Beyond Bulls & Bears

Fixed Income

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Fixed Income

Global Economic Perspective: May

In this month’s Global Economic Perspective, Franklin Templeton Fixed Income Group examines the aftermath of the French election in Europe, signs of a pickup in global growth and whether Japan’s “Abenomics” experiment is working.

Christopher J. Molumphy, CFA |
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Fixed Income

Trade and Taxes in a World With Borders

“Successful [US] corporate tax reform would go a long way in promoting the incentives for real investment over the long term. Since weak investment has been identified as a potential drag on productivity growth since the global financial crisis, this shift in incentives could have strong and long-lived benefits.” - Michael Hasenstab

Michael Hasenstab, Ph.D. |
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Fixed Income

Why We’re Expecting a Return to Normality

"The argument that investors should confine themselves to risk-free assets because the world is on the brink of adopting a swathe of radical fiscal and monetary policies or because we’re facing the prospect of the break-up of the EU, seems to me to be specious."

John Beck |
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Equity

French Election Result: Macron Wins, But Can He Deliver?

There were no surprises as French voters elected Emmanuel Macron as their new president after the second round of voting.

Philippe Brugere-Trelat |
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Fixed Income

Global Economic Perspective: April

For a stronger recovery to take hold across the whole of Europe, greater political stability, allowing the promotion of significant growth-enhancing structural reforms, is probably required.

Christopher J. Molumphy, CFA |
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Fixed Income

An Investor’s View of the French Presidential Election

Despite the failure of the far-right, anti-immigration, anti-European Union (EU) party to make significant in-roads in the recent Dutch elections, we don’t think we can discount the influence of populism in upcoming European elections completely.

David Zahn, CFA, FRM |
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Fixed Income

Does Dutch Election Result Signal an End to Europe’s Populist Surge?

The Scottish government’s demand for a second independence referendum should not have come as a surprise to most observers, but the timing could scarcely have been more awkward for UK Prime Minister Theresa May.

David Zahn, CFA, FRM |
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Fixed Income

Why Fixed-Income Investors Shouldn’t Fret About Fed Tightening

We view Fed tightening with a positive lens and believe there are still plenty of potential opportunities within the fixed-income landscape for investors.

Christopher J. Molumphy, CFA |
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Fixed Income

Global Economic Perspective: March

Even though confidence among US businesses and consumers has been lifted by the advent of a new administration, the question of whether this buoyant mood is likely to translate into a significant pickup in US economic growth remains unanswered, in our view.

Christopher J. Molumphy, CFA |
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Fixed Income

Global Economic Perspective: February

The outlook for the global economy appears a little better, in our view, and overall growth in 2017 could well show a slight improvement from a year ago. The stability in the Chinese economy is encouraging, and surveys in many parts of the world suggest confidence has increased.

Christopher J. Molumphy, CFA |
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Fixed Income

Latin America: The Rise and Fall of Populism

Sharp criticism of the North American Free Trade Agreement and of immigration from Mexico signaled a temptation for the United States to turn its back on Latin America. This would be damaging to the US economy, and especially ironic at a time when key Latin American economies are moving in the opposite direction, turning away from populist economic policies.

Michael Hasenstab, Ph.D. |
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Fixed Income

European Bond Market: What Lies Beyond the Politics?

While politics may dominate the investment agenda in Europe and further afield, it won’t be the only theme for investors, in our view.

David Zahn, CFA, FRM |