Tag Archives: interest rates
Rising Rate Reflections
The Federal Open Market Committee voted to raise the Federal Funds rate by 25 bps on March 16, 2022. This move was well telegraphed and not at all surprising—but that doesn’t mean that we won’t hear concerns about how rising rates will impact equity returns. Finance theory teaches us that, other things equal, rising interest…
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No Easy Answer: Sector and Factor Responses to U.S. Rate Hikes
Although higher rates are generally seen as negative for risk assets, the initial stages of a monetary tightening cycle have not been disastrous for the U.S. stock market historically. However, while the overall market may muddle through just fine, the same may not be true for the different sectors and factors that compose a broad…
- Categories Factors, S&P 500 & DJIA
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Rising Rates’ Repercussions
Which of the figures in Exhibit 1 belong together? Even if puzzles aren’t your strong suit, it’s not hard to observe that A and C are similar, as are B and D. A and C are not like B and D. Exhibit 1’s puzzle is rooted in recent economic news, specifically in the consensus view…
- Categories Factors, S&P 500 & DJIA
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The S&P 500 in the Years of Rate Hikes
Overnight rates in the U.S. are one of two major levers that the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) can pull to change the course of inflation and employment, the other being quantitative easing. At present, the market expects the Fed to move both levers in the near future: hiking rates and starting to wind down…
- Categories S&P 500 & DJIA
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Will Inflation Actually Be Transitory?
“Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon in the sense that it is and can be produced only by a more rapid increase in the quantity of money than in output.” – Milton Friedman “If we do see what we believe is likely a transitory increase in inflation … I expect that we will…
- Categories Equities, Fixed Income
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Treasuries Market Flashes Red, Fed Unleashes Tsunami
As global financial markets grapple with assessing the economic impact of COVID-19, U.S. Treasury yields reached unprecedented levels. On March 9, 2020, the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury Bond fell to an intra-day low of 0.32%. This was a drop of more than 125 bps from just three weeks earlier. As market participants fled…
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How S&P DJI’s Fixed Income Indices Harness Data and Technology to Power the Markets of the Future
Thanks to the clever ad campaign by Policygenius, riders of the NYC subway have been reminded that we were promised glass-domed houses, flying cars, and vacation homes in outer space by 2020. Although robot maids may have come true via Amazon’s Alexa, they definitely fall short of the robot maid Rosie from the cartoon The…
- Categories Fixed Income
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Channeling Maverick and the Maestro: The Fed Cut Rates because “We Were Inverted”
One of the classic scenes from the original Top Gun movie recounts the exchange Maverick (Tom Cruise) had with a MiG-28. Maverick corrects Charlie’s (Kelly McGillis) intelligence report on the Russian fighter jet with his eyewitness account. When she asks how he saw a MiG-28 perform a 4G dive from above, he responds: “Because I…
- Categories Fixed Income
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S&P 500 On Pace For Best January Since 1989
In the first seven trading days of 2019, the S&P 500 had its hottest start since 2003. That happened following the Fed’s message that it was in no hurry to raise interest rates. The Fed met again yesterday signaling it might end the interest rate increases, which pushed the S&P 500 up 1.55% for the day (Jan….
- Categories Equities, S&P 500 & DJIA
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- Equities, S&P 500 & DJIA
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Communication Services Is Getting Louder
Since the sector shakeup on Sep. 24, 2018, the S&P 500 fell 19.5% through the close of Dec. 24, 2018 then rebounded 12.2% by the close of Jan. 23, 2019 for a loss of 9.6% in the full period. The annualized volatility of 22.8% in the past 82 days has been the highest since the 82…
- Categories Equities, S&P 500 & DJIA
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