The weakness of first quarter GDP growth is unlikely to last, and we note that underlying details regarding future growth are encouraging. Two items were responsible for last quarter’s weakness. One is consumer spending growth, which slowed to just 0.3%. A second weakness were inventory data, which diminished the headline… Read More »
The outlook for European equities is upbeat with polls putting pro-Europe Macron clearly ahead of Eurosceptic Le Pen in the second round, and with bullish sentiment solidifying around the polls’ accurate predictions of Macron’s (and Le Pen’s) first round election victory. The asset allocation overview, in a nutshell, favours risk-on… Read More »
As in the Dutch election earlier this spring, so in France: The leading — more establishment — candidate is playing to the anxieties that have fueled the populist wave that resulted in Brexit and the recent election of Donald Trump. In the campaign’s final days, Emmanuel Macron is making overtures… Read More »
Christophe Bernard -
Donald Trump’s move to the White House has raised expectations of a radical economic overhaul. But now the 45th president of the United States is learning the hard way that getting things done in Washington can be an excruciating affair. This holds true even though the Republicans control US Congress.… Read More »
The French presidential election primarily comes down to a political choice on the role that French voters want to give to France. The first round of voting showed that French electors were no longer very comfortable with the image they had of France. The traditional governing parties did not make… Read More »
On paper, the result of the final round of the French election now looks to be a foregone conclusion; most observers would expect a solid victory for the more establishment Emmanuel Macron over the far-right Marine Le Pen. But if we’ve learned anything from recent political events, it’s to expect… Read More »
Bob Gach -
For 2017, the overarching watchword is “acceleration” As accenture’s ninth annual top 10 challenges series goes to print, investment banks continue to confront three massive realities: An unsustainable cost base Continued evolution of regulatory demands Evolving promises and challenges of digital technologies It is also worth noting that even with… Read More »
When it comes to political risks, one stereotypically thinks of conflicts in emerging or frontier markets—wars in the Middle East; military coups, regime changes or territorial disputes in Asia and Africa; or election turmoil in Latin America. However, this perception no longer holds true, and the trend is shifting. Nowadays,… Read More »
North American and European Investor Confidence Improves While Asian Investor Confidence Declines in April State Street Global Exchange released the results of the State Street Investor Confidence Index® (ICI) for April 2017.The Global ICI increased to 99.5, up 2.6 points from March’s revised reading of 96.9. Confidence among the North… Read More »
Results of the first round of the presidential election see Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen making it to the final, gaining 23.9% and 21.4% of the vote respectively. For the first time in six decades, both mainstream parties were eliminated in the first round, highlighting a sentiment of change… Read More »
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