Behind the Turkish Meltdown What the heck is going on in Turkey? Whatever it is, it’s having a visible effect on the markets. After the Turkish stock market index fell more than 24% since the start of August, Eurozone bank stocks fell 24% and emerging markets stocks overall (a category which includes Turkish stocks) dropped […]
What to Make of the “Trade War” Last week, there was finally some evidence that the investment markets were starting to get jittery about the escalating tit-for-tat tariffs and threats of tariffs that some economists are calling “America vs. the World.” Most investors are probably wondering whether new taxes on items flowing into and out […]
The Trade War that Isn’t—Yet When most of us hear talk about something described as a “war,” we intuitively recognize that there could be very unpleasant outcomes on all sides. Wars have one thing in common: there is seldom a clear-cut “winner” amid the damage and destruction. So when President Trump declares a “trade war” […]
Another Tariff, Another Downturn Last weeks, stocks went on sale again, but there didn’t seem to be a lot of bargain hunters stepping in to take advantage. The S&P 500 dropped 5.9% over five days, its worst week since January 2016. This follows a by-now-familiar pattern: the Trump Administration announces tariffs—this time on Chinese imports […]
Much Ado About… You may have heard about the “Trump Tariffs;” that is, the proposed 25% surtax on all steel imports coming into the U.S. from foreign manufacturers, and a similar 10% surtax on aluminum. The markets certainly noticed; they fell dramatically after the announcement, as investors feared that the move would spark a global […]
So far, the world markets seem to be shrugging off the sabre-rattling coming from North Korea (normal behavior) and the U.S. White House (complete departure from policy). The smart money is betting that the distant but suddenly headline-grabbing possibility of the first conflict between two countries armed with nuclear weapons will amount to a tempest […]
In an effort to secure the U.S. borders, the President has attempted to ban visitors from seven Muslim-majority countries, and is meanwhile quietly instituting “extreme vetting” of visitors from other nations—asking them to turn over their phones, social media passwords and financial records. Even U.S. citizens are experiencing more scrutiny when they attempt to return […]
President Trump’s Unlikely Victory With the election of President Donald Trump, you are advised to prepare for a wild ride in the investment markets; indeed, the markets are already turning sharply negative due to the uncertainties ahead. Will the new President really build an expensive wall across our Southern border? Will he introduce legislation that […]
