The Economist (April 19)
The dollar is meant to be a source of safety. Lately, however, it has been a cause of fear. Since its peak in mid-January the greenback has fallen by over 9% against a basket of major currencies.” Meanwhile, the yield on Treasuries has been rising. “That mix of rising yields and a falling currency is a warning sign: if investors are fleeing even though returns are up, it must be because they think America has become more risky,” which explains the rumors that “big foreign asset managers are dumping greenbacks.”
Tags: Asset managers, Basket, Dollar, Dumping, Falling, Fear, Fleeing, Greenbacks, Investors, Major currencies, Peak, Returns, Risky, Safety, Treasuries, Warning sign, Yields
Professional Pensions (April 17)
“As political tides shift in the US, many firms are pulling back on their DE&I commitments, restructuring or scrapping entire departments in response to legal challenges and cultural pressure. And the ripples are already reaching UK shores.” The appropriate response is not “about virtue signalling, it’s about smart governance.” US backsliding presents “a real, tangible issue that UK organisations, especially those working with global partners, need to pay close attention to.” They should secure their values and their supply chains as Transport for London did “by cutting ties with Accenture … after the consultancy ‘sunset’ key DE&I policies.” TfL disallowed Accenture “from bidding on a creative contract because it no longer met TfL’s diversity criteria, stating ‘We are proud to hold our suppliers to account… making sure they are aligned with our commitments on diversity and inclusivity.’”
Tags: Accenture, Cultural pressure, DE&I commitments, Legal challenges, Political tides, Restructuring, Smart governance, Suppliers, Supply chains, Transport for London, U.S., UK, Values, Virtue signalling
South China Morning Post (April 18)
Japan is viewed as “Southeast Asia’s most trusted partner.” Extending stability, “amid global uncertainty, Japan’s ‘diplomatic consistency’ and pacifist stance solidified its position as the most trusted major power.”
Tags: Diplomatic consistency, Global uncertainty, Japan, Major power, Most trusted partner, Pacifist stance, Southeast Asia, Stability
Bloomberg (April 16)
Investors have learned that “there’s no way to guess what America will do next. With its on-again, off-again tariffs, the US administration has demonstrated a rare and reckless willingness to shock markets.” Given the “radical uncertainty, a financial crisis isn’t out of the question.” It is regrettable “that policymakers need to contemplate a self-inflicted crisis of this kind. But the possibility must be taken seriously. Regulators everywhere should do what they can to be ready.”
Tags: Crisis, Financial Crisis, Investors, Markets, Off-again, On-again, Policymakers, Radical uncertainty, Rare, Reckless, Regrettable, Regulators, Self-inflicted, Shock, Tariffs, U.S.
Washington Post (April 15)
A recession “looks much more likely than it did a few months ago, thanks to the cost and chaos of President Donald Trump’s tariff shock.” With its staggering debt-to-GDP ratio, the U.S. “is ill-positioned to weather another economic storm.” Should Trump’s “punishing tariff policy” lead to recession, “the government might not be able to finance economic relief with cheap debt” as the nation “has depleted its emergency reserves.”
Tags: Chaos, Cost, Debt-to-GDP ratio, Depleted, Economic relief, Economic storm, Emergency, Finance, Government, Punishing, Recession, Reserves, Staggering, Tariff shock, Trump, U.S.
Institutional Investor (April 15)
“Whether passively or actively managed, the REIT industry has not been able to avoid sharp slowdowns every decade or so. In the present downturn, publicly traded REITs can be acquired at a substantial discount to their net asset value. That means it has actually become cheaper to buy real estate through a REIT than to purchase the properties directly.” The sector seems primed for consolidation and “the likely dropouts” include “REITs that took on too much debt when commercial real estate roared ahead and got into trouble when the cycle spun downward.”
Tags: Acquired, Cheaper, Commercial real estate, Consolidation, Cycle, Debt, Discount, Downturn, NAV, Passively. Actively managed, Properties, Real estate, REIT industry, Slowdowns
Fortune (April 14)
“President Donald Trump’s trade war with China could lead to the end of globalization. But it’s not a certainty that the U.S. will emerge as the victor in the new economic world order.” Goldman Sachs posits “the U.S. may find it’s more reliant on China than the other way around.” Chinese imports account for 14% of total U.S. imports. Meanwhile, U.S. exports to China make up only 6% of total Chinese imports. The U.S. is also highly dependent on $158 billion worth of Chinese imports, whereas China’s relies highly on the U.S. for only $14 billion worth of goods. In these cases, the highly dependent import goods account for 70% or more of the market.
Tags: $14 billion, $158 billion, China, Dependent, Economic, Globalization, Goldman Sachs, Goods, Imports, Market, Trade war, Trump, U.S., Victor, World order
Wall Street Journal (April 14)
“The biggest issue in financial markets these days, other than tariffs, is the fate of U.S. dollar assets. Are President Trump’s herky-jerky decision-making and border taxes causing the world’s investors to shy away from the dollar and U.S. Treasurys?” Amid the volatility, that remains to be seen, but any shift would occur “’at the margin’ because the U.S. remains too big a market, and its financial system too liquid, to ignore.” Still, the potential impact should not be dismissed lightly. “Even a modest shift from Treasury bonds” could have enormous repercussions.
Tags: Bonds, Decision-making, Dollar assets, https://www.wsj.com/opinion/is-there-a-new-trump-risk-premium-tariffs-trade-policy-bonds-us-dollar-investing-9bee401d?mod=hp_opin_pos_4#cxrecs_s Financial markets, Impact, Investors, Jerky, Liquid, Margin, Shift, Tariffs, Taxes, Treasurys, Trump, U.S., Volatility
Barron’s (April 13)
“Wall Street chief executives’ cautious-to-downbeat remarks about the economy on Friday stood in contrast with their firms’ first-quarter showings and their outlooks for the rest of the year. JPMorgan Chase +4.00%, Wells Fargo -0.95%, and Morgan Stanley +1.44% reported solid earnings results, while BlackRock +2.33% posted another quarter of record assets.” Investors who were “expecting market-sensitive firms to dial down their earnings forecasts” instead found the firms “left their outlooks largely unchanged.” This could, however, just ”mean revisions are in store for later in 2025.”
Tags: Assets, BlackRock, Cautious, Chief executives, Downbeat, Earnings results, Economy, Forecasts, Investors, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Outlooks, Q1, Remarks, Wall Street, Wells Fargo
Traders Magazine (April 10)
“The push toward 24-hour trading…. is now becoming more pronounced, as major exchanges and trading platforms adapt to the evolving needs of global markets.” Gaining momentum, the transition is driven by “the influx of capital from international markets.” Major exchanges—including the NYSE, NASDAQ, and CBOE—now recognize “the value in extending their market hours.”
Tags: 24-hour trading, Capital, CBOE, Evolving needs, Exchanges, Global markets, Influx, Major exchanges, Markets, Momentum, Nasdaq, NYSE, Trading platforms, Transition
