Financial Times (October 5)
“Japan’s demographics — for all the socio-economic hand-wringing they cause — are now arguably the biggest ‘buy’ signal the country has sent for decades…. In several critical areas, Japan’s demographics are aligned to work strongly in favour of companies and investors.” One of these stems from “from labour shortages and the profound psychological difference they make to corporations’ ability to restructure.” This will enable corporations to “divest everything non-core and focus instead on what they are best at.”
Tags: Buy signal, Companies, Demographics, Divest, Hand-wringing, Investors, Japan, Labour shortages, Non-core, Psychological, Restructure, Socio-economic
Bloomberg (September 15)
“China’s economy picked up steam in August as a summer travel boom and a heftier stimulus push boosted consumer spending and factory output, adding to nascent signs of stabilization…. Optimism is slowly building among some investors that Beijing’s recent efforts to boost the economy and financial markets are starting to bear fruit. Even so, it’s early days — and a single month of data isn’t enough to confirm a sustained recovery trajectory.”
Tags: August, China, Consumer spending, Economy, Factory output, Investors, Nascent, Optimism, Stabilization, Stimulus, Travel boom
Financial Times (September 1)
“The US labour market cooled in August, raising hopes that the Federal Reserve is successfully orchestrating a soft landing for the world’s largest economy. Investors hailed a possible Goldilocks scenario in which inflation comes under control without causing a recession, as Friday’s figures revealed an uptick in the unemployment rate, subdued jobs growth and wage rises back at pre-Covid rates.”
Tags: August, Cooled, Fed, Goldilocks scenario, Hopes, Inflation, Investors, Jobs growth, Recession, Soft landing, U.S., Unemployment, Wage rises
Institutional Investor (August 11)
“China’s waning role as the world’s factory means it’s time for emerging market investors to find opportunities elsewhere…. China’s manufacturing sector is so big that even a slight shift in manufacturing activity away from the country would greatly benefit other emerging market economies.”
Tags: Benefit, China, Emerging market economies, Investors, Manufacturing sector, Opportunities, Waning, World’s factory
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
New York Times (July 25)
“One question is at the top of many investors’ minds: Is the hype around artificial intelligence, which has propelled tech giants’ stock prices sky-high in recent months, justified, or is it another bubble in the making?” At the moment, “Wall Street is deeply divided about the A.I. rally” though this may change as Big Tech reports earnings.
Tags: Artificial intelligence, Bubble, Divided, Earnings, Hype, Investors, Justified, Propelled, Rally, Sky-high, Stock prices, Tech giants, Wall Street
Washington Post (July 20)
We may be living in a “Goldilocks economy,” but it “has an end date.” Last year, the investors who “thought stagflation was here to stay were wrong, and they’ll be wrong again if they count on Goldilocks sticking around. Growth and inflation will line up sooner or later, and it’s the growth data that provides a better signal for the trajectory of the economy.”
Tags: End date, Goldilocks economy, Growth, Inflation, Investors, Last year, Signal, Stagflation, Trajectory, Wrong
Institutional Investor (July 18)
“The cyclically adjusted price-to-earnings ratio for emerging market equities is 15x, compared to 27x for those in developed markets and 34x for those in the U.S.” At just above 10x, “China is trading at a significant discount,” but investors can also easily “steer clear of China.” Other emerging market opportunities “worth considering” include Korea, Brazil, Malaysia, Hungary, Thailand, Mexico, and much of Latin America where P/E ratios range from 10x to 25x.
Tags: Brazil, China, Cyclically adjusted, Developed markets, Discount, Emerging markets, Equities, Hungary, Investors, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, P/E ratio, Thailand
Institutional Investor (July 7)
“Large alternative asset managers… have emerged as unlikely leaders of the clean-energy movement. The big alts firms have convinced investors that the transition to a low-carbon era depends on a willingness to plow money into the fossil-fuel companies with some of the worst ESG ratings — and then use part of the profits to transform those polluters into founts of green energy.”
Tags: Alternative asset managers, Big alts, Clean-energy movement, ESG ratings, Fossil fuel, Investors, Low-carbon era, Money, Polluters, Profits, Transition, Unlikely leaders, Willingness
Wall Street Journal (June 16)
“In just 24 hours this past week the central banks of the world’s three biggest economic blocs came to starkly different conclusions, with the eurozone raising rates, the U.S. on hold and the Chinese cutting. It’s getting harder for investors to understand the global economy—and potentially getting harder for the Federal Reserve to put a lid on inflation.”
Tags: Biggest, Central banks, China, Conclusions, Cutting, Different, eurozone, Fed, Global economy, Hold, Inflation, Investors, Raising, Rates, U.S.
