24 January 2020
Markets and central banks
Eurozone: Conflicting signals for fixed income investors
Bond investors tend to rely on macroeconomics and monetary policies to make their decisions. For the most part, they dislike […]
24 January 2020
18 December 2019
Markets and central banks
Latest ECB monetary policy meeting: the aviary’s getting bigger
The first meeting of the ECB’s governing council chaired by Christine Lagarde will not go down in history for monetary […]
17 December 2019
Markets and central banks
Monetary policy at US Federal Reserve on hold
The Federal Open Market Committee left its federal funds target rate unchanged at 1.50% to 1.75% at its December 10-11 […]
10 December 2019
Markets and central banks
The bond market’s compass is out of order
With eurozone interest rates well adrift from the basic calculation of ‘growth plus inflation’, anchorless fixed-income investors need something solid […]
28 November 2019
Central bank watch
Christine Lagarde – a fresh beginning
In her first major policy speech, new ECB President Christine Lagarde spoke of the risks that weak domestic demand and […]
25 November 2019
Markets and central banks
Is China’s central bank entering a rate-cut cycle?
Even though the central bank will likely cut interest rates further in small steps in the near term, China is […]
03 November 2019
Markets and central banks
US Federal Reserve – Now on hold after third rate cut in 2019
The US Federal Reserve’s latest interest-rate cut marks the third consecutive loosening of policy aimed at providing ‘insurance’ against the […]
18 October 2019
Investing
Ultra-low interest rates are not going away
All the signs are that negative central bank rates and ultra-low interest rates on risk-free savings are here to stay. […]
03 October 2019
Markets and central banks
A lack of conviction
Major equity indices recovered from some of the slippage in August: the MSCI AC World index gained 1.9% and the […]
13 September 2019
Central bank watch
What’s the ECB’s objective? Thoughts after September’s meeting of the governing council
Future generations of savers may search for bonds bearing positive interest rates like pioneers in the US gold rushes during […]
04 September 2019
Investing
Developments and prospects for US inflation
From the perspective of US Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) investors, consumer price index (CPI) inflation continues to disappoint. Data released by the US Department […]
03 September 2019
Central bank watch
Shifts in trade policy drive equity markets in August
Financial markets continued to track news from the trade front. Equities fell in the very first trading sessions of August […]
27 August 2019
Investing
Breakevens broken?
One interesting feature of the recent price action is that despite the high conviction among investors that central bankers will […]
21 August 2019
Markets and central banks
Chart of the week – Heaven in the havens?
Market volatility has been seesawing so far in August as various events have fuelled talk of global recession. While we […]
06 August 2019
Central bank watch
Dovish central banks: investors want more
Equity investors focused on central bank language in July. On 10 July, during Jerome Powell’s semi-annual hearing before Congress, the […]
01 August 2019
Central bank watch
FOMC Meeting July 2019
The FOMC met 30-31 July and announced a rate cut of 25 basis points. This is the first rate cut […]
26 July 2019
Central bank watch
Meeting of ECB Governing Council in July – as close to action as they could get
After the 22 July meeting of the ECB’s Governing Council, the Policy Statement was about as dovish as could reasonably be […]
12 July 2019
Markets and central banks
Christine Lagarde, the European Central Bank’s next president
Following intense negotiations, EU leaders agreed in early July on the succession plan for the presidency of the EU Commission […]
