Q3 2019 earnings season is now underway. Through Friday, 77 S&P 500 companies have reported results (15%). Analysts estimate S&P 500 earnings growth declined by 3.62%. Typically, as earnings season begins and companies beat artificially low estimates, this growth figure bounces almost 4%. If this historical average holds in Q3, earnings should barely eke out positive growth.
Today's topics include stock buybacks, the latest on Brexit, getting to know Christine Lagarde, the battle between ECB hawks and Draghi, stress in the repo market, the trade war's effect on GDP, swings in stock market sentiment, corporate debt, the rise of political uncertainty, betting on lower crude oil prices and monetary policy driving risk appetite in 2019.
The U.S. is a highly polarized country, which is apparent in many different measures.
The betting markets have been telling us for weeks that Warren is the Democrat leader. The polls and cable news channels are just coming around to this realization. Watch the betting markets. They tell you what the polls and cable news stories will look like several weeks from now.
As the Fed begins purchasing $60 billion of T-bills per month, the composition of its portfolio will change.
Although stocks are within striking distance of all-time highs, sentiment is anything but bullish.
A look at foreign net sales and purchases of U.S. Treasuries, agencies, corporates and equities through August
The Fed's balance sheet has expanded by almost $200 billion due to its repo operations, but this is still a drop in the bucket compared to the combined assets of the biggest central banks.
An interactive visualization showing the GDP per capita of almost every country across the globe.
Endorsements from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar put Bernie Sanders back into third place in the Democrat race.
Select charts from our recent posts