SMLE News and Press, Xtrackers S&P SmallCap 600 ESG ETF From 01/15/23

Summary The CPI cooled again in December driven by a massive fall in Energy prices. A big driver behind the fall in Energy prices has been the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Lower inflation is “good for gold” as the Fed can theoretically pull back on hikes. ...

Summary U.S. nearing its statutory debt limit of ~$31.281 trillion. Congressional gridlock on changing the debt limit appears likely. Fed QT roll-off of $60 billion in U.S. Treasury securities is continuing. Secretary of Treasury, Yellen, has warned the Speaker of the U.S. House...

Summary Why the second half of 2023 may be good for markets. Inflation may be cooling, but the labour market isn't. Why investors are having a mixed reaction to encouraging CPI numbers. U.S. consumer inflation data showed prices softening in December. Greg Bonnell ...

Summary Market divergence between bulls and bears in 2023. Are markets listening to what central banks are saying about interest rates? Why perception may be worse than reality when it comes to market sentiment. There appear to be widely differing views on what 202...

Summary A classic "blood in the streets" moment has arrived with mass layoffs. Investor pessimism is at 20-year highs by some measures. High short interest is a powder keg waiting to explode in the bulls' favor. One of the perverse ironies of the investing world is that wh...

Summary The current backdrop is also saddled with regulations. Add in rising interest rates, and that makes for a difficult investment scene. The NFIB small business report confirms that and sums it up nicely. This is a bad economy. The "technical" view of the market presents an unc...

Summary It will be a busy week filled with a wide range of economic indicators, lots of Fed speak, and earnings season heats up. The run-up to the February ECB meeting is going to bring immense focus on incoming data and central bank speak. So it turns out the UK may have just about...

Summary Most asset classes generated a negative return last year. Despite declines in December, asset classes were largely positive in the 4th quarter. One cannot predict stock market bottoms, but the market pullback in 2022 is creating an environment maybe like 1982, i.e., an oppor...

Summary I still maintain that inflationary pressures peaked in June and will continue declining - I expect core-goods deflation in 2023. The month-over-month headline inflation rate actually came in negative 0.1% for December – the first time in over two-and-a-half years. The...

Summary The preliminary January results from the University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers show overall consumer sentiment improved for the month but remains low. The current-economic-conditions index rose to 68.6 versus 59.4 in December. The overall levels of consumer sentiment m...