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Market Outlooks
[Webinar] Investing with a Goals-Based Framework
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Investing with a Goals-Based Framework Webinar
Date: April 1, 2020
Time: 12 PM ET / 11 AM CT
Policy and Regulatory Commentary
Economic Indicators Suggest President Trump's Reelection
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In testimony on Capitol Hill this week, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell repeatedly praised the strength of the U.S. economy across multiple indicators. He pointed to an historically-low unemployment rate, rising wages, and continual, moderate overall growth. Powell has a notably turbulent relationship with President Donald Trump, but his assessment should have been music to the ears of top White House and Trump campaign officials (even if the president could not help live-Tweeting his criticism of Powell’s testimony). The economy, after all, is historically perhaps the most reliable presidential election indicator.
Policy and Regulatory Commentary
The End of the Caucus?
So that didn’t go as planned. While politicos inside the Beltway and across the country were expecting to get our first real results in the Democratic presidential primary last night, problems with tallying the vote in Iowa have caused a significant delay in reporting the results. In a story posted yesterday, The Associated Press reported Iowa Democratic Party officials had promised that “an early issue with a mobile app designed to report results” would “not hinder the Iowa caucus process.”
Policy and Regulatory Commentary
Do Endorsements Matter? No … and Yes
Last year, we looked at how accurate polls going into the Iowa Caucus have been at predicting the eventual outcome of that state’s first-in-the-nation election. The conclusion, way back then, was that surveys conducted a few months out from voting have not historically been very good at telling us who was going to win.
Market Outlooks
The Brexit Election: What now for the UK and the EU?
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Few political earthquakes come as big as this one. Boris Johnson has defied his critics and skeptics, including many in his own Party, and redrawn the political map of the UK. It is no small triumph that will become part of British folklore. It takes the Conservative electoral support back to the Thatcher years whilst wrenching seats from Labour that had, in many cases, been regarded as untouchable since the 1930s.
Market Outlooks
Fixed Income Market Update
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U.S. economic data surprised to the upside in December with strong employment and growth results and the Fed remained on hold as expected. Progress on tariffs and U.K. election results lowered geopolitical noise for the time being. These developments led to continued improvement in risk sentiment.
Market Outlooks
Low volatility equities: Why now, why active?
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Against the backdrop of a continuing bull market in equities, investor uncertainty has increased with a number of key economic and geopolitical risks, resulting in rising market volatility.
Investors have logically sought to de-risk* portfolios, and given the low interest rate environment, they have rotated significant amounts of money into defensive equities, resulting in stretched valuations for certain pockets of these stocks. At the same time, equity upside remains attractive as accommodative policy and the potential for trade resolution between the U.S. and China could support future gains. As a result, investors now face three competing objectives: how to de-risk portfolios, without overpaying for defensive equities, while maintaining equity upside.
Policy and Regulatory Commentary
The Next Trade War Will Be Digital
At a celebration of the three-centuries’ long relationship between the United States and France last spring in Baltimore, Maryland Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford (R) proclaimed, “The history of Maryland is intertwined with France.” While the lieutenant governor was most likely referring to French immigration to Maryland beginning in the mid-1700s that has created a vibrant “French Town” in Baltimore, the nation and the state seem to still have a lot in common: to the chagrin of other governments, both are pursuing a digital services tax (DST).