New York Times (June 17)
“In many ways, the economic recovery from the coronavirus has defied the worst-case scenarios. Jobs, spending and markets have bounced back more quickly than expected, although they largely remain below pre-pandemic levels. This is mostly thanks to unprecedented government intervention, but many of those stimulus programs are set to expire soon. Then what?”
Tags: Coronavirus, Economic recovery, Intervention, Jobs, Markets, Pandemic, Scenarios, Spending, Stimulus, Worst-case
NBC News (June 9)
“Stocks soar despite coronavirus and a recession. It’s time for a reality check, and a crash. Psychological factors are making markets poor gauges of the U.S. economy’s strength. We should wrench our eyeballs from the ticker tape before it’s too late.”
Tags: Coronavirus, Crash, Economy, Markets, Psychological, Reality check, Recession, Stocks, U.S.
Jerusalem Post (June 9)
“Following “a very steep increase in morbidity” in Israel, “the coronavirus cabinet decided on Monday to freeze nearly all easing of restrictions that were expected in the coming days as the number of active cases continues to climb across the country.”
Tags: Coronavirus, Crash, Economy, Markets, Psychological, Reality check, Recession, Stocks, U.S.
Financial Times (March 10)
“At some point the music stops playing for investors.” That happened yesterday. “The initial shock was the cornonavirus outbreak’s impact on the global economy. Then came the blow of an oil price war. Next is escalating financial contagion. Markets are likely to burn until the fuel of high debt levels and aggressive risk taking is extinguished.”
Tags: Cornonavirus, Debt, Economy, Financial contagion, Investors, Markets, Music, Oil price war, Risk-taking, Shock
Wall Street Journal (March 4)
“The Federal Reserve has become the default doctor for whatever ails the U.S. economy, and on Tuesday the financial physician applied what it hopes will be monetary balm for the economic damage from the coronavirus.” Alas “financial markets were underwhelmed.” This “may speak to the limited effect that lower interest rates can have on the supply shock of a pandemic.”
Tags: Coronavirus, Damage, Economy, Fed, Interest rates, Markets, Monetary balm, Supply shock, U.S., Underwhelmed
Wall Street Journal (February 2)
“Investors are betting the volatility that has rattled markets over the past two weeks is here to stay. Many are bracing for dramatic swings in stocks as the U.S. presidential election season ramps up and investors assess the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on global economic activity.”
Tags: Coronavirus, Election, Impact, Investors, Markets, Outbreak, Rattled, Stocks, U.S., Volatility
Financial Times (June 5)
“Just a month ago, multinationals and investors were looking forward to an agreement that would end the China-US trade war that has rocked global markets for the past year. Instead, talks broke down.” Donald Trump “further enraged Chinese officials by barring Huawei, the best-known Chinese telecoms company, from sourcing American components and technology.” China’s new list of unreliable entities appears to be in retaliation and it has panicked foreign investors. The “vague wording suggests Beijing could move against any person or organization.”
Tags: China, Enraged, Huawei, Investors, Markets, Multinationals, Panicked, Retaliation, Telecoms, Trade war, Trump, U.S., Unreliable entities
South China Morning Post (January 22)
“Trump’s aggressive trade actions have also made investors much more sensitive to China’s domestic economic woes, a development which Trump doubtless views as a sign that his administration is winning the trade war but which has backfired due to the adverse spillover effects on America’s economy and markets…. A trade truce, should one materialise, has come too late.”
Tags: Aggressive, Backfired, China, Economy, Investors, Markets, Sensitive, Trade war, Truce, Trump, U.S.
Reuters (January 2)
“As U.S. and Chinese delegations prepare for upcoming trade talks in Beijing, the two countries’ disputes over tariffs and trade are rattling markets, businesses, governments, consumers and workers across the globe. All of this corrosive uncertainty was entirely predictable…. Elaborate negotiations take tenacity, expertise and planning. They also take time.”
Tags: Beijing, China, Corrosive, Delegations, Disputes, Expertise, Markets, Negotiations, Planning, Predictable, Rattling, Tariffs, Trade talks, U.S., Uncertainty
Bloomberg (December 3)
Trump and Xi gave “markets the most they could have expected,” which wasn’t that much. Still, they avoided the “risk of a serious downside (an angry confrontation and a meeting ending with recriminations and no agreement).” While some may see justification for “risk on” investing, it’s worth noting that this truce is only temporary, “in the longer term, all the risks remain in place.”
Tags: Confrontation, Downside, Markets, Recriminations, Risk, Temporary, Truce, Trump, Xi