Consumer to the Rescue

Consumer to the Rescue

  Our chart of the week above shows that the US economy faced a contraction in the first half of 2022 as GDP (green bars) declined in the first and second quarters, leading to concerns about a potential recession. However, as the gold bars reveal, consumer...
The Past and the Future

The Past and the Future

  There are many ways to measure the valuation of something like the stock market. Some people like to look at past earnings; others look at future expected earnings. There is no “right” answer here. As they say, valuation is in the eye of the beholder. But we’ve...
The Drawdown Dance

The Drawdown Dance

OVERVIEW   Last week, the U.S. stock market experienced a mix of movements. The VIX Index, which measures volatility, decreased by approximately 7.7% to a level of 22. The S&P 500 Index decreased by 0.2%, the Nasdaq Composite fell by 1.94%, but the Dow Jones...
Loosening the Reins

Loosening the Reins

  Japan’s central bank, the Bank of Japan, made quite a stir in the financial world this week when it announced that it is relaxing the allowed trading band for 10-year Japanese government bonds (known as JGBs) by 25 basis points. This means that, after keeping...
Countercurrents

Countercurrents

  Usually, when people think about money flowing into the stock market, they associate it with positive returns. However, as this week’s featured indicator shows, that isn’t always the case for exchange-traded products (ETFs). Specifically, asset flows into...