Reuters (August 24)
The U.S. Federal Reserve “must determine how quickly to get to what they deem a neutral rate, neither depressing nor stimulating economic activity. Investors clearly hope that they prioritize speed.” Chairman Powell has now arrived at “the endgame, when the prospect of success is near at hand but the possibility of failure is at its most dangerous. To save the labor market, the cuts can’t come soon enough.”
Tags: Depressing, Economic activity, Endgame, Failure, Fed, Investors, Labor market, Neutral rate, Powell, Prioritize, Speed, Stimulating, Success, U.S.
Financial Times (August 23)
“Closely watched gauges of long-term inflation expectations in Europe have reached their lowest levels for almost two years, in a sign that investors think central banks can keep lowering interest rates without risking a flare-up in price pressures.” Concerns are also easing in the U.S., with “markets pricing the average long-term inflation rate at 2.4 per cent, down from 2.6 per cent in July.”
Tags: Central banks, Concerns, Easing, Europe, Expectations, Flare up, Inflation, Interest rates, Investors, Price pressures, Risking, U.S.
Bloomberg (August 11)
“Japanese equities shed $1.1 trillion in value as they kicked off August with a record three-day loss.” Having some of the froth knocked off, however, is providing bullish investors with “a fresh reason to buy what has been one of 2024’s hottest trades.”
Tags: $1.1 trillion, 2024, August, Bullish, Buy, Equities, Froth, Investors, Japan, Loss, Reason, Record, Shed, Value
New York Times (July 31)
“The technology sector is facing another rough patch, after Microsoft reported mixed quarterly earnings and its shares tumbled. The company’s results are fueling more concern among investors about whether hefty spending on artificial intelligence will pay off, and how long that might take.” The tech giant, however, is confident that its efforts will pay off.”
Tags: AI, Concern, Confident, Investors, Microsoft, Pay off, Quarterly earnings, Results, Shares, Spending, Technology sector, Tumbled
Market Watch (July 26)
“The selloff in U.S. semiconductor and megacap stocks has sucked up most of investors’ attention over the past couple of weeks. But they aren’t the only momentum trades that have stopped working. Across financial markets, bets that had reliably minted profits all year have come undone in July.”
Tags: Bets, Financial markets, Investors, July, Megacap, Momentum trades, Profits, Selloff, Semiconductor, Stocks, U.S., Undone
Washington Post (July 25)
“Companies are reshaping operations to cope with a changing climate” as climate risks also gain more prominence investment calculations. The month of June was the warmest since records began in 1850” so the “global steam bath” helps explain “why investors, regulators and credit-rating agencies are scrutinizing corporate plans for unrecognized climate risks.”
Tags: 1850, Climate risks, Corporate plans, Credit rating agencies, Investment calculations, Investors, June, Records, Regulators, Scrutinizing, Steam bath
Washington Post (July 4)
“Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock index closed Thursday at a fresh record high of 40,913.65, pushing past its most recent record close set in March on heavy buying of automaker and technology shares…. Both foreign and domestic investors have piled into the Japanese market in recent months even as the economy has slowed.” The weak yen is “part of the attraction…. But changes to investment regulations have also lured many Japanese investors into the equity market.”
Tags: Automaker, Domestic, Economy, Foreign, Heavy buying, Investors, Japan, Market, Nikkei 225, Record high, Shares, Technology, Weak yen
Market Watch (July 1)
“So far, high valuations haven’t dimmed investors’ enthusiasm for stocks,” but there are concerns. The forward price-to-earnings ratio of the S&P500 “currently stands at 21.1, above the 90th percentile from the past 40 years. The S&P 500 is even more richly valued on a trailing 12-month basis. In the past, when valuations have been this stretched, the median one-year forward return for the index has been -4%.”
Tags: 4%, Concerns, Dimmed, Enthusiasm, Forward P/E, Forward return, High, Investors, Rich, S&P 500, Stocks, Stretched, Valuations
Bloomberg (June 17)
“China’s home prices fell at a faster pace in May, as the country’s most forceful efforts to support the property market took time to revive demand.” Existing home values dropped by 1%, “the sharpest decline since at least 2011.” Oversupply is “dragging prices lower, giving people less reason to invest in property.” Meanwhile, “investors and analysts remain skeptical” that the government’s recent measures to revive the sector “will be sufficient” given the “funding revealed so far and the slow progress of existing trial programs in several cities.”
Tags: 2011, Analysts, China, Decline, Existing homes, Home prices, Investors, Lower, May, Oversupply, Prices, Property, Skeptical
Wall Street Journal (June 8-9)
“The recession, predicted by business executives, economists, and investors, refuses to show up. Steady hiring continues to fuel consumer spending and, in turn, an economic expansion unlike any the U.S. has seen. Employers added 2.75 million jobs over the last 12 months,” with an unemployment rate “at or below 4% for 30 months, something that last occurred during the Vietnam War in the late 1960s and the Korean War in the early 1950s.”
Tags: Consumer spending, Economic expansion, Economists, Employers, Executives, Hiring, Investors, Predicted, Recession, U.S., Unemployment rate
