February saw some global stock indexes reach 15-year highs and European bond yields fall to historical lows. Economic data were mildly positive, though European sovereign debt stress is back (it never really went away) and many emerging markets countries are easing monetary policy to relieve the stress of high debt levels. Crude oil staged a…

The European Central Bank showed policymakers can still pack some punch as the bank’s decision to expand quantitative easing efforts gave a boost to local equity and bond markets in January. The Swiss National Bank also surprised, but in a different manner—removing a floor under the franc/euro exchange rate caused the franc to soar and…

Plunging commodity prices were a key driver of asset prices during the fourth quarter, though regional economic and earnings growth as well as diverging monetary policy also came into play. It was a happy holiday for investors in US equities, which benefitted from robust economic and earnings data, as well as those with exposure to…

Markets maintained a positive tone in November, continuing their recovery from a sell-off, which had lasted through mid-October. Earnings and economics releases supported developed equities, while bonds were buoyed by dovish central banker comments and weak inflation data across many countries. Crucial to the latter has been a decline in oil prices to a four-year…

Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player, that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more; it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. —Shakespeare’s Macbeth Whether volatility, like “Life” in the quote from Shakespeare, means something or nothing may depend…

Global developed and emerging markets stocks posted minor gains during the third quarter, but this disguises an uptick in volatility as economic growth and thus monetary policy appear to be diverging across regions; fixed income assets such as European sovereigns and credit continue to post strong gains, but lower real yields are causing associated currencies…

The so-called Goldilocks environment for risk assets persisted in August, as dovish comments emanating from a meeting of the world’s central bankers in Jackson Hole and weaker economic data helped convince investors that interest rate hikes are not imminent; US stocks led developed markets equities higher and the S&P 500 passed the key psychological 2,000…

Emerging markets equities continued their recent run of strong performance as earnings and macro data improved while developed markets stocks struggled given richer valuations and tensions with Russia; as some sovereign yields reached historical lows, European bonds continued to generate healthy returns. Equity markets were mainly unchanged in July as generally positive earnings and macro…

Risk assets resumed their ascent during the second quarter as central banks delivered on dovish expectations; investors shrugged off disappointing macro and earnings data and volatility ebbed around historical lows. Economic and earnings growth disappointed during the second quarter and geopolitical tension escalated in a key oil-producing region, yet risk assets resumed their upward assent….

Emerging markets and Japanese equities rebounded in May as global equities overall enjoyed another strong month; bonds also continue to rally across regions as data have been softer and further easing is expected from the ECB (and possibly others). Interest rates continue to drop across the globe, with most developed markets central banks offering dovish…