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
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.
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
Washington Post (April 9)
“Trump grabbed a life preserver. In announcing a 90-day pause on most tariffs… he acknowledged, however reluctantly, the harsh realities of economics, foreign policy and domestic politics.” While the pause is “indeed worth rejoicing,” it is only a partial pause as the trade war continues with China. “Investors, business and consumers will still be living with uncertainty. For the long term, Trump and his team are well advised to come up with a less volatile economic strategy.”
Tags: Business, China, Consumers, Economic strategy, Economics, Foreign policy, Investors, Lfe preserver, Partial, Pause, Politics, Realities, Tariffs, Trade war, Trump, Uncertainty, Volatile
The Atlantic (April 7)
“In his quest to make America great, President Donald Trump is withdrawing the United States from global trade. American families, companies, and investors will pay a price for this…. But the repercussions don’t end there. The tariff regime is also destroying a pillar of American global power, and it will further isolate the country at a moment when others stand ready to fill the vacuum.”
Tags: Companies, Destroying, Families, Global power, Global trade, Investors, Isolate, Price, Repercussions, Tariff regime, Trump, U.S., Vacuum, Withdrawing
Barron’s (March 31)
“AI has yet to cure cancer or drive a car cross-country. But it has upended corporate strategy and spending plans, and opened the door to an age of rapid problem solving, enhanced productivity, and machine-driven creativity.” Still, it’s unclear where AI’s potential leads. “The AI hype cycle has entered a new phase, with investors looking for a payoff. As some of the early enthusiasm fades, tech stocks have entered a correction.”
Tags: AI, Cancer, Car, Corporate strategy, Correction, Creativity, Cure, Enhanced productivity, Enthusiasm, Hype, Investors, Payoff, Potential, Problem solving, Spending plans, Tech stocks, Unclear, Upended
Institutional Investor (March 27)
Private equity funds just have too much money: They are struggling to find potentially profitable investments, can’t sell companies they already own, and are being pressured by exasperated limited partners.” The buyout industry holds “$1.2 trillion in unspent capital… and 24 percent of that total has been held for four years or longer.” Buyout funds are simultaneously “having trouble selling the companies they already own,” with fully “$3.6 trillion of unrealized value in some 29,000 unsold companies in the funds’ portfolios.” The massive overhang “is leading investors to slam shut their pocketbooks to new funds.”
Tags: Buyout industry, Exasperated, Investors, Money, Overhang, Partners, Portfolios, Pressured, Private equity, Profitable investments, Struggling, Unrealized value, Unsold companies, Unspent capital
Institutional Investor (March 12)
“February was a disaster for many biopharma, life sciences, and other health care hedge funds. Most lost money, several by double-digit rates, and as a result were in the red heading into March.” Whether the Trump administration will “slow down or pause the approval process for drugs currently in development” is making investors “jittery.” On top of that, “the stock market’s general volatility and sell-off have been especially rough on fledgling companies with little or no revenue and earnings — including this sector — exacerbating investor concerns.”
Tags: Approval process, Biopharma, Development, Disaster, Drugs, February, Health care, Hedge funds, Investors, Jjittery, Life sciences, Sell-off, Stock market, Trump administration, Volatility
Wall Street Journal (March 10)
Mr. Trump issued a new executive order directing the Treasury Department to take the first steps in establishing what he refers to as “a crypto version of Fort Knox.” This proposal “invites government abuse.” Basically, a “government crypto reserve serves no good purpose while creating an opportunity for political bad behavior. Let private investors speculate all they want without the government having a stake in crypto-currency prices.”
Tags: Abuse, Bad behavior, Crypto, Crypto reserve, Currency, Executive order, Fort Knox, Government, Investors, Prices, Private, Speculate, Stake, Treasury Department, Trump
