Category: Blog

The U.S. Unemployment Rate Is Historically Low But the FOMC projection suggests that the unemployment rate cannot improve indefinitely. Image: Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond

Increased Number of Zombie Companies Artificially low interest rates and investor demand for leveraged loans have created zombie firms. Image: Jupiter Asset Management

New Secular Bull Market? This chart shows a perspective on secular bull and bear markets since 1930. Picture Source: ClearBridge Investments

Strength of Economic Expansions The current business cycle is the longest expansion, but it’s also the weakest. Picture Source: ClearBridge Investments

Fed Rate Cut Is Not Necessarily a Sell Signal This chart shows the S&P 500 Index performance, 6 and 12 months after an initial Federal Reserve rate cut. You may also like “S&P 500 Performance Around Previous Fed Cuts.” Image: LPL Research

Is Gold a Good Asset When Stock Prices Are Falling? This chart shows gold and S&P 500 index performance during S&P 500 declines. Image: Wells Fargo Investment Institute

Gold, U.S. Dollar, 10-Year Treasuries Bonds around 10% S&P 500 Declines The chart shows the average performances of gold, U.S. dollar, 10-year Treasury bonds, around S&P 500 corrections of -10% or more since 1976. Image: Wells Fargo Investment Institute

Global PMI vs. G10 Central Banks Rates Cut When Global PMI is weak, as is currently the case, G10 central banks have always cut rates. Image: Nordea and Macrobond

To Date, the Longest U.S. Expansion in History However, this chart shows that the average growth rate of the current expansion is among the slowest. Image: Bloomberg

Trailing 12-month Return Differential between U.S. and non-U.S. Stocks Not so long ago, international stocks led the way over U.S. stocks. They could beat US stocks over next decade. Image: Vanguard

The Secular Trend for U.S. Interest Rates This nice chart shows the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield against the natural rate (nominal R-Star) and monetary velocity. In a sense, it explains the secular trend for U.S. interest rates. Image: Fidelity Investments