Financial News & Insights

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK U.S. equity markets were unbowed by escalating trade actions between the U.S. and China this week. The S&P500 reached new highs bolstered by healthy earnings reports and growth in share buybacks. Equity market optimism is backed up by an economy set to grow

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK Concerns about emerging markets continued to weigh on investor sentiment this week, with the selloff in EM assets and currencies spreading beyond Turkey and Argentina. Meanwhile, domestic data remained positive. ISM indices for both manufacturing and services se

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK Markets reacted positively to developments that the U.S. and Mexico had reached a trade deal. Details still need to be finalized, including Canada’s position. A revised, trilateral agreement looks unlikely to be achieved today. Data was broadly positive this wee

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK  Financial markets jitters have eased somewhat this week as concerns about emerging countries have temporarily subsided, helped in part by a lower U.S. dollar. Economic data was mixed. U.S. business investment remained upbeat in July, with new orders of capital

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK  Concerns about Turkey drove market volatility this week, but U.S. equity markets managed a rebound. Strong retail sales and historically-high small business optimism suggest a strong economic expansion in the U.S. this quarter. Although concerns eased by week’s

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK  For the second week in a row, action on Chinese import tariffs dominated the economic news, but markets remained positive overall, likely reflecting relief that oil prices have come off their recent highs. Since China retaliated to the first salvo of U.S. tarif

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK A holiday-shortened week was nevertheless chock-full of data releases that confirmed the U.S. economy continues to expand at a strong above-trend pace. Economic activity remains robust, but there are signs that trade uncertainty may be impeding further improveme

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK The BEA’s third estimate of Q1 real GDP downgraded growth slightly to 2.0%, from 2.2% previously. May data did show flat real personal spending, but strength in March and April still set Q2 consumption up for a decent rebound. The Fed’s preferred measure of infl

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK The U.S. economy is barreling ahead with more momentum than we had expected. Our latest forecast upgrades real GDP growth to 3.0% in 2018, from 2.7% in March. 3% is difficult to sustain over the medium term. As the fiscal boost fades, higher interest rates weigh

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK The FOMC raised the fed funds target rate by 25 bp this week. Additionally, median expectations for the fed funds target rose to 2.4% (from 2.1%), suggesting that the committee was leaning toward two more rate hikes this year. Data corroborated the Fed’s hawkish