Wall Street Journal (November 23)
“Fear of bursting investment bubbles. Concern the economy is slowing. Pressure on investors to cash in profits. These forces are colliding in markets, leading to the sharpest intraday swings for stocks in months and leaving investors bracing for more.” Already, the S&P 500 is down 3.5% in November.” Not to be outdone, the “Nasdaq composite has slid more than 6%” during the same period.”
Tags: Bubbles, Bursting, Cash, Colliding, Concern, Economy, Fear, Intraday swings, Investment, Investors, Markets, Nasdaq, November, Pressure, Profits, S&P 500, Stocks
Barron’s (August 22)
“The stock market snatched victory from the jaws of defeat this past week, thanks to a surprisingly dovish Jerome Powell.” Last week, fear had taken over. “Artificial-intelligence fever had turned into AI flu, causing Nvidia stock to drop for three consecutive days and the rest of the Mag Seven to stumble. Then, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s speech at Jackson Hole suggested he was leaning toward a September interest-rate cut, sending stocks roaring back.” A strong earnings report from Nvidia could provide the catalyst to fully bring “those sputtering animal spirits should roar back to life.”
Tags: AI flu, Defeat, Dovish, Earnings report, Fear, Fed, Interest-rate cut, Jackson Hole, Mag Seven, Nvidia, Powell, Stock market, Stumble, Victory
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
New York Times (February 16)
“Fearing Trump, Wall Street sounds a retreat on diversity efforts.” Seemingly everybody is rushing to ensure “they don’t wind up in the cross hairs of the Trump administration’s campaign against diversity, equity and inclusion.” Among those scurrying away from DEI are “white-collar investment banks, consultancies, mutual funds and stock exchanges. The latest was Goldman Sachs, which said on Tuesday that it would drop a quota that forced corporate boards of directors to include women and members of minority groups.”
Tags: Consultancies, Corporate boards, Cross hairs, DEI, Directors, Diversity, Equity, Fear, Goldman Sachs, Inclusion, Investment banks, Minority groups, Mutual funds, Quota, Retreat, Stock exchanges, Trump, Wall Street, White collar, Women
New York Times (January 19)
“America’s leaders and institutions must remain undeterred. They will need to show courage and resilience in the face of Mr. Trump’s efforts as they continue to play their unique roles in our democracy. Vigilance is everything: If institutions surrender to the fear and coercion — by bending the knee or by rationalizing that the next right actions aren’t worth the fight, stress or risk — they not only embolden future abuses; they are also complicit in undermining their own power and influence.”
Tags: Abuses, Coercion, Complicit, Courage, Democracy, Efforts, Fear, Institutions, Leaders, Power and influence, Resilience, Surrender, Trump, U.S., Undermining, Vigilance
Fortune (November 17)
“For investors who’ve enjoyed the S&P 500 Index’s more than 50% jump since the start of 2023, the best hope for keeping the market rolling into 2025 and beyond may be Trump’s fear of doing anything to damage a rally.” Many of Trump’s campaign promises weren’t exactly “investor-friendly,” with some considered market anathema. Still, “Wall Street doesn’t believe Trump will tolerate a declining stock market, even if it’s caused by one of his own proposals.”
Tags: 2023, 2025, 50% jump, Anathema, Campaign promises, Damage, Fear, Hope, Investors, Rally, S&P 500, Stock market, Trump, Wall Street
Institutional Investor (August 26)
Multistrategy funds “are no longer the hottest thing in hedge funds. Investors fear too much money, and overcrowding of trades could pose systemic risk.” There is now growing interest in “single manager market-neutral funds.”
Tags: Fear, Hedge funds, Hottest, Investors, Market-neutral, Money, Multistrategy funds, Overcrowding, Single manager, Systemic risk, Trades
New York Times (March 14)
Some now fear an “urban doom loop.” Cities are encountering budget crunches brought on by “steep discounts” in office and commercial real estate “as the pandemic trends of hybrid and remote work have persisted.” Cities are “starting to bear the brunt.” Budgets once reliant “on taxes associated with valuable commercial property are now facing shortfalls and contemplating cutbacks as lower assessments of property values reduce tax bills.” Cutting services or raising taxes could make cities less attractive, inducing urban flight and further exacerbating city budgets.
Tags: Budgets, Cities, Commercial, Cutbacks, Discounts, Fear, Hybrid, Office, Pandemic, Property, Real estate, Remote, Services, Shortfalls, Tax, Urban doom loop
Bloomberg (March 16)
“Powerful AI systems like GPT-4 aren’t going to replace large swaths of professional workers, as many have instinctively feared. But they will put them under greater pressure to be more productive and faster at what they do. They will raise the bar on what is considered acceptable output and usher in an era of ultra-efficiency unlike anything we’ve seen before…. Watch out for how they might take you a tiny step closer to burnout.”
Tags: Acceptable, AI, Faster, Fear, GPT-4, Output, Powerful, Pressure, Productive, Professional workers, Replace, Ultra-efficiency
Institutional Investor (July 18)
“Private equity investors have little to fear from a recession, as the best returns come after these periods.” A recent report by Bain Consulting shows, for example, that “following the bursting of the dot-com bubble, buyout funds generated a median IRR of 25 percent in 2001, 40 percent in 2002, and 47 percent in 2003. In 2009, after the Global Financial Crisis, they posted a 24 percent IRR.” In the near future, however, “private equity firms still face a bumpy road ahead, despite the potentially short duration of the market downturn.”
Tags: Bain Consulting, Bumpy, Buyout funds, Dot-com bubble, Fear, Investors, IRR, Market downturn, Private equity, Recession, Returns
