South China Morning Post (December 19)
“China reduced its US Treasury holdings in October to its lowest level in 17 years, as mounting concerns over US debt sustainability and the Federal Reserve’s independence further eroded confidence in dollar-backed assets. The country’s stockpile fell to US$688.7 billion in October, down from US$700.5 billion in September.” At the peak in 2013, China held approximately US$1.32 trillion in Treasuries.
Tags: 2013, Assets, China, Concerns, Confidence, Debt sustainability, Federal Reserve, Independence, Lowest, Peak, S, Treasuries, U
Reuters (December 5)
“Assets that rise rapidly above their long-term trend are usually set for a fall…. This year, gold has risen more than 60% in dollar terms, its best performance in 46 years. Adjusted for inflation, gold has never been more expensive. Either we are witnessing another bubble or it’s a paradigm shift.” It may be the latter as speculative euphoria has focused on cryptocurrencies while “central bankers have significantly increased their gold holdings.”
Tags: $60, Assets, Bubble, Central bankers, Cryptocurrencies, Dollar, Expensive, Fall, Gold, Holdings, Inflation, Paradigm shift, Performance, Speculative, Trend
New York Times (August 5)
U.S. retail investors are “unsinkable” at the moment. “Economists were alarmed last week when President Trump fired Erika McEntarfer, the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, after a weaker-than-expected jobs report.” Markets sneezed, then “largely shrugged it off, despite potentially disastrous long-term effects to assets like the dollar. One big reason: retail investors didn’t seem as concerned as economists.” Retail investors are fearlessly buying on dips and “emerging as a potent investing force beyond meme-stock booms.”
Tags: Alarmed, Assets, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Buying, Dips, Disastrous, Dollar, Economists, Fired, Investing force, Jobs report, Markets, McEntarfer, Retail investors, Trump, U.S., Unsinkable
Reuters (July 3)
“Big investors are mobilising to trade through weeks packed with wild-card events that may shatter the calm in stock markets and drive big swings for assets they see as exposed to both positive or negative surprises, from gold to corporate credit.”
Tags: Assets, Big swings, Calm, Corporate credit, Exposed, Gold, Investors, Negative, Positive, Shatter, Stock markets, Surprises, Trade, Wild-card events
Fortune (May 24)
“Predictions that the dollar’s dominance will come to an end soon have proliferated since President Donald Trump launched his trade war,” but it’s not so simple. “Assets in other top economies like China, Japan and Europe still aren’t as attractive as those in the U.S.” while potential rivals also “suffer from governance or political headwinds.” Until another currency surmounts these issues, “global investors are faced with the familiar reality that there is still no alternative to the greenback, which has been the currency of choice for international payments and reserves for decades.”
Tags: Alternative, Assets, Attractive, China, Dollar, Dominance, Europe, Governance, Greenback, Headwinds, International payments, Investors, Japan, Political, Predictions, Rivals, Top economies, Trade war, Trump, U.S.
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.
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
Bloomberg (March 4)
A roller coaster day left the S&P 500 Index ”at its lowest level since Nov. 4, the day before Trump was elected…. The dizzying ride provided a preview of the difficulties facing investors, who now must figure out how to price American assets in what essentially amounts to a new world order created by Trump’s tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico.” The volatility and steep decline are “a comeuppance for those on Wall Street who bet big on Donald Trump’s election win, trades that powered the equity market higher along with the dollar and Treasury yields. The bet that Trump wouldn’t do anything to disturb the stock market rally has, for now, been lost.”
Tags: Assets, Canada, China, Comeuppance, Dizzying, Dollar, Investors, Mexico, New world order, S&P 500, Stock market, Tariffs, Treasury yields, Trump, Volatility, Wall Street
Trader’s Magazine (December 2)
“Assets of the top 100 asset owners globally have returned to growth in 2023 after a fall of 8.7% in 2022.” Achieving a brisk 12.3% increase in 2023, “the world’s largest 100 asset owners (the ‘AO100’) now hold a record US$26.3 trillion.” Chief among them is the “Government Pension Investment Fund of Japan…with an AUM of US$1.59 trillion.” The top three also includes the two largest sovereign wealth funds. Norway’s Norges Bank Investment Management in second place with AUM of US$1.55 trillion while China Investment Corporation is now third globally with US$1.24 trillion.”
Tags: 12.3%, 2023, Assets, AUM, China, Government Pension Investment Fund, Growth, Japan, Norway, Record, Top 100, US$26.3 trillion
Bloomberg (October 28)
“Political uncertainty will likely weigh on sentiment for investors in Japanese assets after the ruling coalition led by the Liberal Democratic Party failed to win a majority in parliament for the first time since 2009.” Though this uncertainty was not priced in, there may still be buying on dips, and “global investors are still pinning hopes on Japan’s improving corporate governance as a factor to buy equities.”
Tags: Assets, Coalition, Corporate governance, Dips, Failed, Investors, Japan, LDP, Majority, Parliament, Political uncertainty, Sentiment
