Nominal measures are the (global) story today Here’s an update on three of today’s consensus views that we continue to disagree with: 1) “U.S. soft economic data is not matching the hard data.” Missing the point: U.S. real growth is stable, nominal turned up, helping earnings. Nominal also matters for confidence (e.g. Biz Roundtable) & the level is still high. Soft & hard economic data still closer in Europe, increasing the odds of a U.S. economic reconnect. Inventory rebui… View More
Markets rallied last week; Technology stocks continued to lead the way, with the NASDAQ outpacing all other indices for the week as well as year-to-date. The notable exception, though, was the Energy sector which declined despite an extension of OPEC’s production freeze agreement (more on this below). Political headlines have mostly followed President Trump on his first overseas trip to Saudi Arabia, Israel, the Vatican, Belgium and Italy. The momentary reprieve from the domestic spotlight all… View More
Markets were volatile last week as political events continued to dominate headlines. On Wednesday, revelations related to President Trump’s dismissal of FBI Director James Comey unnerved investors; the 373-point drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average was the Index’s largest decline in more than eight months. Markets recovered a portion of Wednesday’s sell-off on Thursday and Friday and markets are up today as economic data provided some reassurance of favorable business conditions. Joble… View More
With some of the news coming out about about Director Comey and the impact it is having on our political environment (and market), we wanted to share a research piece we read. In answer to the question we placed at the head of this email, there is no direct connection between Director Comey and the markets. Earnings have been strong, economic data has been good, and we believe fundamentals will continue to do well. However, there are some legitimate concerns over the news coming out and whether … View More
Stocks were mixed-to-down last week as political events dominated headlines. The firing of FBI Director James Comey might have impeded the administration’s tax reform and infrastructure agendas; so far, though, the market’s non-reaction may actually accelerate policymaking timelines as the administration looks ahead. Friday’s announcement of certain trade agreements with China highlighted progress on discussions that began following the President’s meeting last month with Chinese Preside… View More