JXI News and Press, iShares Global Utilities From 04/11/22

Does the yield curve inversion cause a recession or does it just provide a signal? Is the inversion only about expected future monetary policy? Do other factors also influence the shape of the curve, and if so, can we disentangle the various factors? There is a lot that we don’...

Inflation expectations have kept the Federal Reserve center stage as they commenced their interest rate rising cycle in March. The war in Ukraine and Omicron’s spread in China impacted inflation and supply chains differently, but both delay supply chain normalization. Regar...

Stock markets fell in the first quarter as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine destabilized the growth outlook, amplified concerns about rising interest rates and unleashed geopolitical risks. While the conflict has created many uncertainties, we believe the impact of persistent infla...

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...

Inflation and its implications for real economic growth are the main portfolio positioning consideration of the conflict in Ukraine. On the 8th of March, the U.S. sanctioned Russian energy imports, giving companies 45 days to comply. Higher commodity prices are not the only factor...

Almost every commodity rose in prices last week, as did the dollar. Those two factors - rising dollar and rising commodity prices - mean the likelihood of recession in the coming year has risen significantly in just the last week. There was considerable volatility in stocks last week,...

Emerging Markets are outperforming the rest of the world, due in large part to windfall profits in the commodities-exporting countries of South America and the Middle East. If you want to follow the money, this is a good place to start. Money has been flowing out of tech, consumer dis...

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the biggest conventional military attack in Europe since World War II, has wide-ranging implications for economies and markets around the world. Disruptions from this war and the higher energy prices that result could significantly dampen Europe&#x...

According to the Census Bureau’s latest report for the month of January 2022, seasonally adjusted sales by mostly online operators skyrocketed by 14.5% from December 2021. Census reported a huge increase in retail across most segments. Total retail sales were up an enormous 3.7...

Industrial production jumped 1.4 percent in January. This was led by an increase in utility output, which surged 9.9 percent for the month, with natural gas up 24.2 percent and electric up 7.6 percent. Manufacturing output - about 74 percent of total output - posted a modest 0.2 perce...