Monthly Archives: August 2015
Big Picture: Bonds Have Held Up Well
August is shaping up to be a negative month for the S&P 500 Bond Index (-0.52% month-to-date and -0.61% YTD), as of Aug. 28, 2015. Though, for all the drama of this month, attributable to the drop in oil prices (-24% YTD), weakness in the Chinese economy, and a major sell-off in equities, bond returns…
Commodities Post 4th Biggest 2-Day Gain Since 1970
As of the close on Aug. 28, 2015, the S&P GSCI Total Return gained 8.98%, the most in 2 days since Jan. 2, 2009. It was the 4th best gain over 2 consecutive days in the history of the index that has data beginning on Jan. 2, 1970. The bigger 2-day gains are shown in…
- Categories Commodities
- Tags commodities, crude oil, jodie gunzberg, S&P GSCI, volatility
- Categories
- Commodities
Asian Fixed Income: Chinese Bonds Rose After China Rate Cut
China announced another policy rate and RRR cut this week. The one-year deposit and lending rates were lowered by 25bps to 1.75% and 4.65%, while RRR is reduced by 50bps to 18%. These measures aim to offset increased capital outflow and stabilize the economy. While investors should remain cautious with market volatilities, certain Chinese assets with…
Implementing Carbon-free Investment Mandates using Index Futures
Socially responsible investment mandates have gradually worked their way into the investment world. The most prominent example might be the divestiture of companies that are involved in the expansion of mankind’s carbon footprint, i.e. the Energy Sector. At the same time, there is often a need to use listed derivatives to achieve the investment outcome….
Equity Markets May Be “Sassy”, But Bond Markets Are The “Cool” Kids On The Block…
Bond markets may not be the most “sassy” of all the asset classes, but they certainly are a lot “cooler” in light of the global equity sell-off of the last two days. Bond markets are traditionally known to be less volatile than all of the financial asset classes. Global stock markets are taking serious hits…
China’s Currency Devaluation and Its Impact on the Indian Stock Markets
Monday’s stock market crash coming on the heels of the US market fall on Friday, August 22nd is creating jitters for investors around the world. However the signals have been around for some time, with many predicting for some time an end to the bull run that US market has enjoyed for the last 6…
- Categories Equities, India
- Tags China, India, S&P BSE SENSEX
- Tags
- China, India, S&P BSE SENSEX
Investment-Grade Corporate Bonds, Smooth Sailing
There is an old weather-predicting proverb that goes “red skies at night sailors delight; red skies in the morning sailors take warning.” Well, there has been a lot of red over the last two mornings, and it has not been in the hot August skies but more so in the global financial markets. Oil prices,…
Perseverance and Low Vol
“He conquers who endures.” ~Persius Weak markets tend to make low volatility indices shine. As a strategy that attenuates the performance of the broader market, the S&P 500 Low Volatility Index had lagged the benchmark S&P 500 by 1.22% from the beginning of 2015 thru July 31. As of last Friday, the tide has shifted…
Contango Costs Oil Investors 10 Extra Years
Headline news on Friday was that oil dropped below $40 per barrel, the lowest since March 3, 2009. It’s bad news for an oil investor to learn 6 1/2 years are wiped out – that is no gain since the bottom of the financial crisis. Unfortunately, the reality is so much worse than that. The price per…
- Categories Commodities
- Tags backwardation, China, commodities, contango, inflation, jodie gunzberg, oil, S&P GSCI
- Categories
- Commodities
Tracking Activist Hedge Fund Activities
As my S&P Capital IQ colleagues recently noted we have reached a golden age of investor activism. In the past five full years, activist engagements increased fourfold. The success of investor activism has helped these firms both attract more capital and deliver greater returns as their principals now regularly make news and headline events. The S&P U.S. Activist…
- Categories Equities
- Categories
- Equities