The price of gold has risen sharply during the past two years. More recently, Jerome Powell's August speech at Jackson Hole, Wyoming -- where he signaled the Federal Reserve would begin lowering interest rates -- has turbocharged gold's ascent. Indeed, investors are considering whether the dramatic appreciation signals a flight to quality, reflecting a widespread [...]
Category: bonds
Will Inflation End the Party?
28 February 2021 There's a whiff of inflation in the air: commodities are soaring, bond yields are rising, and yield curves are steepening. And, while these trends actually began last Summer (and despite Federal Reserve Chairman Powell's reassuring comments in Congress), equity market volatility is increasing. In the period ahead, financial markets will confront several [...]
EM Investing: Harder than it Used to Be!
1 March 2018 Emerging Market investing is a lot more complicated than it used to be -- and not just because it is difficult to replicate last year's stellar performance. Prior to the Global Financial Crisis (GFC), EM's superior growth prospects garnered investors' attention. In addition, EM growth and inflation cycles tended to be in [...]
S&P 500: Tipping Point?
13 February 2018 In my 2018 Investment Strategy blog entitled "Aging Rally or More to Play For?", I indicated that while the US (and global) equity market rally was aging in calendar terms, the factors traditionally signalling the end of the cycle were not yet evident. Nevertheless, I suggested that the US market would experience [...]