Guild’s Basic Needs Index
The Funhouse World of NIRP and ZIRP: How To Invest When Interest Rates Go Lower For Longer Than You Ever Thought They Could
On September 26, Guild hosted its quarterly conference call, “The Funhouse World of NIRP and ZIRP: How To Invest When Interest Rates Go Lower For Longer Than You Ever Thought They Could.” More than a decade out from the Great Recession, inflation and interest rates around the world remain stuck
Market Summary
The U.S. U.S. markets are entering a typically volatile and unproductive seasonal period, marked in this case by the emergence of new political drama surrounding potential impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump. Tactical traders may seek to take advantage of seasonal weakness. For our part, we continue to remain longer-term
Real Estate Changes: Colony Goes All-In On Digital, Retailers Build Urban Logistics Centers
Colony Capital [NYSE: CLNY], after a disastrous 2017 merger with NorthStar Asset Management, is reinventing itself, and its plan says something interesting about economic and real estate trends. CEO Thomas Barrack announced two weeks ago that the company would be shedding as much as 90% of its existing portfolio —
What Happens After China’s National Day on October 1?
Every ten years, the People’s Republic of China has a major celebration on October 1, the anniversary of the country’s founding in 1949. This October 1 will be the 70th anniversary — the first major celebration occurring under China’s President For Life, Xi Jinping. The Chinese government has been taking
Europe Posts Dismal Data: What Could That Mean for the Dollar?
The Eurozone manufacturers’ PMI, a monthly survey of purchasing managers’ views about current trends in manufacturing, fell to 45.6 in September, down from 47 in August. Anything below 50 is contractionary, and the September reading is the lowest in almost seven years. Germany’s manufacturing PMI fell to 41.4 in September,
The Attack on Saudi Oil Production: Likely Consequences
Last Saturday, a missile and drone strike on Saudi Arabia took out about half the Kingdom’s daily production capacity — 5.7 million barrels per day (bpd), or about 5% of the global total. About a third of that lost capacity was restored rapidly, within 24 hours; on Tuesday, Reuters reported that
Regenerative Agriculture, Market Style
Although there is a wide range of opinion about the accuracy of the models and the severity of the changes that lie ahead, the consensus of climatologists agrees that climate change is real and that human activity is having a significant effect. Readers are certainly familiar with the various debates
Market Summary
The U.S. This week brought another development in an obscure corner of the market — overnight lending, which banks rely on to meet funding needs. Observers had noted for some time that Fed tightening had been draining liquidity from the system; a confluence of funding needs created a shortfall and
Global Market Summary
Market Summary The U.S. Outside the view of most individual investors, a “quant quake” erupted as concentrated hedge-fund bets in momentum growth stocks were challenged by a sudden swing towards value stocks and cyclicals. The indexes were placid, but many observers wondered if this might presage an imminent end
China and Iran Deepen Ties
China and Iran Deepen Ties A recent report in the Petroleum Economist provided some confidential details about the comprehensive strategic partnership agreement that Iran and China signed in 2016. The Iranian and Chinese foreign ministers met at the end of August to hammer out some of the accord’s details. According
The Real Data Are Weaker Than China Will Admit
The Real Data Are Weaker Than China Will Admit China’s rise as an economic power has been good not just for Chinese businesses selling goods to the rest of the world; it has also been good for global businesses selling goods and services to China. Big U.S. companies have been
Market Summary
The U.S. After a somewhat volatile August, U.S. stocks remain in the trading range where they have been for the past several months, as trade worries converge with recession fears. After the much-watched inversion of the two- to ten-year U.S. Treasury yield curve, financial news was full of recession
Norway Moves To Increase U.S. Stock Holdings
The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund (formally, the Government Pension Fund of Norway) was established in 1990 to invest the surplus revenues of the Norwegian petroleum industry. With over $1 trillion in assets, heavily allocated towards equities, it currently owns about 1.3% of global stocks. The Fund has undergone a number
A Tale of Two Chinas
For the past year, concern about the intensifying trade war between China and the United States has gone hand-in-hand with concern about the health of the Chinese economy. China’s dramatic rise as an economic power over the past two decades, and the deep interdependence of the global economy, means that
China, the Yuan, and Capital Controls
At the beginning of August, when the U.S. administration announced that it would levy tariffs on all remaining Chinese imports, the Chinese responded by allowing the Chinese yuan to depreciate against its target basket of other currencies — but only by 1%. And in the wake of last week’s tweets
Market Summary
Market Summary The U.S. The U.S. market is still in a correction or sideways mode, with both macro news and fears in evidence, as well as seasonal effects. We are neither as pessimistic as some news media have become, nor are we extremely enthusiastic at the present juncture. We
