Institutional Investor (April 14)
In the U.S., “freakishly mild meteorological conditions this winter gave a major boost to the economy, which otherwise would likely have contracted in the first quarter. Moreover, the weather has set investors up for a shock.” With a return to the recessionary trend likely during the second quarter, there will be “exaggerated drops from the weather-boosted first-quarter figures.”
Tags: Economy, Exaggerated, Investors, Meteorological conditions, Recessionary trend, U.S., Weather, Winter
Institutional Investor (April 10)
“Despite a turbulent few years…. the auto industry retains its role as a bellwether of the global economy. Thus, recent findings that environmental factors are increasingly shaping the future prospects for many automakers will have profound implications for investors.” Increasingly those car makers taking “climate factors the most seriously are the best set for future growth.” Investors should take note that “policy responses to climate change are driving technological disruption that will have serious investment implications across many sectors.”
Tags: Automakers, Bellwether, Climate change, Disruption, Economy, Environmental factors, Future prospects, Growth, Investors, Turbulent
Wall Street Journal (March 23)
“A majority of the board has been in place for at least 10 years” at nearly a quarter of the largest companies in America. This is prompting investor concerns. “Long-tenured directors can offer companies institutional memory and deep insight into company operations across a variety of economic and competitive environments…. Yet some investors worry that longtime board members may grow too close to the companies and management teams they are supposed to oversee, and lack the critical eye and fresh ideas that newer directors likely bring.”
Tags: Board, Concerns, Critical eye, Directors, Fresh ideas, Insight, Institutional memory, Investors, Management, Operations, U.S.
Bloomberg (March 7)
“After Japanese stocks capped their best three weeks since 2014, investors see plenty of reasons to believe the rally will stick.” Since Feb. 12, Japan has been “the world’s best-performing developed equity market.”
Tags: Best-performing, Equity market, Investors, Japan, Rally, Stocks
Institutional Investor (February Issue)
“In this era of globalization 50,000 ships carry 90 percent of the $18.5 trillion in annual world trade” and this is causing investors to take note. One firm named CargoMetrics now seeks to “map historically and in real time what’s really going on in economic supply and demand across the planet” with the goal of being “able to automatically profit from spotting any publicly traded security that is mispriced.” To do this, they are utilizing historical cargo data and the global automatic identification system that vessels of 300 gross tons or more are required to use for collision prevention.
Tags: Cargo, CargoMetrics, Collision prevention, Data, Globalization, Identification, Investors, Mispriced, Profit, Ships, Supply and demand, World trade
Bloomberg (February 12)
The Bank of Japan’s “decision to adopt negative interest rates has failed to rein in the currency’s advance.” In part, this is because money managers are advising wealthy families to favor the yen amid the turmoil in global financial markets. As a result, the yen is outperforming “all 31 other major currencies this year as Japan’s current-account surplus makes it attractive for investors seeking a haven.
Tags: Attractive, BOJ, Currency, Current-account, Haven, Interest rates, Investors, Japan, Money managers, Outperforming, Turmoil, Wealthy, Yen
Institutional Investor (February 6)
“Markets across much of Asia, including in China and Korea, will be closed in observance of Lunar New Year this coming week, providing a break for investors concerned over cooling growth in China.”
Tags: Asia, China, Cooling growth, Investors, Korea, Lunar New Year, Markets
Financial Times (January 29)
Though the Zika virus has been present in Africa since at least 1947, it only “arrived in South and Central America over the past two years and is now proliferating rapidly.” In addition to alarming the World Health Organization with its explosive growth, Zika has investors worried. “Shares in cruise operators and airlines took a hit on Thursday amid growing concerns that the virus could dissuade tourists from heading to the Caribbean.”
Tags: Africa, Airlines, Caribbean, Cruise operators, Investors, Proliferating, South America, Tourists, WHO, Zika
Reuters (January 29)
“The Bank of Japan unexpectedly cut a benchmark interest rate below zero on Friday, stunning investors with a move aimed at shielding the country’s sluggish economy from volatile markets and slowing global growth.”
Tags: Benchmark, BOJ, Economy, Growth, Interest rates, Investors, Unexpected, Volatility
Bloomberg (December 10)
“Investors betting that China’s near-insatiable appetite for industrial raw materials will drive global economic growth may want to skip the shipping news. For the first time in at least a decade, combined seaborne imports of iron ore and coal — commodities that helped fuel a manufacturing boom in the world’s second-largest economy — are down from a year earlier.”
Tags: China, Coal, Commodities, Global economic growth, Imports, Investors, Iron, Manufacturing, Ore, Raw materials, Shipping