2018

Federal Reserve governor Lael Brainard gave a speech on financial stability yesterday afternoon. The big takeaway is that the "Powell Put" is not very strong. The Fed will stress economic tailwinds and inflation concerns. And it will not…

China has retaliated to US duties with tariffs on $50 billion of US goods. An all-out trade war is a distinct possibility.

The UK says it will leave customs union on in a year's time. But the border issue between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland remains unsolved. And while the Irish border is a particularly vexing issue, there are other near-term…

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The upward momentum for US stocks has broken. The S&P 500 closed below it's 200-day moving average for the first time since March 2016. Chief among the factors causing alarm was China's decision to retaliate against US tariffs. More…

Could public indignation at the Facebook profile harvesting scandal lead to new regulation that could impede the value of some tech-based advertising models? Will it lead to a consumer backlash that slows the growth of the companies…

The next phase in Italian politics has not been much of a market factor. Expect this phase to endure as the formation of a government should take a long time.

First, the recent post-Facebook scandal market volatility has seen Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google follow Facebook down. Second, Donald Trump is acting more boldly and more aggressively now on his economic agenda, on trade and on foreign…

Alarm bells should be ringing with New Jersey increasing the assumed rate of return. This is especially true since they are the most underfunded system in the country. Moreover, letting beneficiaries control their own investments is a…

Many consider the US and South Korea agreement the first success of President Trump's trade strategy. We are less sanguine. We do expect other countries to make concessions to the US grudgingly. But we are concerned the US will be…