On December 18, 2017, our office posted an article titled, “What to Make of the Rise in Bitcoin and Other Cryptocurrencies?” On the previous day, Bitcoin reached an all-time high of nearly $20,000 – a price it has not seen since. During this time, the discussion of Bitcoin grew to such a frenzy even my…
Emerging markets have long been characterized by unique, idiosyncratic factors and higher volatility, especially compared to more established markets such as the U.S., Europe and Japan. This is true despite an expansion of opportunities and greater investor acceptance of these markets over the past few decades, and the graduation of some members to ‘developed’ status,…
According to the most recent Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projection, the federal budget deficit for fiscal year 2018 (which ends on September 30) will reach $793 billion, or 3.9% of gross domestic product (GDP). This figure is $230 billion larger than the CBO previously estimated in June 2017, largely because legislation enacted since then reduced…
The FOMC concluded their monetary policy meeting today, which, as expected, resulted in no change to the fed funds rate—currently targeted to a range of 1.75-2.00%. There were no dissenting votes. The formal narrative again was positive in its assessment of overall conditions, with both economic activity and labor market descriptions being upgraded from ‘solid’…
The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) report came out last week and showed that the economy grew at a rate of 4.1% last quarter; the highest growth rate in the last 4 years. A common question we get from our clients is “what does this mean for my investments?” The answer is: not necessarily much moving…
Happy summer! The second quarter of this year brought with it some more of the volatility we experienced in Q1. While the market movements weren’t as wide as the first quarter, political rhetoric and interest rate changes continued to keep them bouncing throughout the last three months. When we step back to look at the…
Productivity continues to be a debated topic, and the subject of both academic and more practical white papers, with no clear-cut conclusion reached, although hopes and expectations for improvement from current low levels are widespread. A recent report by consultant McKinsey delved into this topic extensively. This isn’t entirely surprising since productivity is a more…
Talk About Trade The majority of the market questions we’ve received over the last three months have been on trade. The back and forth between the White House and China (and most recently, Canada and Mexico) have some of you biting your nails and reaching out. As always, we feel privileged to play the role…
The June FOMC meeting concluded with members deciding to raise the fed funds target rate by 0.25%, for the seventh time this cycle, to a new range of 1.75-2.00%. As the probability of this happening was over 95%, in light of recent stronger economic and inflation data, this was far from a surprise. The formal…
Oil prices have a stealthy way of luring investors into the complacency of a trading range, before taking a dramatic turn on the cusp of a single geopolitical factor (often in the Middle East) or variety of coinciding factors. With any asset, it all comes back to the confluence of supply and demand that drives…