American Banker (August 2)
“Investors were in a sour mood Wednesday after Fitch Ratings downgraded the U.S. government’s credit rating, but analysts expect the firm’s action to have little long-term impact on banks. The markets didn’t exactly shrug off the downgrade…. But the main point made by Fitch’s action — that the U.S. political system is messier than it used to be — is one that analysts say has long been obvious to investors.”
Tags: Analysts, Banks, Credit rating, Downgraded, Fitch, Impact, Investors, Markets, Messier, Political system, Sour mood, U.S. Government
Insider (August 2)
“Fitch shocked the markets when it cut the US government’s credit score Tuesday at a time when the economy appears to be in a stable state.” The downgrade from AAA to AA+ has been widely criticized, “from top Biden administration officials to Wall Street,” with “market thinkers” labelling it “bizarre,” “puzzling,” “unwarranted,” “strange” “inept” and “ridiculous.”
Tags: AA+, AAA, Bizarre, Credit score, Criticized, Downgrade, Economy, Fitch, Inept, Markets, Puzzling, Shocked, Stable, Strange, U.S. Government, Unwarranted, Wall Street
Financial Times (February 7)
“Investors are befuddled. Until a clear narrative on how the economy will fare emerges, markets will continue to whipsaw…. Markets are still digesting what it means for the US economic outlook, with a hard, a soft, and even a “no landing” scenario on the table, which have varying implications for investors and their positioning.”
Tags: Befuddled, Economy, Hard, Implications, Investors, Landing, Markets, Narrative, Outlook, Scenario, Soft, U.S., Whipsaw
Seeking Alpha (January 22)
“For 2022, the hedge fund industry experienced the largest net asset outflow in six years as investors steered clear of active managers against a backdrop of exceptionally volatile and depreciating markets.” Capital outflows exceeded $55 billion, still considerably short of the $70 billion withdrawn in 2016.
Tags: $55 billion, 2022, Active managers, Capital, Depreciating, Hedge-fund, Investors, Markets, Net asset, Outflow, Volatile
Financial Times (January 14)
“Since the Bank of Japan stunned markets by widening the band of its yield curve control (YCC) policy on December 20, markets feel things are now moving tectonically for one of the developed world’s most unorthodox financial regimes.” At long last, the ‘widow-maker’ trade “is making money. On Friday and for the first time in almost a decade, yields on the benchmark 10-year JGB rose to 0.53 per cent and, critically, outside the BoJ’s target band in defiance of its ever more desperate efforts to fight the market.”
Tags: 10-year, Benchmark, BOJ, Control, Defiance, Desperate, Financial regimes, JGB, Markets, Target band, Widow-maker trade, Yield curve, Yields
Wall Street Journal (October 16)
“Stocks slumped most of last week. Then they unexpectedly surged Thursday, only to tumble again Friday.” The wild swings may be driven by “a classic bear-market rally: a case of beaten-down markets temporarily bouncing higher, only to resume selling off.”
Tags: Bear-market rally, Bouncing higher, Markets, Selling off, Slumped, Stocks, Surged, Tumble, Unexpectedly, Wild swings
Bloomberg (September 26)
“Asian markets risk a reprise of crisis-level stress as two of the region’s most important currencies crumble under the onslaught of relentless dollar strength. The yuan and yen are both tumbling due to the growing disparity between an uber-hawkish Federal Reserve and dovish policy makers in China and Japan.”
Tags: Asia, China, Crisis, Crumble, Currencies, Disparity, Dollar, Dovish, Fed, Hawkish, Markets, Onslaught, Relentless, Risk, Stress, Tumbling, Yen, Yuan
Investment Week (August 23)
In early August, the Bank of England predicted “increased gas prices would cause inflation to rise above 13% by the end of the year.” The consensus is worse. “Goldman Sachs and EY forecast UK consumer price inflation would reach 15%, and Bank of America projected it would peak at 14% in January.” Citi bank has gone further and “riled markets” by forecasting “UK CPI to hit 18.6% in January… beating the 1979 peak when CPI hit 17.8% following the OPEC oil shock.” A recession looks all but inevitable.
Tags: Bank of America, BOE, Citi bank, Consensus, CPI, EY, Forecast, Gas prices, Goldman Sachs, Inflation, Markets, Oil shock, OPEC, Peak, Recession, UK
Market Watch (June 27)
“Stock futures are inching higher at the start of the week as investors seemingly cling to newfound optimism that a bond rout is ending, and the Fed’s rate-hike plans will get pruned due to a global slowdown.” There are, of course, no shortage of issues like surging inflation, but Brynne Kelly suspects “the next black swan for markets could be failing power grids and electricity shortages.” These could prove “catastrophic” as we move into the “height of the summer cooling season amid rising temperatures.”
Tags: Black swan, Bond rout, Catastrophic, Electricity, Fed, Inflation, Investors, Kelly, Markets, Optimism, Power grids, Rate hike, Shortages, Slowdown, Stock futures, Summer
Reuters (June 13)
Despite tensions with the North, things are “upbeat” in Seoul. “Compared to pre-pandemic times, the capital city feels richer and more vibrant. A recent boom in local stocks, cryptocurrencies and real estate have spurred the city’s elite, unable to travel, to flex their wealth at home…. Luxury sales topped $14 billion in 2021, making South Korea one of the few markets worldwide to surpass 2019 levels.”
Tags: Boom, Cryptocurrencies, Elite, Luxury sales, Markets, North Korea, Pre-pandemic, Real estate, Richer, Seoul, Stocks, Tensions, Travel, Upbeat, Vibrant, Wealth
