Lynn Noah

The three US equity indices that we review in this weekly series fell from December 8 to December 15, 2015, after a rebound in oil prices.

The US Treasury holds monthly auctions of three-year Treasury notes. The latest auction was held on July 7.

On July 8, ten-year Treasury notes worth $21 billion were auctioned—the same as the previous week.

Last week, high-grade bond yields rose after upbeat US inflation and retail sales data raised the possibility of a rate hike by the year’s end.

In a press conference on June 14 on its annual Article Four Staff Report, the IMF provided a positive assessment of China’s economy.

China’s Leading Economic Index currently indicates that the country’s economy is facing a downturn. Its LEI remained unchanged at 98.71 points in July 2015.

High yield bond issuance surged last week and hit its highest level in 2016 yet due to continued growth in volume.

Investment-grade corporate bonds worth $28.8 billion were issued in the primary market in the week to May 27, 2016.

The PCE price index is the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation because it covers the broadest set of goods and services.

Overall, $13 billion worth of floating-rate notes were auctioned, the same as in February’s auction.

According to S&P Capital IQ Leveraged Commentary & Data, three collateralized loan obligation deals worth $1.4 billion were priced last week.

The Fidelity China Region Fund Class C (FHKCX) aims to achieve long-term capital growth.

The SSE Composite Index fell by 1.8% from December 2 to December 9 and closed at 3,472.44 on December 9, 2015.

According to the latest SWIFT RMB Tracker, the yuan—also known as the “renminbi”—accounted for 2.3% of the global payments in November 2015.

Flows into investment-grade bond funds were positive last week. Investment-grade bond funds saw net inflows of $907.1 million during the week ending July 6.

Flows into investment-grade bond funds were positive for the week ending on October 14 after witnessing four consecutive weeks of outflows.

The US Treasury auctioned 30-year TIPS (VIPSX)(LTPZ) worth $5 billion on June 22.

China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange, or SAFE, released foreign reserve data for March on April 7, 2016. China’s foreign reserves rose $10.3 billion to $3.2 trillion in March.

Microsoft (MSFT) issued Aaa/AAA rated high-grade bonds worth $19.8 billion through seven parts on August 1, 2016.

China fell into the “mostly unfree” category, according to the Index of Economic Freedom for 2016. It was ranked 144th and scored 52.0 on the index.

The one-child policy in China decreased population growth, but it produced social disadvantages such as gender imbalance and other social problems.

According to a recent Congressional report, 2015 was the worst year on record for human rights violations in China.

A hike in interest rates increases the cost of borrowing for companies. Most publicly traded companies carry at least some debt to fund their operations, and higher borrowing costs can cause their profit margins to contract.

The SSE Composite Index rose slightly by 0.4% to 2,927.16 from June 1 to June 8, 2016, as the market prepared for the long weekend.

Last week, investment-grade bond yields jumped 12 basis points and ended at 3.16%, the highest level since April 5, 2016.

Investor flows into high yield bond funds were negative last week for the second consecutive week. Net outflows from high yield bond funds totaled $1.9 billion.

China is the world’s second-largest economy. Its economy started going downhill due to sluggish global demand. This impacted its trading partners.

The US Department of the Treasury conducted the weekly auction of four-week Treasury bills (or T-bills) on April 26.

The US leveraged loans market saw an allocation of $7.6 billion worth of dollar-denominated senior loans in the week to April 15.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury auctioned 13-week T-bills worth $28 billion on April 11. The offer amount of these bills was the same as the previous auction.

According to the General Administration of Customs, China’s exports, in US dollar terms, jumped 11.5% YoY (year-over-year) in March.

According to the NBS (National Bureau of Statistics of China), China’s GDP grew 6.7% in 1Q16.

Asset managers have warned that costs may rise. They recommend inflation-linked securities such as Treasury inflation-protected securities (or TIPS).

Treasury inflation-protected securities (or TIPS) protect the value of debt securities from eroding due to a rise in inflation.

The Neuberger Berman Greater China Equity Fund – Class A (NCEAX) adopts the value-bias strategy, and its objective is to seek long-term capital return in up and down markets.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury conducted the weekly auction of 13-week Treasury bills on February 16, 2016. The total issuance was worth $37 billion.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury held the weekly 26-week Treasury bill auction on February 16, 2016. T-bills totaling $30 billion were on offer.

Investment-grade bond yields rose 8 basis points month-over-month and ended at 3.5% on November 30 due to high expectations of an interest rate hike in the December policy meeting.

The US Treasury yield curve was flat for the week ended December 18, 2015, as short-term yields fell. Medium- to long-term yields rose after US interest rates rose by 25 basis points.

“Leverage” means borrowing funds for investment purposes. It creates short-term and long-term debt cycles. Short-term debt cycles typically last for 5–8 years.

Chinese policymakers should try to implement Ray Dalio’s three rules of thumb as closely as possible to get the country’s economic growth back on track.

Due to recent stock market turbulence in China’s stock market, the SSE (Shanghai Stock Exchange) Composite Index was down 22.7% month-over-month and ended at 3,200.23 points on September 11.

In the one-month period ended August 4, 2015, each of the four funds we’re covering in this series posted negative returns due to the stock market crash that spread from the end of June until July.