What to do about government bonds? The yield on government bonds is historically low, while the risk is high. In the event of rising inflation, they offer little or no buffer. Nevertheless, we shouldn’t ban them completely from multi-asset portfolios just yet.
Equities are expensive. It’s difficult to argue against this. But does this also mean that markets will fall sharply? Assuming that there are plenty of other factors that could drag […]
An unexpected and unfortunate outbreak of the coronavirus puts pressure on the sustainability of the increase in global growth momentum. The fact that the uptick in momentum had only just […]
Stock markets have been fairly quiet in recent days, moving higher most of the time. But underneath, a spectacular rotation has been going on. Value stocks – which have lagged […]
The chart above, created by JP Morgan, shows the calendar year returns on the S&P 500 Index and the intra-year drops that occurred during those years. This reveals an interesting […]
Charts showing massive divergence are interesting to look at most of the time. And the ‘gap’ chart between US equity and bond returns is no exception. Since the start of […]
With global growth leveling off, investors are more focused than ever on corporate results. These reveal a less rosy picture than in previous years and company expectations are very muted. […]
The impact of central banks should not be underestimated. And I don’t just mean their impact on economic growth and interest rates. Central banks are also a driving force of […]
2018 wasn’t a pretty year for equity markets in general, and for emerging markets in particular. Global stocks fell 4.1% (in euros), whereas emerging market equities realized a negative return […]
Emerging market stocks often produce paltry returns when the US dollar strengthens. But recent developments point to a change in this trend, making emerging markets a more attractive investment prospect. […]
Jeroen Blokland Financial Markets Blog 