Fortune (September 3)
“As traders head into the final leg of 2025 they are not doing so with overconfidence. In fact, if this week’s bond market is anything to go by, they’re nervous.” Safe haven gold has hit record highs and a “global bond selloff” is creating concern over national debt. “The upset isn’t confined to America alone. In Europe, French government bonds…similarly spiked toward a 5% yield and sit at 4.49% at the time of writing, marking its highest run since 2009.” Arguably, the U.K. is getting hit hardest, “with 30-year gilts pushing above 5.7%, their highest level since the spring of 1998.”
Tags: 2025, Bond market, France, Gilts, Global bond selloff, Gold, National debt, Nervous, Overconfidence, Record highs, Safe haven, Traders, U.K., U.S.
Barron’s (January 26)
“A chilling effect has spread throughout the Communist Party ranks as President Xi Jinping intensifies his crackdown on corruption. Those fears are beginning to extend into China’s business world” where the private sector is increasingly “nervous because of the size and scope of Xi’s campaign to rid insubordination or perceived enemies throughout the government and public sector.” In 2024, the campaign’s scope expanded by roughly 46%, with authorities disciplining 889,000 people, “the highest annual total since the party began releasing such data nearly 20 years ago.”
Tags: Authorities, Chilling, China, Communist party, Corruption, Crackdown, Disciplining, Enemies, Fears, Government, Insubordination, Nervous, Private-sector, Xi
Wall Street Journal (March 25)
“Annual issuance of U.S. Treasurys has exploded, nearly doubling since the pandemic began. The government sold a record $23 trillion worth in 2023.” This makes people “nervous” because “rapid growth in markets from tech stocks to mortgage bonds has ended badly in the past.” Given their ubiquity and potentially “unforeseen consequences,” any instability in the Treasury market “could rapidly spread” to other markets.
Tags: $23 trillion, 2023, Doubling, Exploded, Government, Issuance, Mortgage bonds, Nervous, Pandemic, Tech stocks, Treasurys, U.S., Ubiquity, Unforeseen consequences
New York Times (July 20)
“One reason U.S. investors are nervous is the price of oil, which dropped nearly 8 percent on Monday. Rising oil prices had been seen as a sign of a strong global rebound. The sharp decline…suggests that the global demand for oil, and therefore economic activity, could be lower than thought.”
Tags: Decline, Dropped, Economic activity, Global demand, Investors, Nervous, Oil prices, Rebound, Rising, U.S.
Financial Times (June 3)
“There’s the potential for a big week for Japanese equities ahead if the gloom that hung over them in May persists into the first week of June.” President Trump’s trip to Japan lacked “clear reassurances for Japan on trade,” to say nothing of “clarity on how bad things could turn between the US and China.” Since Japanese stocks “are liquid and easily accessible,” they are “among the first to be sold when global funds become nervous and, as such, they fell heavily least week.”
The Economist (October 6)
“Europe has caught China’s eye. Chinese investments there have soared, to nearly €36bn ($40bn) in 2016—almost double the previous years’ total…. For the most part, this money is welcome….. However, China is also using its financial muscle to buy political influence…. It is only prudent for Europeans to be nervous.”
Tags: China, Europe, Financial muscle, Investments, Nervous, Political influence, Prudent
The Economist (February 1, 2014)
“There is no reason for a broad emerging-market crisis. But nervous investors could yet cause one.”
Tags: Crisis, Emerging markets, Investors, Nervous
