FLLA News and Press, Franklin FTSE Latin America From 08/02/22

Economies of Latin America and Caribbean have continued their strong post-pandemic rebound, but the winds are shifting as global financial conditions are tightening and commodity prices are reversing their upward trend, while inflationary pressures persist. The reopening of contact-in...

The global economic outlook has deteriorated sharply; we now expect GDP growth to be well below potential in 2023. While the near-term economic outlook is challenging, not all downturns are catastrophic - unlike those during the pandemic and global financial crisis. The economic o...

Global equity markets outside of the United States are completing a second negative quarter, with the MSCI ACWI ex US IMI Index down 11.33% in the three months through June 24. Looking at the major regions, China and other Asian emerging markets are completing a difficult quarter, wit...

Emerging markets central banks were ahead of developed markets in hiking rates, and we believe EM local currency bonds may offer yield and diversification potential as U.S. rates rise. Higher energy prices and commodity-led inflationary pressures have benefitted the currencies of seve...

As we entered 2022, many emerging markets were already hurting due to higher commodity prices and rising interest rates; then a war in eastern Europe sent shock waves through the markets. The conflict in Ukraine likely bodes poorly for Eastern Europe more broadly, expanding beyond Rus...

Azul sees an extremely bullish future ahead on transformed cost structure and revenue streams. Azul missed earnings expectations due to the Omicron variant in Q1 2022. Recession fear poses the biggest risk to airlines at this point. For further details see: Azul: Bullish...

Petrobras has continued to have a "Brazil discount" despite an impressive portfolio of assets. The company's Campos Basin revitalization will cost $16 billion but help the company's production substantially. Going forward we expect the company to continue generating substantial FC...

EM debt currently offers value to investors with a medium- to long-term horizon and a willingness to tolerate a period of higher volatility. EM sovereign high-yield spreads are particularly compelling, especially relative to U.S. high-yield debt. Longer term, we believe the outloo...

Follow the Money is a series of brief, information-rich posts that I will publish periodically but not on a fixed schedule. After rallying for 9 of the last 11 days, the S&P 500 went from down -13% to down just -3.4%. Growth has been hit hard by the slide in tech stocks this y...

The yield curve has flattened considerably and the spread between the 2-year and 10-year Treasury yield is currently just 25 basis points. Many of the large, popular stocks are still grossly overvalued in my opinion. Value stocks continue to outperform. For further details s...