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Data Update 2 for 2022: US Stocks kept winning in 2021, but…

Musings on Markets

I do believe that too much is often made of these differences, as it is generally more the rule than the exception that markets, when they are up strongly, get the bulk of that rise from a small sub-set of stocks or sectors.

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Russia in Ukraine: Let Loose the Dogs of War!

Musings on Markets

The overriding message in all of this data is that Russia/Ukraine war has unleashed fears in the bond market, and once unleashed that fear has pushed up worries about default and default risk premia across the board.

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Data Update 1 for 2021: A (Data) Look Back at a Most Forgettable Year (2020)!

Musings on Markets

While the universe of companies is diverse, with approximately half of all firms from emerging markets, it is more concentrated in market capitalization, with the US accounting for 40% of global market capitalization at the start of the year.

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Data Update 3: Inflation and its Ripple Effects!

Musings on Markets

While we have increasingly given central banks primacy in discussions of interest rates, it remains my view that markets set rates, and while central banks can nudge market expectations, they cannot alter them. Connecting this linkage to the discussion of US inflation in the prior sections, here are the takeaways.

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Data Update 2 for 2023: A Rocky Year for Equities!

Musings on Markets

No matter how you slice it, there is no denying that 2022 was the worst year for US equity investors since 2008, and the magnitude of the damage is even more staggering, if you consider it in market value terms. trillion in market capitalization, but for balance, it is also worth noting that US equities are still holding on to a gain of $6.9

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Market Resilience or Investors In Denial? A Mid-year Assessment for 2023!

Musings on Markets

Exacerbating the pain, corporate default spreads rose during the course of 2022: While default spreads rose across ratings classes, the rise was much more pronounced for the lowest ratings classes, part of a bigger story about risk capital that spilled across markets and asset classes. that was lost last year.

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Data Update 6 for 2023: A Wake up call for the Indebted?

Musings on Markets

Note that this framework applies for all businesses, from the smallest, privately owned businesses, where debt takes the form of bank loans and even credit card borrowing and equity is owner savings, the largest publicly traded companies, where debt can be in the form of corporate bonds and equity is shares held by public market investors.

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