Market Watch (May 5)
“Taiwan’s currency is exploding,” as are fears about the “$767 billion of foreign assets held by Taiwan’s life insurers.” In a “classic case of liability and asset mismatching,” Taiwan’s life insurers “have put their assets into U.S.-dollar-denominated bonds… without hedging the currency risk.” This has resulted in “what’s called a 19-sigma shock,” as the Taiwanese dollar strengthened dramatically, exceeding “the typical move by 19 standard deviations in a world where a 3-sigma event is…. much rarer than even 1 in a trillion.”
Tags: $767 billion, 19-sigma shock, Bonds, Currency, Currency risk, Dollar-denominated, Exploding, Fears, Foreign assets, Hedging, Liability, Life insurers, Mismatching, Taiwan
Business Insider (May 2)
“Investors are on edge as President Donald Trump’s ’America First’ policies seem only to diminish the appeal of US assets, but to famed economist Nouriel Roubini, the fears are overblown.” This may seem surprising for the economist known as ‘Doctor Doom,’ but he is also known a contrarian who now “sees US markets constraining Trump’s most aggressive policies, and ensuring a continuation of American exceptionalism.” He urges investors now to discount the nation’s key advantage: technological leadership.
Tags: Advantage, America first, Appeal, Assets, Contrarian, Diminish, Doctor Doom, Economist, Exceptionalism, Fears, On edge, Overblown, Roubini, Trump, U.S.
Fortune (April 8)
“The U.S. crude oil benchmark temporarily plunged below the stress-inducing $60 per barrel threshold on Monday amid tariff and economic slowdown fears, putting the nation’s record-high volumes of oil production at risk.” After beginning April above $70, oil temporarily dropped below $60 (NYMEX WTI). “Energy analysts see the $60 per barrel price as a key threshold when oil producers scale back activity and, eventually, cut back on production.”
Tags: Analysts, Benchmark, Crude oil, Economic slowdown, Energy, Fears, NYMEX WTI, Plunged. $60/bbl, Producers, Production. Risk, Scale back, Tariff, Threshold, U.S.
Barron’s (March 6)
“The Nasdaq Composite closed in correction territory as Wall Street sold pretty much everything in response to the Trump administration’s latest tariff rhetoric.” Both the S&P 500 and the Dow also dropped amid a tariff saga that has left investors shaking. “The uncertainty surrounding Trump’s tariff plans have caused headaches for market participants. There are also fears among some economists that policy uncertainty will send sentiment falling further until it triggers a recession.”
Tags: Correction territory, Dow, Economists, Fears, Headaches, Investors, Market participants, Nasdaq, Recession, S&P 500, Sentiment, Sold, Tariff, Trump, Uncertainty, Wall Street
Barron’s (March 6)
“The Nasdaq Composite closed in correction territory as Wall Street sold pretty much everything in response to the Trump administration’s latest tariff rhetoric.” Both the S&P 500 and the Dow also dropped amid a tariff saga that has left investors shaking. “The uncertainty surrounding Trump’s tariff plans have caused headaches for market participants. There are also fears among some economists that policy uncertainty will send sentiment falling further until it triggers a recession.”
Tags: 2020, Capitulation, Escalation, Fears, Havoc, Market, Panic selling, Recession, Sparking, Stocks, Tariffs, Trade war, Trump, U.S., VIX, Volatility, Worst week, Wreaked
Barron’s (January 26)
“A chilling effect has spread throughout the Communist Party ranks as President Xi Jinping intensifies his crackdown on corruption. Those fears are beginning to extend into China’s business world” where the private sector is increasingly “nervous because of the size and scope of Xi’s campaign to rid insubordination or perceived enemies throughout the government and public sector.” In 2024, the campaign’s scope expanded by roughly 46%, with authorities disciplining 889,000 people, “the highest annual total since the party began releasing such data nearly 20 years ago.”
Tags: Authorities, Chilling, China, Communist party, Corruption, Crackdown, Disciplining, Enemies, Fears, Government, Insubordination, Nervous, Private-sector, Xi
Reuters (January 18)
The anticipated “mega-merger boom threatens a shareholder bloodbath.” As global conditions improve and central banks cut borrowing costs, mega-deals are expected to proliferate. An expected lighter regulatory touch will provide extra momentum. Based on past results, however, “when acquisitions reach $10 billion or more… the worst fears of shareholders are often confirmed.” Large acquirers generally end up trailing industry peers by 5% in median annualized total return.
Tags: Acquirer, Acquisitions, Bloodbath, Boom, Borrowing costs, Central banks, Expected, Fears, Lagging, Mega-merger, Momentum, Regulatory, Shareholder
Barron’s (September 4)
“Oil prices fell below $70 a barrel on Wednesday despite reports that OPEC+ nations are considering delaying a planned oil output hike in October.” One of the main drivers was ”weakening demand from China.” Other factors included the situation in Libya and “fears about a weakening U.S. economy.”
Tags: 70, Barrel, China, Delay, Fears, Libya, October, Oil prices, OPEC, Output hike, U.S., Weakening, Weakening demand
CNN (June 17)
“Mexico is enduring its most expansive and severe drought since 2011, affecting nearly 90% of the country. Water has become an increasingly fraught topic, with fears cities — including Mexico City — could be barreling toward a ‘day zero,’ on which water runs dry.”
Tags: 2011, Cities, Day Zero, Drought, Dry, Enduring, Expansive, Fears, Mexico, Mexico City, Severe, Water
ABC New (December 26)
Due to unexpectedly high migration, “fears that Australia would enter a technical recession during 2023 didn’t eventuate.” Still, “for many, life in 2023 certainly felt recession-like as Australians faced more interest rate hikes, a rising tax bill and a still-increasing cost of living that again outpaced wage growth.”
Tags: 2023, Australia, Australians, Cost of living, Fears, Interest, Migration, Outpaced, Rate hikes, Tax bill, Technical recession, Wage growth
