While we find U.S. equities attractive, Japan has become a more interesting market, mainly because of the broad political support for the new prime minister, Shinzo Abe. To get Japan out of its deflationary spiral, Abe has pushed forward a number of new monetary and fiscal policies. Both the yen and the Japanese stock market
As 2013 begins, we find that important changes are occurring in the correlation structure of markets that should shape investment strategy. The first important shift is a decline in the elevated correlations across all kinds of equities, which has been a hallmark of recent years. We measured elevated correlations across sectors, across country markets, and
While the European Central Bank has made progress, we believe, on managing near-term liquidity risk, long-term structural issues remain.
Only two years ago, the future seemed bright for nuclear energy. But after the devastating 2011 tsunami in Japan, the world has experienced a sea change in attitudes toward sustainable power sources. Indeed, where nuclear power recently seemed to promise an answer to our global energy needs, natural gas now appears to hold the key.
In emerging markets, the growing strength of the domestic consumer is a powerful long-term investment theme that may benefit a variety of global companies. But while the emerging-market consumer is generally healthy, there is regional and country differentiation that is worth noting. In Brazil, the average income is above $10,000 per year, whereas in China
The U.S. dollar appears relatively stable in a world of structural imbalances.
In the years leading up to the global financial crisis, growth across a number of countries was relatively homogenous. That changed in 2008, as nations implemented markedly different policy responses to the recession. Many emerging economies that sidestepped the debt crisis altogether are now damping down rapid growth, while developed economies continue to experiment with
As indicated by China’s surprise interest-rate cut, global markets offer a variety of macroeconomic conditions and opportunities for active bond investors.
There are two main issues at stake in the European debt markets. The first is a short-term liquidity issue: Will these economically troubled European nations have the capital to make the next interest payments on their debts? The answer, for the time being, appears to be yes: Greece, after receiving massive funding infusions, has been