China
With a combined market capitalization of $10 trillion, the Shenzhen and Shanghai stock exchanges are the second largest in the world, writes Tony Tan, DBA, CFA, and recent research demonstrates that, contrary to popular perception, they don't move in lockstep or mostly in response to macro factors. Investors searching for alpha cannot ignore them.
The US Federal Reserve has offered conflicting messages on interest rates ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting next week. Ron Rimkus, CFA, tries to make sense of the noise and offers a wrap-up of other key issues affecting global markets for fundamental investors.
Marc Faber discussed how the global balance of economic power has shifted over the past decade and what it means for investors, at the 2016 Financial Analysts Seminar.
The key to success for emerging markets is to reform institutions to compete for talent and capital on a global scale, according to Martyn Davies. Diversification is not a policy, but a “people-driven initiative” about attracting skilled workers and intellectual property.
Macroeconomic insights continue to point toward an improving economy, says Scott Krisiloff, CFA, in his latest rundown of news from the C-suite. But Silicon Valley is increasingly on the defensive.
The retail sector continued to report soft earnings last week. As retail spending moves increasingly online, it's clear that the United States has too many retail outlets, and that the industry will need to shrink over time. That could pose problems for those with investments in the sector.
Ten years ago, we thought the world was running out of oil, that China and other emerging market countries would have insatiable energy demand growth, and that production costs would generally rise over time. We were wrong. Energy expert Amy Myers Jaffe explains why.
In the latest Weekend Reads compilation, Shreenivas Kunte, CFA, curates readings on the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting, interest rates, the economic outlook in China and India, and more.
Willis Sparks of the Eurasia Group discussed the potential effects of geopolitics as a market influencer in his presentation to the CFA Institute Middle East Investment Conference in Bahrain.
I don't know about you, but I find that vacations — and by that I mean vacations that are largely free from the distraction and intrusion of email — offer a rare opportunity for reflection. It's always helpful to have some distance from the office or one's country of residence to get a fresh perspective.