It’s hard to imagine the economic data getting worse, and yet the U.S. equity market has posted the second best 20-day rally on record.
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Investors who’ve been rattled by volatility in their fixed income portfolios may be seeking assurance about their underlying holdings.
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For months, I have talked about the importance of policy in combatting the COVID 19 crisis: health policy, monetary policy, and fiscal policy. All three prongs need to be adequate and effective in order for the US economy to recovery quickly. While the Federal Reserve has bent over backwards to provide accommodation to support the US economy and markets, fiscal stimulus is still a work in progress.
In this week’s commentary I talk with Andy Blocker, Invesco’s Head of US Government Affairs, who breaks down where we are today in terms of fiscal policy – and what to expect next.
Our market strategists weigh in on what drove a recent market rally, how the shutdown will affect the economy and markets, and what additional government support may be coming.
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Recent market volatility has elicited a flurry of questions from advisors and investors alike.
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No two crises are exactly the same, but past crises can help you learn, improve and gain confidence in the processes you employ when you face the next one.
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Last week was another momentous one for economies and markets, with particular attention being paid to the economic recovery in China, earnings season for U.S. stocks, and the Federal Reserve’s views on interest rates. Below, my colleagues from the Global Market Strategy Office and I answer some of the most pressing questions we have received from clients in recent days:
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Earnings season is heating up in earnest, giving investors a clear glimpse into the economic impact of the global lockdowns designed to slow the spread of the coronavirus. While investors brace themselves for bleak business results, we are so glad to see that these lockdowns appear to be working as intended from a public health perspective – many countries show evidence of “flattening the curve” of infections and fatalities. This is leading to the inevitable conversations of how best to re-open economies – a task that will require caution so as not to overwhelm health care resources with a second wave of infections.
With all of this as background, our portfolio managers continue to look for ways to guard against the looming risks and to position themselves to find opportunities in the recovery – no matter what path that might take. In this blog, I highlight the perspectives of four Invesco investment experts:
The last few days have reminded us of the efficacy of policy, even in times of great uncertainty.
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The COVID-19 global outbreak that started in early January represents an exogenous shock to the global growth cycle, at a time when the world economy was on the cusp of a new synchronized cyclical recovery. Driven by this shock, our macro framework moved into a global contraction regime in February (i.e., global growth expected to be below trend and decelerate).
This regime remains in place today and is broad-based across regions (Exhibit 1). Furthermore, given the increased severity of the lockdown and quarantine measures undertaken by governments around the world, it is highly likely that most, if not all, countries and regions will experience a significant recession in the first half of 2020. Therefore, we expect the economic data to deteriorate meaningfully over the next few months.
At this stage it is difficult to determine how long this macro environment will persist. Historically, contraction regimes in our framework have lasted on average six months with wide dispersions, ranging between two and 15 months across all episodes since the 1970s. We will continue to follow the data and the framework as it runs its course, but it is nonetheless valuable to compare the current downturn to recent episodes of financial turmoil, despite meaningful differences in the source of the shock and market imbalances.
A great deal of news has been announced over the last week, and it can be difficult to determine what’s the most meaningful for markets. Here are the items I’m focused on this week.
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The Greek historian and general Thucydides famously said, “History is philosophy teaching by examples.” That brilliant observation came to mind when we were thinking about how history can be a valuable guide for navigating volatile market environments.
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Given the high level of volatility and the recent market selloffs, we thought it would be helpful to provide our perspective on what we have seen in Global Equity markets in February, March, impact on portfolio and what our outlook is.
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The spread of COVID-19 has created unprecedented market turmoil. While the equity space garners the most headline attention, it’s been a very volatile time for the fixed income markets, particularly within the investment-grade space. In fact, over the last few weeks, we’ve witnessed six out of the 10 largest one-day moves in history.
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The roadmap to recovery suggests that markets in the near term are likely to continue to be volatile and the markets may even retest prior lows.
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In the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, we talked about the need for an effective, global, three-pronged approach in order to achieve a “best-case scenario” outcome: 1) an appropriate health policy response to “flatten the curve” and control the spread of the virus; 2) an adequate monetary policy response to support financial markets and the economy; and 3) an adequate fiscal policy response to help soften the economic blow to households and businesses. We saw effective approaches, in different forms, in both China and South Korea. Now we are looking to other policymakers to provide effective strategies as the novel coronavirus spreads.
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The three-pronged fight against COVID-19 and its economic impact continues. Central banks are providing monetary policy support to keep banks and markets functioning, national governments are providing fiscal policy support to consumers and businesses, and governments at all levels are taking public health policy steps to contain the spread of the virus. (Not to mention the tireless dedication of the health care workers on the front lines and the scientists searching for treatments and vaccines.)
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Before I answer the following specific questions, let me first say that these are the sorts of times we live for as fund managers. Volatility provides opportunity, uncertainty leads to mis-pricing. Work we have done over several years can now be brought into use: we have already run the ruler over many businesses which used to trade at fair values but which now trade at bizarrely cheap valuations.
Decisions we make in these weeks of high-intensity can be crucial for performance both in absolute and relative terms. And Asian & Emerging Markets Equity of previous situations of similar intensity (1998, 2001, 2003, 2008/09, 2015/16) helps inform these crucial decisions. While I am deeply unhappy with the performance of our investment strategy this year, I believe there are now many buying opportunities out there.
In last week’s blog, members of Invesco’s Global Market Strategy (GMS) team in Hong Kong, Italy, London, Tokyo and New York shared their on-the-ground insights of the fight against coronavirus from a health care, monetary, and fiscal perspective. Today, we take a deeper dive into the potential implications of the pandemic on U.S. stocks and bonds, as well as the GMS team’s view of asset allocation considerations.
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Chuck Noland, Tom Hanks’ character in the movie Cast Away, may have perfectly captured the mood we need to bring to these challenging times, when he said, “I gotta keep breathing. Because tomorrow the sun will rise. Who knows what the tide could bring?”
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