TRADE DEAL: AS EASY AS ONE, TWO, THREE? Driving equity markets again is the hope that the trade war can soon be resolved, even though no real steps forward have [...]

TRUMP LOOKING FOR A "GOOD" DEAL WITH CHINA Despite conflicting information about the trade talks between China and the US, investors remain relatively upbeat about the outcome and have accordingly [...]

NO HALLOWEEN FRIGHT FOR EQUITY INVESTORS After faring badly in the early part of October, markets are reflecting a higher propensity towards risk-taking. The most widely followed stock indices rose [...]

INVESTORS REACTING CALMLY TO NEWS Risk assets were bid upwards last week following an easing in geopolitical stress. A ‘hard Brexit’ now seems less likely, and the UK will be [...]

BREXIT SAGA DRAGS ON Brexit has continued to hog the headlines since the UK prime minister and the EU came up with a new withdrawal deal, which incidentally has sent [...]

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At the moment, it looks as if equity markets are disconnected from economic fundamentals, that is, the near-universal slowdown in growth and the downward revisions in corporate earnings estimates. Despite [...]

Last week’s testimony by Jerome Powell to the US Senate bolstered investors’ belief that short-term interest rates are indeed headed downwards. Powell’s remarks sent the S&P 500 index to a [...]

The US official jobs report for June shot past consensus estimates. In total, the US economy added 224,000 jobs last month whereas 160,000 had been expected. One might wonder whether [...]