EFA News and Press, iShares MSCI EAFE From 09/08/21

To date, 2021 has been as almost good as it gets for equity investors. Any slowdown in growth has yet to feed into consensus earnings forecasts which have continued to increase over the summer. Investors have few high-yielding alternatives for as long as real and nominal bond yiel...

Emerging market manufacturing slips into contraction for the first time since June 2020. Supply constraints and price pressures affecting developed markets to a greater extent. Risk of capital outflows for emerging markets with divergence in growth momentum from developed markets....

Risk-adjusted performance continued to rise in August for the Global Market Index. Sharpe ratios in global markets generally are elevated. GMI represents a theoretical benchmark for the “optimal” portfolio. For further details see: Major Asset Classes | Aug...

The expected risk premium for the Global Market (GMI) ticked up in August, reaching an annualized 6.1%, slightly above the previous month’s estimate. Despite the comparatively high GMI forecast, the current estimate remains well below the index’s realized risk premium fo...

SPY continues to be the dominant ETF that I follow. All ETFs are within striking distance of new highs. AGG was the only ETF that declined in August. For further details see: My Current View Of The S&P 500 Index: September 2021 Edition

The winning streak for American shares rolled on in August. US stocks rose for a seventh straight month and posted the strongest gain for the major asset classes. US bonds also lost ground in August. The Bloomberg Aggregate Bond Index slipped 0.2%, the first monthly decline for the be...

The “new normal,” we believe, can be analyzed into two major categories: monetary and fiscal, on one hand, and technological, social, and political on the other. In both categories, the “new normal” long predates the pandemic, which has served mainly to acc...

Looking ahead, as the global economy gradually reopens, monetary and fiscal policies continue to be accommodative to support the recovery, and pent-up demand is being released in advanced economies. Fluctuations in aggregate demand, oil price movements, and supply disruptions contribu...

U.S. equity markets retreated on a choppy week after a downbeat slate of economic data heightened concern that the recent COVID resurgence could stall or reverse the global economic reopenings. Exhibiting a reversion back to the "stay at home" trading patterns, the large-cap S&am...

The U.S. is passing the baton in leading the economic restart to other developed markets; but we see fresh challenges in many emerging markets. Better-than-expected U.S. jobs data drove U.S. 10-year bond yields to the highest level in two weeks. U.S. stocks hit record highs. China...