VT News and Press, Vanguard Total World Stock Index From 10/29/21

Faced with strong growth and rising prices, central bankers around the world have signaled that the start of policy normalization is imminent. Financial markets have certainly gotten the message, with expectations for rate hikes over the next couple of years soaring over the past mont...

Low Vol has been in the doldrums for most of the equity rally from the pandemic lows of March 2020, as would be expected based on its historical return patterns. Well-established academic research has found that stocks with lower volatility (or beta) tend to generate higher risk-adjus...

The financial markets today are huge (certainly much bigger than at any time in history), and the hands pushing real yields down (the Federal Reserve and the ECB) are extremely strong. Interestingly, while real yields are at record lows, the supply of financial assets is at record hig...

As we move into Q4, markets are in a tug-of-war involving various good news vs. bad news debates. COVID-19 cases are declining, but central banks are considering tightening monetary policy. Earnings growth is strong, but year-over-year comparisons will become tougher. Employment stati...

The strong economic and market trends of the first half of 2021 wavered during the third quarter. The coronavirus delta variant caught up with the US at the height of the summer, just as vaccinations slowed and concerns grew that inflation might flare and persist. Even so, equity mark...

According to the Federal Reserve, US Industrial Production declined by a large 1.3% in September 2021 from August – with August’s estimate being revised downward to -0.1% month-over-month. We’re led to focus on the narrow and immediate concerns with individual mon...

Investors have shifted focus from the immediate COVID-19 threat to the prospect of a cyclical slowdown and secular stagflation. Investors may also need to process a longer-term adjustment, because of the lasting impact of COVID-19’s shocks to both supply and demand. Markets...

Investors are still being challenged to reconcile high equity valuations with slowing growth, tighter monetary policy and upcoming fiscal drag. Global equities have retreated somewhat from peak levels recorded during since early September but the declines in most sectors have been mod...

Will there be a number of countries there who perhaps feel tempted to keep this unorthodox policy going further, or may even step further away from what we consider normal policy? I think adoption of electric cars, the rate of adoption, will really be driven by the rate of improvement...

As public debt rises to record levels, countries need to calibrate fiscal policies to their own unique circumstances. With the pandemic, global debt in 2020 jumped by 14 percent to a record high $226 trillion. This figure includes both public and nonfinancial private sector debt. ...