News

AXS Investments to Acquire Knowledge Leaders Capital October 04, 2023

Posted by Steven Vannelli, CFA in Knowledge Leaders, News

We’re delighted to share some firm news today: AXS Investments to Acquire Knowledge Leaders Capital, Adding Unique ETFs and Industry Pioneers to its Growing Team NEW YORK, Oct. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — AXS Investments, a leading asset manager providing access to alternative investments for growth, income and diversification, is…

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The Market Thinks the BoJ is In Play September 22, 2023

Posted by Steven Vannelli, CFA in Economy, Markets, News

The Bank of Japan met last night to cap off a week of central bank activity. From their policy statement: “The Bank decided, by a unanimous vote, to set the following guideline for market operations for the intermeeting period. The short-term policy interest rate: The…

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Dysfunction in China August 15, 2023

Posted by Steven Vannelli, CFA in Economy, Markets, News

Today was a disaster for Chinese economic data. In the table below, we can see that every single data point missed consensus expectations in the wrong direction. Activity undershot expectations across the board. Data for China has been trending down for most of the year,…

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Hanging Tough? AI Sentiment Shows Hawkish Fed June 22, 2023

Posted by Knowledge Leaders Team in Economy, Markets, News

After yesterday’s testimony by Fed Chair Jerome Powell to the US House of Representatives I analyzed its sentiment on key issues compared to his previous four FOMC policy statements, using ChatGPT. The table below shows the results. Unsurprisingly, ChatGPT left the sentiment for both inflation…

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BoJ Taking it Easy June 21, 2023

Posted by Steven Vannelli, CFA in Economy, Markets, News

Today the minutes of the April 27-28, 2023, Bank of Japan meeting were released. Below in italics are the top ten highlights generated by our AI engine. The Bank of Japan (BoJ) has been conducting purchases of various financial instruments and providing funds without setting…

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Atlanta and Cleveland Have it Right on Inflation June 13, 2023

Posted by Steven Vannelli, CFA in Economy, News

Using our AI engine, we prompted a description of the Atlanta Fed’s Flexible CPI. What we got was a pretty decent explanation: “The Atlanta Fed Flexible Price Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measure that is calculated from a subset of goods and services included…

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International Demand Explodes for Short-Term US Treasuries June 06, 2023

Posted by Knowledge Leaders Team in Economy, News

Two weeks ago, we noted that Congress would soon raise the debt ceiling, but that this could set up unexpected consequences for investors. Now that that the debt ceiling is raised until 2025, the US Treasury is free to fund the government’s liabilities since January….

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Best Part of Jobs Report June 05, 2023

Posted by Steven Vannelli, CFA in Economy, News

Of course, over 300,000 people getting new jobs is good unto itself, particularly for those with newfound opportunity. But, for the last several years, as the “great resignation” took hold, there were not many new workers coming into the workforce, leading to falling unemployment. This…

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U.S. Core PCE Inflation is Still Not Coming Down June 02, 2023

Posted by Knowledge Leaders Team in Economy, News

In the United States, Core PCE Inflation is still 5.0% after a recent reversal in disinflation. This measure is followed by the Fed and excludes volatile food and energy inflation. It has remained elevated on an annualized quarterly basis, with a 1-year percent change of…

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Mid-Quarter Update: Tightening Credit May 17, 2023

Posted by Steven Vannelli, CFA in Economy, News

Credit conditions are tightening in both Europe and the United States. Our analysis follows in our mid-quarter update, Tightening Credit. ​​​​Prefer to download this presentation in PDF? Please click here.   1. Summary -Credit conditions in both Europe and the United States tightened significantly recently….

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European Earnings by Sector: Winners and Losers May 05, 2023

Posted by Knowledge Leaders Team in Markets, News

While earnings season in the US is winding down, European companies generally take a bit longer to report, which puts us squarely in the middle of Europe’s earnings season. Today, we will examine trends in fully reported developed Europe large-cap companies by sector. Our basket…

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