Washington Post (July 25)
“Companies are reshaping operations to cope with a changing climate” as climate risks also gain more prominence investment calculations. The month of June was the warmest since records began in 1850” so the “global steam bath” helps explain “why investors, regulators and credit-rating agencies are scrutinizing corporate plans for unrecognized climate risks.”
Tags: 1850, Climate risks, Corporate plans, Credit rating agencies, Investment calculations, Investors, June, Records, Regulators, Scrutinizing, Steam bath
Washington Post (July 4)
“Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock index closed Thursday at a fresh record high of 40,913.65, pushing past its most recent record close set in March on heavy buying of automaker and technology shares…. Both foreign and domestic investors have piled into the Japanese market in recent months even as the economy has slowed.” The weak yen is “part of the attraction…. But changes to investment regulations have also lured many Japanese investors into the equity market.”
Tags: Automaker, Domestic, Economy, Foreign, Heavy buying, Investors, Japan, Market, Nikkei 225, Record high, Shares, Technology, Weak yen
Market Watch (July 1)
“So far, high valuations haven’t dimmed investors’ enthusiasm for stocks,” but there are concerns. The forward price-to-earnings ratio of the S&P500 “currently stands at 21.1, above the 90th percentile from the past 40 years. The S&P 500 is even more richly valued on a trailing 12-month basis. In the past, when valuations have been this stretched, the median one-year forward return for the index has been -4%.”
Tags: 4%, Concerns, Dimmed, Enthusiasm, Forward P/E, Forward return, High, Investors, Rich, S&P 500, Stocks, Stretched, Valuations
Bloomberg (June 17)
“China’s home prices fell at a faster pace in May, as the country’s most forceful efforts to support the property market took time to revive demand.” Existing home values dropped by 1%, “the sharpest decline since at least 2011.” Oversupply is “dragging prices lower, giving people less reason to invest in property.” Meanwhile, “investors and analysts remain skeptical” that the government’s recent measures to revive the sector “will be sufficient” given the “funding revealed so far and the slow progress of existing trial programs in several cities.”
Tags: 2011, Analysts, China, Decline, Existing homes, Home prices, Investors, Lower, May, Oversupply, Prices, Property, Skeptical
Wall Street Journal (June 8-9)
“The recession, predicted by business executives, economists, and investors, refuses to show up. Steady hiring continues to fuel consumer spending and, in turn, an economic expansion unlike any the U.S. has seen. Employers added 2.75 million jobs over the last 12 months,” with an unemployment rate “at or below 4% for 30 months, something that last occurred during the Vietnam War in the late 1960s and the Korean War in the early 1950s.”
Tags: Consumer spending, Economic expansion, Economists, Employers, Executives, Hiring, Investors, Predicted, Recession, U.S., Unemployment rate
MarketWatch (May 16)
“Hold on to your hats. The Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly traded above 40,000 for the first time ever Thursday but ended the day shy of a milestone that investors said could help further boost bullish spirits on Wall Street.” The Dow’s attempt to close “above 40,000 comes amid a broader rally that saw the blue-chip gauge, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite ll close at record highs on Wednesday.”
Tags: Blue-chip gauge, Bullish spirits, Dow, Investors, Milestone, Nasdaq, Rally, S&P 500, Wall Street
Reuters (May 13)
“With scars from a post-Ukraine energy security crisis fresh, oil prices around $80 a barrel, and central banks’ rate hikes reducing the value of long-term businesses like offshore wind, investors have already voted with their feet. Shell’s share price has risen by a third since 2023, while the benchmark FTSE 100 Index only gained 16% during the same period. Morningstar recorded net outflows globally from sustainable investing in the fourth quarter.”
Tags: 80, Barrel, Benchmark, Central banks, Crisis, Energy security, FTSE 100, Investors, Morningstar, Offshore wind, Oil prices, Outflows, Rate hikes, Share price, Shell, Ukraine, Value, Voted
Wall Street Journal (May 4)
“Evidence is stacking up that the U.S. economy has slowed, led by the formerly red-hot services sector. Yet overall activity levels remain healthy, and some cooling is welcome news to investors because it opens the door back up to possible rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.”
Tags: Cooling, Economy, Evidence, Federal Reserve, Healthy, Investors, Rate cuts, Red-hot, Services sector, Stacking up, U.S.
The Economist (May 4)
“It is easy for investors to lose a fortune in the financial markets—and even easier for governments.” When Japan tried to prop up the yen in 2022, the nation “spent more than $60bn of its foreign-exchange reserves,” but supporting a currency “is expensive and futile.” Since breaking the ¥160/$1 barrier, there are rumors of another intervention. As long as the giant interest rate gap exists with the U.S., Japan would be “wrong to try to prop up the yen.”
Tags: $60bn, ¥160/$1, 2022, Currency, Expensive, Financial markets, Forex, Futile, Governments, Interest rate, Intervention, Investors, Japan, Reserves, Yen
Wall Street Journal (April 22)
Giant investment companies like Blackstone, Franklin Templeton, BlackRock and KKR “are taking over the financial system.” They now “control sums rivaling the economies of many large countries. They are pushing into new businesses, blurring the lines that define who does what on Wall Street and nudging once-dominant banks toward the sidelines.” Their outsize roles are, according to investors, creating “risks markets have never encountered before.”
Tags: Banks, BlackRock. KKR, Blackstone, Blurring lines, Countries, Financial system, Franklin Templeton, Investment, Investors, Markets, Risks, Sidelines, Wall Street
