John Hancock: Weekly Market Recap Week Ended April 26
Sticky inflation Ahead of a U.S. Federal Reserve meeting, a report released on Friday showed that the Fed’s preferred gauge for tracking inflation remained above policymakers’ 2.0% long-term target rate. The Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index rose at a 2.8% annual rate in March excluding food and energy prices—unchanged from February’s core inflation […]
LPL: How Stocks React To Geopolitical Shocks
Middle East Conflict: How Stocks React to Geopolitical Shocks George Smith | Portfolio Strategist Last Updated: April 16, 2024 Following Iran’s missile and drone strikes on Israel over the weekend and the apparent escalation likely in any Israeli response, stocks fell sharply during Monday’s trading session. We examine the latest developments in the Middle East […]
Visual Capitalist: How Deby-to-GDP Ratios Have Changed Since 2000
How Debt-to-GDP Ratios Have Changed Since 2000 Government debt levels have grown in most parts of the world since the 2008 financial crisis, and even more so after the COVID-19 pandemic. To gain perspective on this long-term trend, we’ve visualized the debt-to-GDP ratios of advanced economies, as of 2000 and 2024 (estimated). All figures […]
John Hancock: Weekly Market Recap Week Ended April 19
Delaying expectations U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell conceded that it’s “likely to take longer than expected” to gain confidence that inflation is on a sustainable downward track. Powell on Tuesday reinforced recent messaging about a delayed timeline for interest-rate cuts, saying […]
Federated Hermes: Too Hot To Handle
Re-accelerating inflation and strong labor market delay Fed cuts. BOTTOM LINE This week’s updates on retail and wholesale inflation for March were stronger than expected, and last Friday’s sizzling employment data for March extended the trend of surprisingly robust economic data. Two notable examples are March’s Leading Economic Indicator (LEI), which posted a positive […]
Visual Capitalist: Where Does One U.S. Tax Dollar Go?
Where Does One U.S. Tax Dollar Go? Come tax season, a common refrain is: “what do my taxes even pay for?” To answer that question, we visualized U.S. federal government spending by function, referencing expenditure to a single federal tax dollar. Data is for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2023 from the U.S. Bureau […]
John Hancock: Weekly Market Recap Week Ended April 12
Stubborn inflation The latest inflation report cast further doubt about the timeline for potential interest-rate cuts, as the Consumer Price Index rose to an annual rate of 3.5% in March, up from 3.2% the previous month. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, core inflation rose 3.8%. U.S. government bond yields rose sharply following […]
John Hancock: Managing Interest-Rate Risk In 2024 And Beyond
Will the U.S. Federal Reserve loosen its monetary policy as expected? Interest-rate cuts from the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) are likely to be seen in 2024 and our expectation is for the FOMC to begin during the summer months. Nevertheless, ambiguity remains on the […]
LPL: The Story Hasn’t Changed For The Fed
Key Takeaways Was There a Shift in the Storyline? The last two months of reports on the macro landscape were mixed. Inflation readings were hotter than expected, while retail sales were weaker than expected. And markets seemed to be in turmoil over the confusion of how the Fed would react. So, investors need to ask […]
John Hancock: Weekly Market Recap Week Ended April 5
Yields surge The yield of the 10-year U.S. Treasury bond rose to the highest level in more than four months as the latest jobs data exerted further upward pressure amid a shifting interest-rate outlook. The yield closed around 4.39% […]