EFA News and Press, iShares MSCI EAFE From 12/21/22

Summary Return divergences were largely an outgrowth of the collapse in resource stocks. Amid the extreme risk-on/risk-off swings in sentiment spurred by the pandemic and Russia/Ukraine war, industry performances have been as polarized as they've ever been in a decade. The turbulent...

Summary Inflation continues to moderate, not only here, but also in Europe. Despite the negative economic reports and the reaction to the Fed rate hike, the US Dollar barely budged for the week. Value yet again outperformed Growth in the last week, this time by a spread of almost 1%...

Summary China’s inflection point began with the easing of access to credit in the property sector in October 2022. If the International Monetary Fund’s forecasts for resilient EM economic growth in 2023 prove to be correct, this should have a positive effect on revenue tre...

Summary While it’s been a tough year, the Federal Reserve has done investors an enormous favor in terms of the attractiveness of a wide swath of fixed-income asset classes that today look a lot more attractive than a year ago. Jay Powell and the FOMC did raise the Fed funds rate ...

Summary US equity markets have gotten off to a very weak start to December with four consecutive declines to start the month (and futures on Wednesday pointing to a fifth straight day). For most of the year heading into December, we saw the bond market fall in tandem with stocks, but re...

Summary Expectations surrounding central bank policy, China’s gradual reopening and a lower US dollar are key to investor sentiment in the final stretch of 2022. Central banks have increased interest rates at the fastest rate on record, and there are signs that higher yields are ...

Summary The era of cheap money and low inflation is over. We see an opportune time for active equity managers to shine. We believe the recent correction is more than just another crank of the economic cycle. Not all earnings are created equal. We find the gap between companies...

Summary Surging stocks show markets believe hopes of a soft landing by the Fed to be true. We disagree and stay underweight developed market (DM) stocks. U.S. stocks jumped and bond yields plunged after October CPI rose less than the market expected. But sticky core inflation keep...

Summary After rallying 9% off the October 12 bottom, the market pulled back last week but still sits 5.4% above the low point. Commodities are trouncing all other major asset classes on a YTD basis, largely due to the rise in oil, natural gas, and agricultural prices. The newe...

Summary SCZ has underperformed U.S. stocks and global stocks. SCZ offers good value relative to other segments around the world. Investors should be mindful of the SCZ portfolio’s elevated exposure to Japanese equities. If you don't go out on the branch, y...