjusts her campaign to react to… Read More »
Daily Comment (May 26, 2016)
by Bill O’Grady and Kaisa Stucke [Posted: 9:30 AM EDT] Last week, the finance ministers of the G-7 met; now the leaders are meeting. There is no lack of topics for discussion. Although China isn’t a member, there has been some discussion of China’s activity in the South China Sea. China, of course, suggests that this… Read More »
Daily Comment (May 25, 2016)
by Bill O’Grady and Kaisa Stucke [Posted: 9:30 AM EDT] It was another quiet night for news. EU officials hailed a “breakthrough” in debt talks with Greece. Officials met “into the wee, small hours of the morning”[1] and agreed to release €10.3 bn of new funds to Greece in recognition of the fiscal reforms already made… Read More »