Macroeconomic Analysis

Russia’s inflation rate had been trending upward since the beginning of 2014, in tandem with the ruble’s decline. But the country’s central bank believes that the worst is now over for Russia.

In the eighth week of 2017, BNSF’s overall intermodal traffic rose slightly by 0.8% YoY to ~100,000 containers and trailers.

Canadian Pacific’s (CP) intermodal volumes have been on roll for the past few weeks. It reported a 3.6% YoY rise for the week ended February 4.

According to data compiled by Edmunds.com, the lease penetration rate in the US auto market in August 2016 was 29.7% compared to 28.2% in August 2015.

An early contraction, middle bear phase seems to suggest that we are near the end of the current business cycle.

BNSF Railway’s (BRK-B) total railcars for the week ended December 10, 2016, fell 5.5% to ~95,000 units, compared to ~100,000 units on a year-over-year basis.

The Principles for Responsible Investment (or PRI) calls itself “the world’s leading proponent of responsible investment.”

Don’t panic when financial news headlines jump out at you. If you’re ready to remain invested for the long term, you could see better returns in equities compared to other asset classes.

As a group, policymakers seem utterly confused regarding their reading of the economic situation, inflation, and the labor market.

The EIA reported that the four-week average US gasoline demand fell by 36,000 bpd (barrels per day) to 9,296,000 bpd between September 30 and October 7, 2016.

The hospital sector is widely considered a non-cyclical or defensive industry, meaning demand for hospital services doesn’t change with the economic cycle.

Limited crude oil storage facilities caused crude oil storage costs to rise to $0.90 per barrel on February 9, 2016—compared to $0.10 per barrel in August 2015.

Trends and fashions come and go in life and in the stock market. To make money from sector rotation, you’ll want to follow these steps.

Macao’s shift from VIP gaming to the mass gaming market and non-gaming revenue is expected to benefit Macao in the long run.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s report on June 29, 2016, US crude oil inventories fell by 4.1 MMbbls in the week ended June 24, 2016.

February 2017 WTI (West Texas Intermediate) crude oil (PXI) (ERX) (USL) (ERY) futures contracts rose 0.1% and settled at $53 per barrel on December 23, 2016.

Europe’s average unemployment has fallen to a four-year low of 9.8% as of 2016. Greece’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 23.5% in January 2017.

Indian jewelers have called off their 43-day strike, which began as a reaction to a 1% excise duty on gold jewelry.

According to the EIA’s (U.S. Energy Information Administration) report on October 5, 2016, US crude oil inventories fell 3.0 MMbbls (million barrels) for the week ended September 30, 2016.

US natural gas inventories are 25% higher than their five-year average. High natural gas inventories could also limit the upside for US natural gas prices.

This is the fifth up day for gold prices in the last ten days. Prices increased by 0.72% more on the average up days than on the average down days over the last ten trading sessions.

Goldman Sachs (GS) suggests crude oil prices could test $20 per barrel in a worst case scenario in 2016.

Gasoline production increased due to lower crude oil prices in 2015 and 1H16. This stemmed from higher refinery margins for oil refiners.

The 1Q16 margins of consumer packaged goods (or CPG) companies sent strong signals. These companies have been investing heavily in innovative products and other growth initiatives.

The Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment notes on its website, “Mutual funds are one of the most dynamic segments within the ESG investing space.”

Taiwan’s economy rose by 0.7% on an annual basis in 2Q16—compared to a contraction of 0.29% in the previous quarter and slightly above estimated forecasts.

The social and economic crisis in Venezuela has resulted in food and medicine shortages, a crippled economy, record high inflation, and falling oil prices.

The EIA reported RBOB gasoline futures contract 1 prices at $1.30 per gallon on November 23, representing a fall of ~1.8% from $1.32 per gallon on October 16.

The companies in the energy sector were weaker on November 11. The major ETFs related to the energy sector such as USO and DBO fell 2.6% and 2.7%.

February 2017 NY Harbor ULSD futures fell and settled at $1.66 per gallon on December 21. Diesel futures fell despite the fall in distillate inventories.

Argentina (ARGT) posted a higher trade deficit for May 2017 at $642 million, mainly due to increasing imports as compared to its exports.

By Michael Orzano, Director, Global Equity Indices Publicly traded property stocks, including real estate investment trusts (or REITs) and real estate operating companies (or REOCs), allow investors to gain exposure to real estate, which is generally an illiquid asset class, without sacrificing the liquidity benefits of listed equities. They also typically offer higher yields than […]

Economic indicators Key economic indicators investors should watch for this week are: US (SPY) services PMI data UK (EWU) services PMI data Eurozone (IEV) (VGK) services PMI data German (EWG) services PMI data Spanish services PMI data French (EWQ) services PMI data Japanese services PMI data US ADP employment data US non-farm payroll data Wrapping up […]

The UBS ETRACS 1x Monthly Short Alerian MLP Infrastructure Total Return Index ETN (MLPS) tracks the Alerian MLP Infrastructure Total Return Index (AMZIX).

Socially responsible investing is known by several terms, including sustainable investing, green investing, and ethical investing.

A crack spread represents the price difference between refiners’ revenues—achieved through the sale of finished refined products—and refiner costs—that is, the price of crude oil.

On November 2, the stocks related to base metals and precious metal miners moved lower. DBB and XME fell 1.3% and 2%, while GLD rose 0.73%.

Retail sales in Malaysia rose 13.9% YoY (year-over-year) in June 2017, compared with its 13.6% gain in May 2017.

November WTI (West Texas Intermediate) crude oil futures contracts rose 0.5% and settled at $50.44 per barrel on October 13.

At 3:45 AM EST on January 11, the DAX Index was trading at 13,275.50—a fall of 0.04%. The iShares MSCI Germany (EWG) fell 0.88% on January 10.