FTSD News and Press, Franklin Liberty Short Duration U.S. Government From 04/26/23

2023-04-26 02:20:00 ET Summary On April 25, the Fed released the M2 statistics for the month of March '23, and they were very encouraging. The decline in M2 which began about a year ago is accelerating, with the result that M2 has fallen by almost $900 billion (-4.1%) since its pe...

2023-04-26 01:47:00 ET Summary The change in core inflation during the two-year period following the beginning of a recession has averaged just -0.4%. Rate hikes have a disproportionate impact on interest-sensitive sectors such as housing and durable goods, but the effect on overa...

2023-04-25 12:20:00 ET Summary The general price trend in various US markets, utilizing the median performance of US Diversified Equity Funds (USDEF), measuring from the peak on 2/19/20 to last Thursday, saw a compound gain of +5.93%. However, for the last 2 years, the average USDEF l...

2023-04-24 11:50:00 ET Summary The last two weeks have been the least volatile period for stocks in over two years. The market has been rather boring and stuck in a smaller and smaller range. Money has been flowing into money market funds and out of banks, as investors are satisfi...

2023-04-23 03:59:00 ET Summary Financial theory teaches us that market prices are driven by the outcomes of perfectly rational creatures making split-second decisions fine-tuned to the optimal net present value alternative. There has been a distinct pattern in the bond market ever...

2023-04-22 04:15:00 ET Summary Recent outperformance by large-cap growth stocks may reflect a rotation into long-duration assets as the economy weakens and the turn in the rates cycle approaches. We remain cautious on equities in general, however, given uncertainty about the laggi...

2023-04-21 08:20:00 ET Summary While U.S. growth has remained strong, even accelerating in early 1Q, leading indicators continue to signal recession. Tighter lending standards, as a result of the recent banking crisis, only increase the risk of a hard landing. Part of the inflatio...

2023-04-20 14:16:00 ET Summary Can central banks simultaneously provide liquidity to banks suffering sharp deposit withdrawals while also slowing money and credit creation by raising interest rates? While the massive increase in the Fed balance sheet reserves provides additional l...

2023-04-19 03:09:00 ET Summary Aggressive monetary pressure finally saw meaningful impact in the first quarter, in the form of a bank liquidity crisis that required swift intervention by regulators to limit contagion. Markets reacted with volatility and, in anticipation of tighter...

2023-04-18 10:00:00 ET Summary Without an economy geared toward real savings and increased productivity, ongoing monetary inflation will increasingly make price inflation worse. During periods of economic boom, the money supply tends to grow quickly as commercial banks make more l...